water stored in fat cells fact or myth??

firemanfive0
firemanfive0 Posts: 228 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I would like to hear both sides of a conversation on this. I have done some internet research on it and it seems to vary as to which is right.

snip:
"A biologist at Berkeley shared something very revealing on the low-carb BBS system about 4 years ago that helps us all through the erratic weight fluctuations you invariably encounter:

"Fat cells are resilient, stubborn little creatures that do not want to give up their actual cell volume. Over a period of weeks, maybe months of "proper dieting", each of your fat cells may have actually lost a good percentage of the actual fat contained in those cells. But the fat cells themselves, stubborn little guys, replace that lost fat with water to retain their size. That is, instead of shrinking to match the reduced amount of fat in the cell, they stay the same size! Result - you weigh the same, look the same, maybe even gained some scale weight, even though you have actually lost some serious fat.

This is what we have been telling folks. You lose inches but not pounds because your body plumps the fat cells. I tell them it is a complicated biochemical process that your body replaces the fat molecules with water and fluids until you exceed your bodies predetermined fluid level. Then your body will release a chemical that releases all this stored water and you get a sudden overnight loss of several pounds. Then the cycle starts over again with inches gone and the scales lag behind. "

here is a link to the full article:

http://forum.lowcarber.org/archive/index.php/t-346933.html

thanks
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Replies

  • Railr0aderTony
    Railr0aderTony Posts: 6,803 Member
    Not sure but I hope that is true, for that has been me for the past few months, down like 3 pants sizes and not one F'N ounce, some days i am actually up several pounds other days the same. I know about the scale thing but damn it , its right there in the bathroom mocking me.
  • porcelain_doll
    porcelain_doll Posts: 1,005 Member
    I have wondered this also. I know I have experienced the "whooshing" effect they speak of. Just had it happen last Wednesday, in fact. In my case, the scale seems to "catch up" at least a week or more behind when I think it should be showing progress. So I have learned to not rely on it for results as I once did (and that has done wonders for my motivation..... haha).
  • kirstie3281
    kirstie3281 Posts: 48 Member
    Interesting read!
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    This is an article I read that talks about what you are asking about: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/of-whooshes-and-squishy-fat.html
  • ladyraven68
    ladyraven68 Posts: 2,003 Member
    Lyle's tak eon it - http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/of-whooshes-and-squishy-fat.html
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/of-whooshes-and-squishy-fat.html

    According to this there's one study to support this idea and a lot of anecdotal evidence.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    Lyle's tak eon it - http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/of-whooshes-and-squishy-fat.html

    Oh beat me to it :laugh:

    Great minds and all that.
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    Three of us posted the same article all in a row. It is a good one and an interesting read.
  • Micahroni84
    Micahroni84 Posts: 452 Member
    This is good news for me as i have gained two pounds but lost an inch around my stomach.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    Three of us posted the same article all in a row. It is a good one and an interesting read.

    I was about to post the same thing and then notice there were three posts in a row already linking it.
  • lustingforfitness
    lustingforfitness Posts: 74
    Lyle's tak eon it - http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/of-whooshes-and-squishy-fat.html

    Oh beat me to it :laugh:

    Great minds and all that.

    Love Lyle! Thanks for posting this link, ladies.

    Also I think there might be a bit of truth to this, my weight has been stalled for two months and just this week it finally seemed to kick into gear and I lost three pounds. I know that 2 lbs max is what you should lose in a week for healthy weight loss yadda yadda I'm not starving myself by any means, but I'm stoked to see that it's finally catching up with me!
  • 3foldchord
    3foldchord Posts: 2,918 Member
    If the fat cells are plumped up,with water to retain the same volume... Why would you lose inches? Wouldn't you be the same size still?
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    If the fat cells are plumped up,with water to retain the same volume... Why would you lose inches? Wouldn't you be the same size still?

    that's what I thought, and judging by the article posted several times on this thread, that's what happens, i.e. no noticable change then a sudden drop in scale weight combined with a loss of inches. I've known a few people on another forum that have experienced this, although I haven't experienced it myself.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    If the fat cells are plumped up,with water to retain the same volume... Why would you lose inches? Wouldn't you be the same size still?

    I didn't get that either-- the article says no change in size until the water empties out.
  • Bumbeen
    Bumbeen Posts: 263 Member
    I love how popular Lyle is on this forum. It makes me think there are a lot of intelligent folks here.
  • xxnellie146xx
    xxnellie146xx Posts: 996 Member
    bump to read later
  • 3foldchord
    3foldchord Posts: 2,918 Member
    If the fat cells are plumped up,with water to retain the same volume... Why would you lose inches? Wouldn't you be the same size still?

    I didn't get that either-- the article says no change in size until the water empties out.

    But it also says that water retention is why you lose inches not pounds... And I got confused. But I do have a head cold and confuse easily. I read Lyle"s article and iit made more sense.

