So This Is A Little Weird
CassidyScaglione
Posts: 673 Member
... I'm not overly alarmed, but I'm trying to make sense of something...
I have been on mfp from the first week of January... MFP started me with a calorie goal of 1200, but that left me pretty hungry, so i raised it to 1400 myself.... I did not, at this point, have a food scale, or a bathroom scale, so I'm not sure what my starting weight was, but anyways, I lost at a decent rate, and started to feel some give in a lot of clothes that had been feeling pretty tight.
I got a food scale and bathroom scale in the middle of february, and at that time, clocked in at 185... Having my food scale, I opted for a slower weight loss rate (now that I can be more accurate about what i'm eating) and upped my calories to 1550... and that is where I have stayed.... up until last week, I had come down about another 5 lbs. So 5 lbs a month, more or less.
Cut to this week.... last weekend, I ate about 500-600 calories over my goal twice in a row... and it was all terrible wonderful awful food like Pizza, and fried chicken etc. So naturally i was expecting a temporary bump up in the scale...
but i actually dropped 0.6 lbs the next morning
and 0.6 lbs the next morning
and 0.8 lbs the next morning
and and entire pound the next morning!
and then 0.2 pounds the next morning
and then 0.4 this morning...
I haven't changed my calorie intake at all during this time, and have even gone over by a couple of calories most days... The only thing, the only single thing that i have done differently is switch from eating eggs for breakfast, to oatmeal. but i have lost more than three lbs in a week?
I have been on mfp from the first week of January... MFP started me with a calorie goal of 1200, but that left me pretty hungry, so i raised it to 1400 myself.... I did not, at this point, have a food scale, or a bathroom scale, so I'm not sure what my starting weight was, but anyways, I lost at a decent rate, and started to feel some give in a lot of clothes that had been feeling pretty tight.
I got a food scale and bathroom scale in the middle of february, and at that time, clocked in at 185... Having my food scale, I opted for a slower weight loss rate (now that I can be more accurate about what i'm eating) and upped my calories to 1550... and that is where I have stayed.... up until last week, I had come down about another 5 lbs. So 5 lbs a month, more or less.
Cut to this week.... last weekend, I ate about 500-600 calories over my goal twice in a row... and it was all terrible wonderful awful food like Pizza, and fried chicken etc. So naturally i was expecting a temporary bump up in the scale...
but i actually dropped 0.6 lbs the next morning
and 0.6 lbs the next morning
and 0.8 lbs the next morning
and and entire pound the next morning!
and then 0.2 pounds the next morning
and then 0.4 this morning...
I haven't changed my calorie intake at all during this time, and have even gone over by a couple of calories most days... The only thing, the only single thing that i have done differently is switch from eating eggs for breakfast, to oatmeal. but i have lost more than three lbs in a week?
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Replies
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Weight loss is funny, just keep going!!0
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Your calories were WAY too low to start with! You should eat as much as you can while still losing weight. Not that the pizza, fried chicken, etc is good for you! I have noticed myself that sometimes having a cheat day/treat day will actually help me through a hump and help me drop more. Keep tracking. Keep those calories up to 1450-1550 for at least a couple of weeks and see what happens. Don't let yourself get so hungry you are starving! That is NOT good for your metabolism.0
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queenliz99 wrote: »Weight loss is funny, just keep going!!
Yup, X2....sounds like you're doing amazing, I can't remember the last time I saw 5 lbs come off on one scale reading..lol! Keep up the hard work! xo0 -
Weight loss ISN'T linear. You can do the same exact thing next week and lose 1lbs or less. But the whole point is just to be on a consistent downward weight regardless of how each week goes.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Weight loss ISN'T linear. You can do the same exact thing next week and lose 1lbs or less. But the whole point is just to be on a consistent downward weight regardless of how each week goes.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
LOL..I was just thinking the same thing...and she should be happy, I've seen the odd poster complain about 5 lb GAINS in two days...lol...downwards is good!0 -
JustMissTracy wrote: »Weight loss ISN'T linear. You can do the same exact thing next week and lose 1lbs or less. But the whole point is just to be on a consistent downward weight regardless of how each week goes.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
LOL..I was just thinking the same thing...and she should be happy, I've seen the odd poster complain about 5 lb GAINS in two days...lol...downwards is good!
