sudden drop weight-loss

surfbug808

I'm new to weight-loss
Female, 5'5"
Starting weight: 155lbs+

Diet: 1200 cal deficit

Week 1-2: lost 10lbs (assuming it was water weight, and because I didn't realize I had to eat back my exercise cals...)

Since then, I am eating back my exercise cals, and have been losing about 1lb/week.

Recently, I plateaued at 139lbs for a couple of weeks.

After some friendly feedback on MFP, I decided to change things up and eat more, so 1290 cals/day (instead of 1200) and still eating back my exercise cals.

Within 1 week, I dropped from the plateau of 139lbs to 135lbs. The only change I made was to add 100 calories extra food each day. I'm also more settled into my strength training routine (not sure what difference that would make). Sudden water weight loss again as my muscles adjust?

Now I seem to be back to losing 1lb/week again.

I know weight can fluctuate wildly sometimes. However, I'm now in a healthy weight range, and will likely be going into maintenance soon. Just curious. What might account for the sudden larger fluctuation mid-way through my otherwise steady loss, while I actually added eating extra calories?

ThatJuJitsuWoman

My first thought is hormones. I tend to hover around the same weight (or even gain a pound or two) for 3 weeks per month, then have a sudden drop at a certain point in my cycle.

BarbaraHelen2013

Another guess would be that if you didn’t drop for a couple of weeks and were given advice on how to use MFP as it’s intended (eating back some/all of exercise cals) that it refocused you and your logging became much more accurate.

So, whilst you thought you were eating a few more calories you had been underestimating previously, so in reality you were eating less!

But, yes, hormones too!

noblsheep

Ditto hormones.

Or if you've recently lowered your carb consumption, you might lose another few pounds of water suddenly.

Doing cardio also seems to make my weight fluctuate, although I haven't wrapped my brain around that one yet.

sijomial

If you looked at the entire time period that included your initial fast loss, your plateau and your sudden drop and the return to a steady loss you will probably find a much closer relationship between weight loss and calories.

As you say your weight fluctuates - this may simply be normal for you. But really every change in routine might take a month for the effects to settle down.

It could be taking away some stress reduced cortisone levels and released some water retention (I get that when I taper after a hard training block despite a rise in calories).

Could be you had some DOMS which is normal when starting or restarting strength training (or other novel exercise) and now that soreness isn't so pronounced so less water retention.

Just keep in mind that fat loss tracks your calories but that track isn't linear due to the totally normal water weight fluctuations. A trending app might be helpful for you to look beyond short term fluctuations.

As you are approaching maintenance suggest you have a look through the Maintaining Weight forum.
Also start to think about your weight being a range and not one number, those fluctuations will continue at maintenance too - flying, salty meals, sun burn, etc. etc. will show up on your scales as a gain but not a gain you should react to.

NovusDies

You didn't plateau you were just waiting for some water retention to ease up for your deficit related losses to show up on the scale. This is a fairly routine happening.

amandarawr06

ThatJuJitsuWoman wrote: »

My first thought is hormones. I tend to hover around the same weight (or even gain a pound or two) for 3 weeks per month, then have a sudden drop at a certain point in my cycle.

I used to have this as well. I would lose max a half a pound a week for about 3 weeks and on week 4 I would drop between 3-6lbs. It went on like this for a half a year until I began maintaining. Now that I am eating a deficit again, I haven't noticed that trend again (yet)

kshama2001

ThatJuJitsuWoman wrote: »

My first thought is hormones. I tend to hover around the same weight (or even gain a pound or two) for 3 weeks per month, then have a sudden drop at a certain point in my cycle.

Yes, I retain water when I ovulate and premenstrually and am usually at my lowest point in the month a week after my period starts.

I log my weight into Happy Scale every day and track my cycle on my wall calendar so it is easy to see these trends.

surfbug808

Thanks for all the feedback. I'm not sure what it is, and could have been all of the above or some... but having the info helps so that I can have a bigger picture. My main thing is making sure I'm not doing anything unhealthy or dangerous (and I don't feel I am). I noticed a few people clicked disagree on the hormone stuff, while others definitely seem to notice a difference. Any input into why the disagreement?

ThatJuJitsuWoman

I noticed that and assumed it was a man clicking disagree! Every woman I know who has periods notices differences in her body throughout the month.

HoneyBadger302

I know my body is prone to "wooshes." There's actually science behind why that happens, but it's not unheard of, or even that uncommon. Basically, you are burning through some fat, but your body is storing extra water, then finally lets that go, resulting in a woosh on the scale.

Trust the process - if you're doing what you should, the results will come. I've had macro variations seem to result in breaking through a plateau in the past, but knowing what I do now, it was more likely just a regularly scheduled woosh.

As for eating a bit more, could be that your workouts could use a little more fuel, and perhaps your intensity has increased a bit - exercise calories can be pretty hard to judge sometimes, and as long as you're (overall) losing at a good rate, what you're doing is working, so keep at it!

surfbug808

ThatJuJitsuWoman wrote: »

I noticed that and assumed it was a man clicking disagree! Every woman I know who has periods notices differences in her body throughout the month.

I assumed that too. I'm fortunate in that I don't experience symptoms before/during menstrual cycles, or at least none that are obvious. But yeah, many women I know have bloating and other dramatic changes in their bodies throughout.

Azdak

surfbug808 wrote: »

Thanks for all the feedback. I'm not sure what it is, and could have been all of the above or some... but having the info helps so that I can have a bigger picture. My main thing is making sure I'm not doing anything unhealthy or dangerous (and I don't feel I am). I noticed a few people clicked disagree on the hormone stuff, while others definitely seem to notice a difference. Any input into why the disagreement?

I have noticed recently that there seems to be a person or group of people who automatically check "disagree" when there is any claim or discussion of any reason for weight loss or gain other than will power and calorie restriction.

Part of the confusion is that there is a difference between fat loss and weight loss. Fat loss, since it is based on energy balance, will be more consistent than scale loss. Scale weight can be affected by a number of transient factors, sometimes to the extent that it can obscure fat loss.

surfbug808

Azdak wrote: »

I have noticed recently that there seems to be a person or group of people who automatically check "disagree" when there is any claim or discussion of any reason for weight loss or gain other than will power and calorie restriction.

Part of the confusion is that there is a difference between fat loss and weight loss. Fat loss, since it is based on energy balance, will be more consistent than scale loss. Scale weight can be affected by a number of transient factors, sometimes to the extent that it can obscure fat loss.

Hmmmm... to narrow weight-loss/gain only to will power/calorie restriction seems like an extremely restrictive and erroneous view... given that the fluctuations can vary so much with other factors. Well, either way, I'm open to learning what else there is...

Good point about the difference between fat loss and weight loss. I've always been active, but one reason I started back specifically to strength training is because I didn't want to lose muscle mass while getting rid of excess fat. For example, at this point, I'm waiting to get assessed for a more accurate picture of my body fat% and strength%. Once I have more precise numbers as well as a better idea of what might feel good to me, I'll decide whether or not I need to lose more fat, or go into maintenance. I don't want to be dieting and losing muscle mass/weight!

quiksylver296

http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations