What is water weight?

lookpretty
lookpretty Posts: 276 Member
edited November 12 in Health and Weight Loss
I always hear people talk about that drastic loss in the first week and that it is water weight, why would you lose water, where is it kept, I just dont understand this concept at all? If a person is dhydrated and starts drinking more and loses weight how can it be water weight?

Replies

  • lookpretty
    lookpretty Posts: 276 Member
    bump
  • dougpear
    dougpear Posts: 21
    While I do not know the exact science behind it. Water weight is the water that your body is holding onto. Now generally when you switch from a unhealthy salt/carb filled diet (key) to a relatively clean diet (low/moderate carb, salt, etc.) You lose the water that is stored in certain parts of your body this is because the body lacks the capacity to hold onto its water stores. This does not mean you are dehydrated however.

    When you switch onto a new diet you can expect to see rapid weight loss due to the water leaving your body due to this effect. This can be any where from 5-10 pounds. This is also the reason that if you happen to have a cheat day where some one eats a lot of unhealthy food that they gain a seemly large amount of weight. This is not all fat but water weight.

    This is an extremely, extremely simplified version of the concept.

    Hope it helped!
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,024 Member
    It's water that's stored in the cells. Dependent on how much you drink and sodium in your consumption will depend on how much water is expelled. You also retain water from starting/restarting exercise for muscle repair.


    A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
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    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • michael300891
    michael300891 Posts: 275
    One of the main factors (there are quite a few) is the amount of water stored with sugar (known as glycogen). A well fed person has approx 400g of glycogen in muscle and 100g in the liver. After even 24 hours of dieting the amount in muscle can drop to around 200-300g. After endurance exercise it can drop much lower. If you begin a diet you will have less glycogen in your muscle - 200g reduction doesnt seem much. But each gram of glycogen is stored in approx 4g of water. So losing 200g = approx 1kg weight you can lose in 1-3days just from dieting alone (the actual water is released in respiration, urine, sweat etc). There are many other factors but that is one of the most significant =)
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