Strange weight loss pattern

WelshPhil1975

My weight loss seems to have settled into an odd pattern over the last few months. I had a 3 week mini plateau (I know it’s not a proper one for only 3 weeks, but it was still a period of no loss or gain), followed by 5 lb off in a week. Then a week or 2 of half a pound lost here & there, followed by another 5lb lost. This morning I lost 6lb which has followed the past 4 weeks where I lost 2½lb, followed by ½lb for 2 weeks in a row. I weigh the same time & day on the same scales every week.

I am not really complaining about this, the scales are moving in the right direction and my clothes are getting bigger on me, which is obviously what I am aiming for, but I am having difficulties in getting my head around this pattern.

My eating habits have largely stayed the same in this time (although on saying that I was worried I wouldn’t lose this week since I just had a bad weekend of snacking on rubbish foods), as has my exercising.

Has anybody else experienced weight loss like this? Like I say, it’s not a problem, I am just curious as to how I have got into this pattern.

Fatandfifty3

I do pretty much the same thing usually. Try measuring yourself (everywhere! Include knees and arms for example) and you'll more than likely find that in the weeks you don't loose weight you will be loosing inches.

vismal

This is actually not all that uncommon. Weight can often stall for weeks at a time then all of a sudden you drop several pounds. Prolonged water retention is almost always the culprit. This is why we always tell people that stalls aren't really stalls until a month has passed.

10manda86

weight loss is non-linear... be prepared for small gains some weeks despite putting in your best efforts... this is where measuring becomes your best friends

dammitjanet0161

I've done a similar thing recently. I lost 9.5lbs in the first 10 weeks of joining MFP: 5lbs in the first 2 weeks then 0.5 to 0.75lbs a week for the following few weeks. Then I went on holiday at the beginning of June and put on about 4lbs (I blame the booze!), 2lbs of which came back off straight away afterwards but I stayed the same 2lbs up from pre-hol weight for the next 4 weeks. I put this down to me wiping out my weekly deficit at the weekends due to various social occasions recently, and was getting annoyed with myself. However, I weighed myself this weekend (after a "good" week) and I was 7lb down from the previous weeks! I guess this was partly due to sodium/water weight and TOM issues on the previous weeks.

hmaddpear

Yup, as others have said - perfectly normal. Yours is fairly dramatic - I tend to lose two or three pounds with each "whoosh". I've worked out my cycle's about 85 days - a steady drop for 6 weeks, a 3-4 week plateau, and then a couple of weeks of whooshes. Inches lost tend to be in the plateau.

The culprit is water retention in the fat cells - there's a good article here:

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

WelshPhil1975

I do pretty much the same thing usually. Try measuring yourself (everywhere! Include knees and arms for example) and you'll more than likely find that in the weeks you don't lose weight you will be losing inches.

Yes, this is definitely true - I have needed to tighten my belt more often during the 'lesser' weeks and it did seem strange.

WelshPhil1975

Thanks for all the replies, it has definitely put my mind at rest and I will accept the 'lesser' weeks far more comfortably than I was before.