Waiting on a Whoosh

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firecracker27
firecracker27 Posts: 13
in Health and Weight Loss
I know it's coming.

I can feel my body retaining fluid in strange places, I've stayed the same weight for 10 days, despite upping my cardio and cutting my deficit. I've held onto 3 extra lbs from a cheat weekend that was *nowhere near* 10k extra calories. I look back in my diary to previous instances of this phenomenon and see a ~6.5 lb drop after each instance.

But the SUSPENSE. IS. KILLING ME.

Anyone else lose weight in patterns like this? Do you guys do anything special to prompt the magical "whoosh"? Any tips for waiting it out? Tried some scotch last night to no avail, constantly forcing down water today. We'll see if that does the trick.

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  • Stage14
    Stage14 Posts: 1,046 Member
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    Mine always comes in little whooshes so far, at least this time around. :) I regularly go a couple of weeks without losing weight, then suddenly BAM, I'm 3-5lbs down. As long as it's going in a downward pattern, I don't sweat it too much. But it can definitely be frustrating!

    I have found that drinking a ton of water seems to help hurry it a long a little bit. I get a good amount of water most days anyway, but if I make it a point to basically drink nothing but water for a few days, the scale will usually drop. I have no clue if it's actually the water or just coincidence though.
  • candiceh3
    candiceh3 Posts: 379
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    Yep... impatiently waiting...
  • tindy5799
    tindy5799 Posts: 221 Member
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    mine seem to come after I up my calories so maybe have a day of 500 extra cals, instead of cutting cals and doing more cardio. Your body stops trying to hoard the weight when it seems to be getting enough cals.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
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    Pretty typical and happens to me every 3 weeks or so. Sometimes longer. I'll stay at roughly the same weight and then one day I wake up 3lbs lighter.

    Why are you trying to rush it along? Are you trying to make weight for a fight or something?
  • firecracker27
    firecracker27 Posts: 13
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    mine seem to come after I up my calories so maybe have a day of 500 extra cals, instead of cutting cals and doing more cardio. Your body stops trying to hoard the weight when it seems to be getting enough cals.

    Good point! I know there's a lot of science to support this, especially if the extra calories include some dry carbs. I'll give it a shot in two or three days if the weight's still around.
  • firecracker27
    firecracker27 Posts: 13
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    Pretty typical and happens to me every 3 weeks or so. Sometimes longer. I'll stay at roughly the same weight and then one day I wake up 3lbs lighter.

    Why are you trying to rush it along? Are you trying to make weight for a fight or something?

    College student + Halloween = some solid motivation, haha. It's not so much about the number on the scale (though seeing it go down does provide some motivation) - it's more that I look *noticeably* leaner the day after a whoosh. Something about all the water draining out of formerly fat-filled cells. Argh.

    Good to know that I'm not alone, though! Definitely also on the 3 week schedule.
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
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    Yes I know what you mean. Mine sometimes drops after a night out with a couple of drinks.
  • astronomicals
    astronomicals Posts: 1,537 Member
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    Am I the only one whose annoyed that this has happened before yet she still chose to increase her deficit?

    And by how much?
  • albertine58
    albertine58 Posts: 267 Member
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    Yup- I pretty much lose weight once a week in a "whoosh"- I'll be the same weight all week and then it all drops at once (well not really, duh, it's water balance). Yesterday I lost 2 lbs from morning to evening, and it's still off today so it's not a fluke (and I've been drinking plenty of water, I'm not dehydrated). Our bodies are weird! I know exactly what you mean about the suspense. It's so frustrating! I'd rather lose 0.2 every day than have to wait and doubt myself. But the whoosh always comes! :)

    ETA- don't let the frustration lead you to make drastic premature changes - seems like you upped cardio and increased deficit which might not be the best idea! I just keep plugging along on my normal plan and have faith the scale will reflect my progress soon enough.

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