Water Weight?

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flcaoh
flcaoh Posts: 444
in Food and Nutrition
I always hear that when you start a new diet and lose a bunch right off the bat that it is just water weight. Why would it be water weight? What causes you to lose so much water when you first start a diet?

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  • flcaoh
    flcaoh Posts: 444
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    I always hear that when you start a new diet and lose a bunch right off the bat that it is just water weight. Why would it be water weight? What causes you to lose so much water when you first start a diet?
  • Girlofthesea
    Girlofthesea Posts: 5
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    This is my first week using MFP and I am having the reverse problem. I have been working out every day (some days more than others), drinking lots of water, and have watched my calorie intake, carefully keeping it below my goal. Instead of losing the pounds like I'd expected, I dropped two pounds mid week and today am back where I started. I was expecting to at least lose 'water weight' this first week. What is going on? And what exactly is water weight?
  • belldandy1
    belldandy1 Posts: 264 Member
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    I have lost three pounds in a week and a half. I hope it is not all water weight!

    url=http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker]174868.png[/url]
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter
  • MisoSoup79
    MisoSoup79 Posts: 517
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    I always hear that when you start a new diet and lose a bunch right off the bat that it is just water weight. Why would it be water weight? What causes you to lose so much water when you first start a diet?

    When you are in a habit of eating salty and sweet foods, not counting your calories and not drinking lots of water, you pack in water weight. When you start a diet, you suddenly watch what you eat, limiting salts and sugars, and hopefully drink more water than usual because you are aware of it's importance. That's when the body suddenly says "oh, i have plenty of water... here, lemme ditch this water I've been storing..."

    However, if you are used to watching your salt and sugar and you already drink a lot of water, but you are relatively sedentary, then starting a new workout routine causes a bit of a water gain in the beginning as the muscles start to bring in added water for the new movement. And that is why you DO NOT weigh yourself after a vigorous workout. This adjustment may take a couple of days to a couple of weeks; every individual is different.
  • elliott062907
    elliott062907 Posts: 1,508 Member
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    I don't believe in water weight, so to speak.
    I believe in bloat, so I take a doctor recommended diuretic.

    I am losing weight cause my undies are bigger, so when I get swolen and puffy, I use duirex or something equavelient, like a generic.
  • MisoSoup79
    MisoSoup79 Posts: 517
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    This is my first week using MFP and I am having the reverse problem. I have been working out every day (some days more than others), drinking lots of water, and have watched my calorie intake, carefully keeping it below my goal. Instead of losing the pounds like I'd expected, I dropped two pounds mid week and today am back where I started. I was expecting to at least lose 'water weight' this first week. What is going on? And what exactly is water weight?

    what do you mean "keeping my calories below my goal"? are you eating the number of calories it tells you to eat every day? or are you eating much less?

    water weight is excess water that is not needed immediately for bodily processes, but the things you eat and your hydration levels play a part in how much of that excess is shed and how much is stored for later. your body is primarily water, so it makes sense that if it believes there is a water shortage, it will hold onto it because it is absolutely vital for functioning.
  • hiddensecant
    hiddensecant Posts: 2,446 Member
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    Our bodies are made up of 90% water.

    You can gain water weight by making your body think that it's in danger of dehydration. Among the common causes are not drinking enough water or eating too much salt. There are other reasons like hormonal changes but dehydration is the big guy.

    There are some diets that force the body to release water (like Atkins). And most other diets encourage you to drink a lot of water and cut the salt ... so those retaining water through dehydration would start releasing it (note all the diet pills that require you to drink 8-16 oz of water with it).

    You can also gain water weight when first going on a diet. A good candidate would be one who was undereating before going on a diet. These people need a few weeks of convincing the body that it's no longer in danger of starving before they stop retaining water.

    The scale will naturally bounce back and forth during the week which is why they encourage us to not weigh more often than once per week and not panic if it doesn't budge.

    So just keep developing healthy habits. Stressing out over the scale can also tell the body that it needs to kick into survival mode and start hanging on to water or worse ... fat!
  • Girlofthesea
    Girlofthesea Posts: 5
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    I have stayed within about 100 calories of my goal (set by MFP) every day. One day I was 400 under, but each day I am getting at least 1200 calories. I am certainly not starving but I am being much more conscious of what I eat and how much. I suppose I am just frustrated. Had I not stepped on the scale at all this week, I would be delighted with my progress. :-P

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