I'm not complaining, I'm just trying to understand what the heck happened.0 -
Hmm, what does your carb intake look like for the last week or so? If that and/or your sodium intake has been lower, then some of this might be water weight leaving.
~Lyssa0 -
Some people restrict too many calories and homeostasis sits in. Influx extra energy and the body sometimes senses that with that availability, it doesn't need to conserve. Kinda how like a dam works in drought and excess rain.CassidyScaglione wrote: »JustMissTracy wrote: »Weight loss ISN'T linear. You can do the same exact thing next week and lose 1lbs or less. But the whole point is just to be on a consistent downward weight regardless of how each week goes.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
LOL..I was just thinking the same thing...and she should be happy, I've seen the odd poster complain about 5 lb GAINS in two days...lol...downwards is good!
I'm not complaining, I'm just trying to understand what the heck happened.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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CassidyScaglione wrote: »JustMissTracy wrote: »Weight loss ISN'T linear. You can do the same exact thing next week and lose 1lbs or less. But the whole point is just to be on a consistent downward weight regardless of how each week goes.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
LOL..I was just thinking the same thing...and she should be happy, I've seen the odd poster complain about 5 lb GAINS in two days...lol...downwards is good!
I'm not complaining, I'm just trying to understand what the heck happened.
Oh no, honey...don't take me wrong!! I know you're not complaining....maybe wrong word used...WORRYING might be better...lol!!!0 -
Jamiempang wrote: »Your calories were WAY too low to start with! You should eat as much as you can while still losing weight. Not that the pizza, fried chicken, etc is good for you! I have noticed myself that sometimes having a cheat day/treat day will actually help me through a hump and help me drop more. Keep tracking. Keep those calories up to 1450-1550 for at least a couple of weeks and see what happens. Don't let yourself get so hungry you are starving! That is NOT good for your metabolism.
+10 -
This is a common phenomenon that has been noticed when athletes carbo load before a race. They actually drop weight the next day, which is desirable to be lighter on race day. The science behind it is murky, and it doesn't work for everyone. But as others have pointed out, weight loss is not liner, and the calories still count, no matter what the scale says on one day.
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You don't magically gain fat from eating the day before.
Also pizza and fried chicken doesn't make you fat, eating too many calories of any food does.
500-600 calories over your deficit in general means that you ate at maintenance for a couple days. Why would you gain weight from that?
*edit because I have sausage fingers, touchscreen, and a retarded spell checker*0 -
It happens.. I'm down five pounds in three days ,and I was only at moderate deficits of 500 to 750 per day, not the 6000 that would be required to support that loss. Weight loss is completely non-linear, and your weight is the end result of a whole pile of processes, only one input of which (calories in) and one output (calories out) is in your control. Accept it and be glad to lose, but don't go thinking that you will keep doing it and keep losing. Post hoc ergo propter hoc and all that jazz.
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You don't magically gain fat from eating the say before.
Also pizza and fried chicken doesn't make you fat, eating too much of any food does.
500-600 calories over means in general that you at maintenance for a couple days. Why would you fail. Weight from that?
I was thinking water retention more than actual weight gain, both days put me way over in sodium, and i generally do retain water after heavy sodium consumption...macgurlnet wrote: »Hmm, what does your carb intake look like for the last week or so? If that and/or your sodium intake has been lower, then some of this might be water weight leaving.
~Lyssa
Normal. If anything, they will have been higher, since, as i said, I had some restaurant foods at the beginning of the week (lethal sodium) and have had more oatmeal than usual for breakfast...0 -
Some people restrict too many calories and homeostasis sits in. Influx extra energy and the body sometimes senses that with that availability, it doesn't need to conserve. Kinda how like a dam works in drought and excess rain.CassidyScaglione wrote: »JustMissTracy wrote: »Weight loss ISN'T linear. You can do the same exact thing next week and lose 1lbs or less. But the whole point is just to be on a consistent downward weight regardless of how each week goes.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
LOL..I was just thinking the same thing...and she should be happy, I've seen the odd poster complain about 5 lb GAINS in two days...lol...downwards is good!
