Water weight

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sherlocked185
sherlocked185 Posts: 16 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Ok so ive just started, like literally, (5 days ago) and I've lost like 12lbs. Is this water weight? Ive dropped my intake down to 1200 calories per day. Upped my water and lowered my sodium. Also, does water weigh more then fat?

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  • Laurend224
    Laurend224 Posts: 1,748 Member
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    Yes. It's water weight.
  • sherlocked185
    sherlocked185 Posts: 16 Member
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    Easy enough. Thanks. As long as the scale keeps dropping. That makes me happy.
  • glowgirl14
    glowgirl14 Posts: 200 Member
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    Some of it might be fat loss, but most is water weight. It should level off in a week or two and then you'll start the frustrating part. ;)

    Why are you eating so little? With 91lbs to lose, you are probably starving on that! Have you read about TDEE and BMR? If not, read through this...

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/912920

    Good luck! :)
  • sherlocked185
    sherlocked185 Posts: 16 Member
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    I don't feel like Im eating too little. I eat within my means and I drink loads of water in between and during meals. I feel full after every one. I just started incorporating exercise into the routine. Which lets me eat more. (Score!) I know my BMR and I've just recently read up on TDEE. Am I doing something wrong?
  • sherlocked185
    sherlocked185 Posts: 16 Member
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    Plus, I really just use the 1200 as a guideline. I'm not consumed by following it to a tee. I go over or sometimes I'm under. As long as I feel satisfied and I don't feel like I can eat a horse at the end of the night. Then I should be ok. Correct? :)
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    sherlocked185 wrote: »
    Plus, I really just use the 1200 as a guideline. I'm not consumed by following it to a tee. I go over or sometimes I'm under. As long as I feel satisfied and I don't feel like I can eat a horse at the end of the night. Then I should be ok. Correct? :)

    If you are also getting enough nutrients, then yes, you should be okay. If you start getting overly hungry, then eat a little more.
  • wilsoncl6
    wilsoncl6 Posts: 1,288 Member
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    If you just started 5 days ago, vast majority of that is water weight although some portion of it is likely body fat. Women experience larger swings in water retention than men due to a lot of different factors. I've dropped up to 5 lbs in one day due to water retention but 8 lbs for a woman is not unheard of.
  • glowgirl14
    glowgirl14 Posts: 200 Member
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    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    sherlocked185 wrote: »
    Plus, I really just use the 1200 as a guideline. I'm not consumed by following it to a tee. I go over or sometimes I'm under. As long as I feel satisfied and I don't feel like I can eat a horse at the end of the night. Then I should be ok. Correct? :)

    If you are also getting enough nutrients, then yes, you should be okay. If you start getting overly hungry, then eat a little more.

    I agree to an extent, but also have been down the 1200 calorie road quite often. It works for a while, but sometimes it can really mess your metabolism up. Your body will adjust to almost anything after a while. :) I don't have a lot left to lose, and if I eat 1200 calories, I will not lose weight...At 5'4 and 117lbs, I had to eat 1600-1800 cals a day when I was running.
  • xcalygrl
    xcalygrl Posts: 1,897 Member
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    While eating 1200 calories isn't bad (for the most part), it's better to eat more if you can still lose on higher calories. 1200 calories is the minimum you should consume since it is hard to get all the nutrients your body needs under that level.

    As you lose, the amount of calories you need decreases. As your body's needs decrease, you will need to eat less and less to keep losing. If you start out eating 1200 calories, you are going to be in a tough spot when your body's needs decrease and the weight loss slows. So, if you can get away with eating 1500-2000 calories a day and still lose, that's the better bet so that when your weight loss slows you can drop down another 100 to start losing again.
  • sherlocked185
    sherlocked185 Posts: 16 Member
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    Xcalydrl, thanks so much. This makes perfect sense. :)
  • sherlocked185
    sherlocked185 Posts: 16 Member
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    sherlocked185 wrote: »
    Xcalydrl, thanks so much. This makes perfect sense. :)

    Xcalygrl. ** sorry for the misspell.
  • rbfdac
    rbfdac Posts: 1,057 Member
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    xcalygrl wrote: »
    While eating 1200 calories isn't bad (for the most part), it's better to eat more if you can still lose on higher calories. 1200 calories is the minimum you should consume since it is hard to get all the nutrients your body needs under that level.

    As you lose, the amount of calories you need decreases. As your body's needs decrease, you will need to eat less and less to keep losing. If you start out eating 1200 calories, you are going to be in a tough spot when your body's needs decrease and the weight loss slows. So, if you can get away with eating 1500-2000 calories a day and still lose, that's the better bet so that when your weight loss slows you can drop down another 100 to start losing again.

    This, exactly. You definitely need to start out eating more. Eat as much as you can to still lose weight until you plateau, then drop down a little.
  • fougamou
    fougamou Posts: 200 Member
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    I started out at 1200, the weight loss at that level gave me the mental "boost" to keep going in the first few weeks. I did increase it after a while

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