Water Weight

SmithsonianEmpress

When someone says "oh it's just water weight" or "I lost weight but that was from water retention" .... how do they know that? How does one distinguish "water weight" from "non-water weight"???

poeciliareticulata

Disclaimer: all I know I learned from the forums here!
I don’t think you can ‘know’ so much as rationalise. If a lb of fat is 3500 calories, then if you lose 3lb in a week but your deficit below maintenance wasn’t 1500 calories every day, then it can’t all have been fat, so some must be other stuff (like water in your tissues or waste in your intestines). Likewise, if you eat a super salty meal and the next day you are up by 2lb, unless your super salty meal took you 7000 cals over maintenance, it can’t be fat, but is probably water (to help your body deal with the salt).

SmithsonianEmpress

Ahhhhh, I am starting to see the light. Thanks L!