Losing when the sums say I shouldn't

CoueCoue

OK, so I realise my title might have some people rolling their eyes. I mean "why complain about a good thing?"

I started back in April with about 20-25lbs to lose. I also just wanted to get fitter and improve my shape. I joined a gym and have been running, spinning and doing Bodypump (mainly the latter) all pretty regularly. I logged my food, kept a round about 1200 cals and ate back some of my workout calories. I lost steadily and unremarkably. I am now around 18lbs down. In my head, I wanted to lose more to get to my "GW" but frankly, I felt good and rather than only being able to fit into one pair of jeans, most of my wardrobe now fits. Happy Days! So, past 2-3 weeks, I've begun to slack off with my logging, eating, and exercise. BUT, I am still losing at a similar rate. I'm mystified. Over the time I was losing weight, all my sums "added up". I was losing exactly as expected and if I went so much as a few 100 calories above my daily amount, my weightloss would stall. So I thought I kind of had this nailed...I obviously knew how to log more or less accurately because it worked. But now....I am losing when "the sums" say I shouldn't be.

This isn't a moan or a whinge but it has unsettled me. It's like the rules are now broken (when they weren't before). I am just curious if anybody else has experienced this? Or worse - whether the bad eating caught up with them 3 weeks later (like the "whoosh effect" in reverse) .

Am I likely to get a rude awakening? What are your experiences? Thanks.

sijomial

I've had a couple of times when the "sums don't add up". CICO has a few more complex rules than simple numbers in/out.

My maintenance calories ended up higher than rate of loss or the numbers suggested - probably reversing a bit of down regulating my NEAT after a spell of dieting. When you are feeling fully fuelled it can make you more active, you fidget more, do more of those little bits and pieces that add up. Exercise performance can also be better and you have stronger/faster workouts burning more calories.
Think of two identical people but one feels tired and the other feels energised - the first sits quietly on the sofa while the other is up and down keeping busy, moving about.

A spell of over training in a deficit also caused weight loss to stall out of line with my known deficit, bringing calories back up to maintenance resolved the stress and I lost the weight I should have lost in the preceding couple of weeks despite eating more.

No I don't think you will get a rude awakening unless you are having a major fluctuation masking the trend - I think it's more likely you are just returning to normal.

CoueCoue

Thanks @sijomial. Thst's really interesting and rings true. I guess I have been pretty "non-stop" recently especially at work. When you're in defecit (and bored), it is easy to sit around and feel like you're just clock-watching until the next meal. More recently, it has felt like there haven't been enough hours in the day.

Anyway, I really hope you're right and it is the new normal. That would be great!