SIGNIFICANT weight loss spikes/spurts?

dcamell

I've lost about 60 pounds or so since Christmas. It'd been happening very steadily for quite awhile, but about three weeks ago, it started to taper off. I expected this to an extent, but for a period of about two weeks, starting around a weight of 205, I began seeing a long plateau...to provide background, as a six foot male I've been running on a 1650 calorie daily allotment every day, and had been going to the gym five times a week, doing three to four weight training exercises alternated every other day, and 35 minutes on the elliptical trainer at ~8MPH.

I, again, expected to hit a pleateau, but things seem very inconsistent at this juncture...not wholly negative, but inconsistent. Around the time I hit 205, which was three pounds less than my previous weight loss attempt two years ago, I celebrated with a pizza on a Friday, and ended up going to the bar with a few friends two nights later, having about five drinks (light beer.)

This was roughly two and a half weeks ago. I'd been 205 that friday morning, and I didn't weigh myself again until monday morning, after the beer-and-pizza weekend. I weighed 214 pounds! I knew I'd pay a bit for my indiscretions, but it was more than I'd expected. I sighed, tried not to let it get me down, and reaffirmed my determination to follow my calorie guidelines.

A week later, I'd shed most of the 9 pounds from 205 to 214, but my morning, unclothed weight still hovered around 205. For the next two weeks or so, I couldn't seem to push any lower. I waited a few days, working out hard and eating properly throughout, and suddenly, I was 199. I was thrilled, of course, to have beaten past the 200 milestone. That was ten days ago...

Now, this morning, after eating breakfast (a bowl of cereal and a couple large glasses of diet soda, healthy, right?) I took my weight again...just ten days after the 199, I'm 188.

Now, again, I'm thrilled, but what's going on? I know water weight is a factor and all, but AFTER breakfast and a bunch of diet pop, I weigh in eleven pounds lower than ten days prior? Is weight loss often THIS jaunty? Taking the highest and lowest readings (214, 188) from a three and a half week period, the delta is 26 pounds...only so much of that can be water weight, and it's not making much sense to me. That, and that almost two weeks of it was spent at almost consistently 205, is just sort of frustrating me...I haven't lost faith in calories in - calories out = weight loss, but to say the math isn't linear would be an understatement.

Ninkyou

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

^This might help explain things a bit

All I can say is, weight loss isn't linear. Some weeks are great, some mediocre, some there's nothing at all and others you gain. But as long as you have a downward trend, you're in the right area.

On another note, as a male and exercising the amount you do, you should probably up your calories a bit. I'm a 5'2 female, weigh less, and even I eat more than you.

_KitKat_

While working out you can retain a bunch of water while your muscles are repairing themselves. I am assuming you are at or near goal also my husband weighs 179 at 6' and is thin built the lowest he has been is 165. His ideal lean muscular weight is 170-175. I do know when you are at target you can bounce in the range of 10lbs from week to week. Congrats on your results!

dcamell

I was very much planning to bump my calories to about 2000, perhaps even 2200, once I hit my goal weight (170-175) so I can build some muscle . I've probably been too aggressive about it so far, but at this point, being less than twenty pounds from goal, I figure I've already done the damage as far as excess skin goes, and can't do a ton more bad on that part by sprinting for the finish line. I'll just be praying that at twenty-nine, I'll have enough oomph left in my skin to bounce back, it's not -horrible- now and I don't expect it to get a lot worse in the last fifteen pounds.

The article was illuminating, though I still feel like I'm experiencing more extreme swings than that article, or others like it which I looked into after reading that one, seem to describe. I was paranoid I might have a thyroid imbalance when I went two weeks at 205 and couldn't budge, but that thankfully turned out to be impatience-spawned paranoia.

_KitKat_

What that article and others will talk about is that, you actually lost the fat a few weeks ago, but from working out and possible salt intake you retained water and it masked the weight you had already lost. 26 lbs is a lot to be masked, but water weight can be up to 10 maybe even more lbs, if you also became more regular on..uhm your bathroom business some weight can be lost and even 1 liter of water weighs 2.2 lbs. There are many variables when weighing yourself. With weight loss the number can go all over the place but the main number is what you averaged over the period you were losing. Honestly when you went from 205 to 214 that was most likely water retention from the beer and pizza, so your drop back to 205 really just means your good time ate up any loses you would have had that week. So then you were 205 and now 199 that is a 6lb loss so roughly 2lbs a week give or take for 2 1/2 weeks. That is very aggressive loss for so close to goal, but is more than possible. If you ignore your gain for that weekend, your numbers make perfect sense when you average them because of possible water masking fat loss.