Is my weight loss real?

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shellshalla
shellshalla Posts: 263 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So the past few days I've really gotten back on track with my eating and exercise. My eating was back on track before that but i got my exercise on track. I've been super busy with 2 jobs and haven't had much time to eat at all the past few days. I've done 30-50 minutes of exercise the past few days (interval running or steep incline walking). My food diary is open to the public.

So.....I weighed in the have lost like 3 pounds and idk if i'ts real or not. I want to record it. But is it just becuase i've eaten so little of calories the past few days? Is it real weight loss? Thanks for any advice! :smile:

By the way...yes I know it's bad to eat low calories like I have been and I will be getting it up. :happy:

Replies

  • bree5291
    bree5291 Posts: 50
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    If you're basing your weight on the scale and the scale is dropping, then it's real! At least you recognize that you haven't been eating quite enough, and once you up your calories that number may fluctuate a little. But I would definitely say to record it, as long as you don't beat yourself up about it if it changes when you start to eat regularly again.
  • carrieliz81
    carrieliz81 Posts: 489 Member
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    IT'S REAL! Do it. Log it.
  • meggonkgonk
    meggonkgonk Posts: 2,066 Member
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    Just looked at your diary- You need to eat more!
  • TateFTW
    TateFTW Posts: 658 Member
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    The idea of not under eating has to do with keeping your metabolism from slowing. The good news is that this takes anywhere from 1-2 weeks to happen, depending on the person and how much they were eating before they went on a deficit.

    So, a few days of undereating isn't a big deal as long as you go ahead and get back up to your chosen deficit. It's probably true that most of the loss is water weight, and the lack of sleep along with exercising and under eating have probably shot your cortisol levels up, which will probably make your body hold on to fat for atleast a few days, but weight loss is weight loss and should be recorded.
  • shellshalla
    shellshalla Posts: 263 Member
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    Just looked at your diary- You need to eat more!

    Yes I know that, this was just the past few hectic days I've had.
  • mamacremers
    mamacremers Posts: 183 Member
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    it looks real. you're drinking plenty of water. I didn't look at what you ate but You need to eat more!!!!! make yourself eat, no matter how busy you are. You're making time to exercise, you can make time to eat!

    Also, you can create a recipe for that breakfast you make every day. then you can just add that recipe and you don't have to click on those four things you do every day.
  • freq18hz
    freq18hz Posts: 3
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    It's possible to lose weight by not eating enough and exercising rapidly, for sure. Think about it: Food has weight. Fat has weight. If you aren't eating much, you are taking in less, and will therefore weigh less in the morning. Exercise burns calories and stored energy. That energy is stored in fat and muscle, and when you exercise you burn it off, just like a candle. This equals weight loss. Also, if you eat less, you tend to drink less fluids, and you retain less water because you ingest less salt.

    Is this real weight loss? You do weigh less, so in that sense yes. But is this weight loss sustainable? Probably not.

    Part of losing weight is training your body to be an efficient fat burner. If you burn the candle at both ends by not taking in enough calories, and pushing yourself too hard with exercise, you freak your body out. It basically starts going into starvation mode, and makes you less efficient at storing and burning fat. You can read up on this, and find 10 different viewpoints that contradict each other. But here is what is known:

    Our bodies store different types of fat differently. People who are "in shape" and have "good metabolisms" are more efficient at storing energy in places where it can be accessed more quickly and efficiently. Saying that someone is "fat" really just means that they have an overabundant surplus of energy stored up, and its stored in places where it can't be used efficiently.

    What does this mean to you?

    As soon as you recover from your stint of overwork, and not eating, you will likely have a big binge meal, or generally start wanting to over eat, perhaps even slowly. And as depressing as it may sound, even if you behave, your body will do its best to slow down your weight loss and pack on the weight anyway.

    Another thing to keep in mind: Your body can only burn fat calories at a certain speed. If you aren't eating much, and you are exercising hard, your body will stop burning fat and start burning through blood sugar/glycogen stores. Basically, it starts eating muscle. And muscle weighs more than fat. Lots of people run into this where they try to lose weight too rapidly, start to see the scale move a bit, but they don't look any different. It's because they have started burning muscle. And when that happens you usually feel weak, and tend to want to eat sugary and high calorie foods. Basically you get into a cycle where you burn muscle, lose, eat the wrong stuff, and then put the weight back on again. Yo-yo to the max.

    The best thing for you to do, would be to eat a balanced diet every day, and get an hour of moderate to vigorous exercise 5 times per week. Looking at your diary, you aren't getting enough healthy fat. Try to work things in like avocado, olive oil, and peanut butter (no sugar added). These foods are high calorie for how much you get to eat of them, but your body needs good fat in order to be fueled up properly. Also with your veggies make sure you are getting enough iron and rich nutrients. Raw spinach leaves and broccoli are amazing. Broccoli has a lot of carbs for a vegetable too, so it helps to keep you feeling full.

    Good luck!

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