“Whoosh effect”

takemetosingapore19

Just wondering why this happens? If anyone knows? I was losing 3lb a week for 3 weeks then had a 1 week stall, and now I’m magically 5lb less than I was a week ago. I still have to weigh in and log that weight tomorrow although I got on the scale today at an unplanned time and that is how I discovered this sudden loss.

Sorry for any typos. English is not my first language.

malibu927

Because weight loss is not linear. You were losing fat, but retaining water for one or many reasons.

That said, unless you have a few hundred pounds to lose that is a pretty aggressive loss.

takemetosingapore19

I’m eating enough I eat 1800 calories a day. so I’m not sure why the loss is so much.

L1zardQueen

Starting weight?

anubis609

Perhaps this may help with some of the mechanisms, but the underlying reason is what has been stated, that scale weight loss is not linear and water retention/loss can affect scale measurements.

https://bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/of-whooshes-and-squishy-fat.html/

Kst76

takemetosingapore19 wrote: »

I’m eating enough I eat 1800 calories a day. so I’m not sure why the loss is so much.

You must be super active ?

mazcor536

I’ve had a whoosh this week too! 4 lb’s down in 7 days instead of the typical 1.5-2lbs. I retain water in the lead up to a period though, and whoosh spectacularly during/just after.

LivingtheLeanDream

anubis609 wrote: »

Perhaps this may help with some of the mechanisms, but the underlying reason is what has been stated, that scale weight loss is not linear and water retention/loss can affect scale measurements.

https://bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/of-whooshes-and-squishy-fat.html/

Great link, thanks

Tacklewasher

As to why, I'm not sure that's been explained well. I know the link above talks about water filling up the fat cells, but that is not correct (fat cells can't really hold water).

At this point I just accept that it happens to a lot of people, myself included. But really no one has explained the "why" as far as I can tell.

tess5036

Yes, I get whooshes. I have been eating at a deficit and exercising hard, but stayed at same weight for about 5 week. Then, for a few days I'll end up making more tips than usual to the bathroom, and getting rid of a lot if liquid, and my weight drops noitcably. It doesn't happen all the time, but it has happened several times.

anubis609

Tacklewasher wrote: »

As to why, I'm not sure that's been explained well. I know the link above talks about water filling up the fat cells, but that is not correct (fat cells can't really hold water).

At this point I just accept that it happens to a lot of people, myself included. But really no one has explained the "why" as far as I can tell.

That's correct. Lyle mentioned that it's not a very scientific reason and only a posited theory that couldn't be verified at all. But it's a thing that happens for whatever reason, anecdotally, it usually happens when people tend to relax in their diet rigidity and a somewhat magical cascade of hormone and happiness kicks in to dump some water weight.

batorkin

I've heard this is why....

When your body consumes fat, it is initially replaced with water (not the fat cells themselves, just the surround areas). That water stays in you for awhile, which is why fat can start to feel really squishy. When your body decided to release this water, you'll see a massive drop on the scale, followed by losing an inch or so from some areas in the next day or two. This logic matches what I've seen in my 57 pound weight loss process.

Side note: As soon as I saw 3 pounds/week, I knew someone was going to mention it. This site has lots of people strongly against fast weight loss, but I highly encourage you not to change something that's working for you. I lost at an average rate of 3.3 pounds over 6 months, and I'm still losing 2.6 pounds a week with only 15 pounds to my goal. I feel great, exercise/lift regularly, and my blood work came back as the healthiest i've ever been. As long as you are eating when you are hungry, don't worry about "too fast". I eat ~1500/day, but I don't eat back exercise calories. I assume you are doing the same with 1800.

Fflpnari

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cadien907

Isn't losing 3 pounds a week different than trying to lose three pounds a week? If someone has just started cutting back and is eating less junk, water loss would easily be that amount.

Tacklewasher

cadien907 wrote: »

Isn't losing 3 pounds a week different than trying to lose three pounds a week? If someone has just started cutting back and is eating less junk, water loss would easily be that amount.

Water loss only goes on for so long. Talking maybe 10 lbs.

My first three months I averaged ~15 lbs per month, but was morbidly obese. So from 330 to about 285 in 3 months and then things slowed down. The downside is that I was at greater risk for gallstones based on losing that fast and, in hindsight, I don't think it was a good idea.

fb47

I had the same issue when I was in my cutting phase (aka fat loss phase). I had managed to go from 180 to 160 lbs, at 160 lbs I was lean, but I decided to go for another 5 lbs, but it was tough as well. I was stuck at 158-160 lbs until I did a reverse diet to maintenance and I lost those 5 lbs with ease after that despite eating slightly more calories, I was probably retaining too much water or something like that and when I did my reverse diet, I was still in a caloric deficit, but I guess it triggered something in my body which probably help ease the weight loss.

HoneyBadger302

tyrindor wrote: »

I've heard this is why....

When your body consumes fat, it is initially replaced with water (not the fat cells themselves, just the surround areas). That water stays in you for awhile, which is why fat can start to feel really squishy.

I'm going to have to look into that, as I've noticed this with myself - the "hard/firm" fat starts to get squishy, then in a "woosh" tends to drop away. I was never quite sure why, but that squishy thing was really obvious.

This week I'm in a big "woosh" - actually the last two weeks. Started with my deload training week, and this week I have a cold so most of my workouts have been a lighter (avoiding the gym so I don't spread my yuck). While I'm sure a lot of it is water weight of some variety, the reality is that for the past 5 weeks or so the scale didn't budge, but my measurements and pictures showed otherwise. Now, the scale is rapidly starting to match the progress I was seeing in other ways. Literally 3 pounds down in less than 2 weeks after over a month of about .1 lbs/week, and not feeling hungry at all.

mlsh1969

malibu927 wrote: »

Because weight loss is not linear. You were losing fat, but retaining water for one or many reasons.

That said, unless you have a few hundred pounds to lose that is a pretty aggressive loss.

This, 100%