Salt and water fill up empty fat cells = plateau

DoingItNow2012

Q: Why does my weight loss sometimes slow down or stop after a certain point in the program?

A: A slow down in weight loss can happen to just about anyone during a diet, and should be considered a natural and normal process. We refer to this process as a weight loss plateau. A plateau can occur from the 5th to the 8th week of a client's program and can last from 2 to 8 days. The phenomenon is related to allowing the bodies metabolism to slow down while you're on a reduced calorie diet. You are still breaking down fat at a regular rate. As fat leaves the cells to be used as a food source, the body has the task of shrinking the fat cell back to its normal size. If the body is a little sluggish, and does not immediately start shrinking the fat cells, then an empty space is formed in the cell. The law of physics does not allow the body to have empty spaces so water and salt automatically flow into the fat cell. The water and salt will be removed when the body catches up to the completion of shrinking the fat cells to normal size, and because water weighs more than fat, there may be even a slight weight gain. Do not become discouraged or go off your diet, you are still losing fat during this period. Once this process is complete, weight reduction will again be shown by the scales. Continue to drink water, as water is the best natural diuretic known to medicine and will aid in shortening the plateau, and continue to take at least a minimum of 2 Nutritional supplements daily. "


OK, I REALLY DON'T BELIEVE THIS, but let me know if I am wrong. I was searching the web for how sodium affects weight loss (other than retaining water) and found the site below. That is where the excerpt is from. I know they are selling stuff...

http://www.pwlc.com/temps/resources/faq.cfm

However, I am truly interested in how salt can affect weight loss. I know it causes your body to retain water, but after say 5 pounds water weight gain, shouldn't you continue to lose weight, even with the added water weight?

LabRat529

It really is just water retention when it comes to sodium. Nothing fancy. It's not making it impossible to metabolize fat. Its just making your kidneys excrete less urine.

Plateaus can be caused by any number of things- your metabolism will decrease some when you're losing weight. You might also get "lazy" and stop counting calories as precisely (that's what's happened to me, I think). Or any number of reasons... but high sodium will only cause you to stall for a little while. It won't cause a long plateau.

Jorra

Water retention doesn't occur because it's filling up the space left behind by fat cells shrinking. Water retention occurs to maintain a balance of sodium and water in the body. When you consume more sodium, you retain more water.

Plateaus are not caused by water retention, fat loss is a completely separate issue from water retention. You can continue to lose weight no matter how much water weight you are carrying.

DoingItNow2012

Yeah I thought the explanation was crazy, but did want to hear what may be out there about sodium an weightloss.