    I just had 10 pounds to lose though and it came off. Sometimes more on some weeks than others, but nothing majorly out of,proportion. And I didn't have gains or stalls. So I guess I don't have the experience to offer much of an opinion.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    Here is some more discussion on it:

    http://forums.lylemcdonald.com/showthread.php?t=14
  • firemanfive0
    firemanfive0 Posts: 228 Member
    thanks for all the input...I too had read Lyle's article and I liked it.
  • greyoutside
    greyoutside Posts: 98
    If this is coming from a Biologist at UC Berkeley, you'd better believe they know exactly what they are talking about.
  • DLynne88
    DLynne88 Posts: 10
    I am not familiar with the water stored topic but i was once told that when a body loses inches and not weight that it is actually your body increasing muscle mass at he same time losing fat. Is that true?
    and i agree...scales to mock...lol...
  • firemanfive0
    firemanfive0 Posts: 228 Member
    I am not familiar with the water stored topic but i was once told that when a body loses inches and not weight that it is actually your body increasing muscle mass at he same time losing fat. Is that true?
    and i agree...scales to mock...lol...

    DLynne here is an article that may help answer your question

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/adding-muscle-while-losing-fat-qa.html
  • DLynne88
    DLynne88 Posts: 10
    Thanks:smile:
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    I am not familiar with the water stored topic but i was once told that when a body loses inches and not weight that it is actually your body increasing muscle mass at he same time losing fat. Is that true?
    and i agree...scales to mock...lol...

    In a deficit is is most likely water weight and/or water/glycogen in your muscles.
  • vanguardfitness
    vanguardfitness Posts: 720 Member
    That is because water is more dense than fat
  • tamdro10
    tamdro10 Posts: 1
    :smile:
  • technicalman
    technicalman Posts: 23 Member
    i've looked this up on actual medical and science websites that discuss it and the Woosh effect doesn't seem to be real. General chat websites seem to believe this as an effect. in my experience, the body retains a few lbs of water and loses water on a regular basis. one example is to weigh your self before bed and then weigh yourself in the morning. you can easily lose two lbs overnight, but you'll gain it back as your day starts and you eat and drink. women have more severe symptoms due to female specific things.
  • soldiergrl_101
    soldiergrl_101 Posts: 2,205 Member
    I do IF 16:8 or 18:6 on top of Keto and keeping my calories low. In the first month I dropped 35lbs. This month I dropped between 5-10. But I am drinking 15 bottles of water a day, 6 right before bed to keep myself feeling full. When I wake upno weight has been lost according to the scale. But in reality, I am pretty sure because I am drinking so much water my body is showing that I havent lost weight when in reality its just the water I am holding. Whether or not thats true i am not sure but it helps me sleep better at night
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,162 Member
    technicalman wrote: »
    i've looked this up on actual medical and science websites that discuss it and the Woosh effect doesn't seem to be real. General chat websites seem to believe this as an effect. in my experience, the body retains a few lbs of water and loses water on a regular basis. one example is to weigh your self before bed and then weigh yourself in the morning. you can easily lose two lbs overnight, but you'll gain it back as your day starts and you eat and drink. women have more severe symptoms due to female specific things.

    Yes, it's a zombie thread. 🙄 2013, for heaven's sake.

    Research assessment wise, here's a question: How big were the studies? How long? Got any cites?

    Anecdotally, here, *some* people report whoosh-style loss, some people report never having seen a personal whoosh (I'm one of the latter). If you had my back to a wall, I'd *guess* that it's a minority of people here who've reported having routine whooshes (i.e., more than once or twice kind of thing). If something is happening in a smaller population sub-group, or sometimes but not always, you need a larger study or a longer one to observe it at a statistically significant level.

    Your list of possible reasons for water weight shifts is quite incomplete, but I think you realize that (others may not).

    Just for the sake of argument, let's say you're right, and fat cells don't hold water then suddenly release it. Let's say the people who observe whoosh phenomena in themselves are misattributing the causes.

    Do you dispute their observed phenomena, think they're misrepresenting that their weight held steady for a surprising length of time, then suddenly dropped, didn't rise to the previous high again as long as they kept weight-loss effort compliance? Deceiving themselves? Lying, even?

    If they're accurately reporting their observed phenomena, then I think telling other people about their observations on a weight loss site is potentially helpful, to encourage others to keep going through phases of unusual water retention or digestive contents fluctuations or whatever . . . even if they're regrettably misattributing the underlying mechanisms. (It would be better to understand the mechanisms accurately, too, if they're not, of course.)

    Also, FWIW, a chunk of your fat weight is lost overnight, through exhalates, though it's usually not enough to show up clearly on the home scale. All of what you lost overnight doesn't come back when you eat/drink, in that sense, if you stay on track. It just takes a while for the very gradual fat loss to stop playing peek-a-boo on the scale with water/waste.

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