Weight loss at altitude

markrgeary1
markrgeary1 Posts: 853 Member
edited September 2016 in Health and Weight Loss
I've been on MFP for well over a year and maintaining for about a year. Reached my(DW too) goal weight and thankfully have had few issues. Weighing and logging food is a habit now.

We've recently moved from 900 feet above sea level to 7200 feet. I noticed a few times I'd lost weight while at altitude without a calorie deficit.

After the first couple of weeks we've both lost 3 more pounds while eating our prior amount of calories. I've found some information I believe is true that this is a known(perhaps temporary) effect of altitude. I've not found any information about how much you should add to your calories consumption. I'm going to up by 500 per day for me and 250 for DW.

Does anyone have thoughts or more information on how much more to eat and how long it takes for your metabolism to reverse back, if it does?

We really don't want to lose anymore weight, DW is to the point where she's going to have to drop into size 2 clothes and she doesn't think there's much selection in the size.

Replies

  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    It may be water weight? Drier air and dehydrating? Maybe?
  • markrgeary1
    markrgeary1 Posts: 853 Member
    queenliz99 wrote: »
    It may be water weight? Drier air and dehydrating? Maybe?

    Could be some of it. Definitely drinking much more water but two nights ago I had foot cramps, at least for me that's a sign of dehydration. Urine is the correct color and we're both drinking much more.

    Here's a link to an article about the subject. I'm not claiming that it's correct but interesting:

    http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/food-matters/into-thin-air-weight-loss-at-high-altitudes/
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    I live at altitude as well...

    IDK...three pounds is well within normal weight fluctuations for most people...without more data points, I wouldn't chalk it up to anymore than that. Altitude can play with your fluids and electrolyte balance...I wouldn't add anymore calories though unless this becomes a trend.

    Are you sure you're eating the same...being at altitude has know to suppress appetite...so maybe you're just not eating as much but you think you are. There are some studies that show a correlation between altitude and increased basal metabolism, but it's really pretty insignificant...it's not like living at altitude burns tons more calories than living at sea level...it would appear that most of this is due to the body having to work a bit harder for oxygen, etc...but again, we're not talking about hundreds and hundreds of calories here.

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