I'm not complaining, I'm just trying to understand what the heck happened.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
But is 1550 low? I have been eating at that level for about a month now... according to this: http://dailyburn.com/life/health/how-to-calculate-bmr/ my TDEE is 2071... meaning that I am 500 calories in deficit, which is a pretty normal number on here... I agree that MFP's number of 1200 is pretty dumb, but mine seems reasonable...0 -
6502programmer wrote: »Post hoc ergo propter hoc and all that jazz.
Breaking out the latin on me now?
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Sure thing. My dad was a Franciscan Latin teacher and I studied the language for five years. Id est quam volvam.CassidyScaglione wrote: »Breaking out the latin on me now?
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6502programmer wrote: »
Sure thing. My dad was a Franciscan Latin teacher and I studied the language for five years. Id est quam volvam.CassidyScaglione wrote: »Breaking out the latin on me now?
Stop making me google things! The only latin i know is Corpus delicti... and i still get it confused with Corpus Christi
: 
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This is actually not weird. People on low calorie diets are subjecting themselves to stress, which raises cortisol, which is documented to cause water retention. When you increased your calories, your stress levels went down and so did the water weight.0
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amusedmonkey wrote: »This is actually not weird. People on low calorie diets are subjecting themselves to stress, which raises cortisol, which is documented to cause water retention. When you increased your calories, your stress levels went down and so did the water weight.
But is a 500 calorie deficit that bad? It seems like pretty much the go to number for people on here, once they get sick of the initial 1200 setting that mfp gives them.0 -
CassidyScaglione wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »This is actually not weird. People on low calorie diets are subjecting themselves to stress, which raises cortisol, which is documented to cause water retention. When you increased your calories, your stress levels went down and so did the water weight.
But is a 500 calorie deficit that bad? It seems like pretty much the go to number for people on here, once they get sick of the initial 1200 setting that mfp gives them.
No it isn't bad, it's quite reasonable. It's just that our bodies react to prolonged dieting in silly ways on any kind of deficit, although more so on higher deficits. It's not uncommon even on a reasonable deficit though. There might also be other hormones playing their game which coincided with this so you saw a consolidated drop.0 -
amusedmonkey wrote: »CassidyScaglione wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »This is actually not weird. People on low calorie diets are subjecting themselves to stress, which raises cortisol, which is documented to cause water retention. When you increased your calories, your stress levels went down and so did the water weight.
But is a 500 calorie deficit that bad? It seems like pretty much the go to number for people on here, once they get sick of the initial 1200 setting that mfp gives them.
No it isn't bad, it's quite reasonable. It's just that our bodies react to prolonged dieting in silly ways on any kind of deficit, although more so on higher deficits. It's not uncommon even on a reasonable deficit though. There might also be other hormones playing their game which coincided with this so you saw a consolidated drop.
I'm actually coming up on my TOM, so i should be retaining water now... do you think it is beneficial to eat up to maintenance every now and then to keep my system from getting all stressed and stubborn?0 -
This happens. My body does this and there is no rhyme or reason. I'm at a lower weight but the same principle applies, all of a sudden I get a whoosh and drop a couple of pounds when I least expect it.
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CassidyScaglione wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »CassidyScaglione wrote: »amusedmonkey wrote: »This is actually not weird. People on low calorie diets are subjecting themselves to stress, which raises cortisol, which is documented to cause water retention. When you increased your calories, your stress levels went down and so did the water weight.
But is a 500 calorie deficit that bad? It seems like pretty much the go to number for people on here, once they get sick of the initial 1200 setting that mfp gives them.
No it isn't bad, it's quite reasonable. It's just that our bodies react to prolonged dieting in silly ways on any kind of deficit, although more so on higher deficits. It's not uncommon even on a reasonable deficit though. There might also be other hormones playing their game which coincided with this so you saw a consolidated drop.
I'm actually coming up on my TOM, so i should be retaining water now... do you think it is beneficial to eat up to maintenance every now and then to keep my system from getting all stressed and stubborn?
Possibly a good idea. Might also help with homeostasis (body downregulating and rationing energy to cope with a new prolonged reduced caloric intakes effectively slowing weight loss).0
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