Yes, it's water weight. Carbohydrates hold on to a lot of water, and when you reduce your carbs, you ultimately reduce your glycogen stores, which reduces your weight without necessarily having an impact on your body fat amount.

It's definitely encouraging to see that "jump start," but do keep in mind that it will very likely slow down and may stop entirely temporarily by the end of your first month. Don't be discouraged if/when that happens. Just remember what else it's doing for you (like keeping you from snacking), and keep going. The scale will start moving again.

That said, you might want to talk to your doctor about getting your cortisol level checked (ask for the saliva test). Depo is known to increase cortisol levels. Usually, it goes down naturally on its own when you stop, but it might also start a hormonal feedback loop that keeps it higher (especially since cortisol and all of the sex hormones are steroid hormones and can largely be converted to one another), especially if you have other stressors in your life, which can hinder your weight loss. If it is running a little high, a short time on something like Phosphatidyl Serine (a supplement known to reduce cortisol and stress) might be beneficial.

Congrats @kiely32! Those big "whooshes" of initial weight loss are exciting!

I highly recommend measuring yourself as you go, too, because it's quite common to lose inches while you're not losing pounds on this WOE. Have you been measuring?

One more thing: if you're not doing so already, you'll probably need to increase your salt, potassium and magnesium intake to stave off the "low carb flu". Veterans can probably describe this better than I can, but in a nutshell, losing all that water means your kidneys dump a bunch of electrolytes, too, and you can get too low on them. If you start feeling lightheaded, that's probably what's going on.

Congrats again, and best of luck!

I suggest that you take your measurements. After my initial water weight loss, the scale reading did not change for a month. Lost 7 inches, though.

Even with the olives in brine and bacon you may still need additional salt, potassium and magnesium. I eat a ton of salt, like I literally salt lunch meat, and I still needed to add more in. Pickle juice helped a lot when I was feeling off. If you start cramping or getting muscle twitches add in a magnesium citrate supplement.

So happy for you! Keep up the good work!

glossbones wrote: »

I take two magnesium supplements before bed and it's not that unusual for me to still wake with leg cramps overnight.

Same with my wife -- I had her try Mg supplements for a while with no change. It's usually dehydration for her. For some reason, she just doesn't drink enough water and wakes up with leg cramps.

I gave up coffee (couldn't find a sweetener that I liked) so I have a big mug of chicken bouillon for coffee break at work.
The guys say " Oh that smells good." 700mg sodium down the hatch.

kiely32 wrote: »

I just find bouillon makes me, uncomfortably, thirsty. Though that would have been with my normal diet...

Ture, but I increase my step count walking to the water cooler to refill my water bottle.

glossbones wrote: »

wabmester wrote: »

glossbones wrote: »

I take two magnesium supplements before bed and it's not that unusual for me to still wake with leg cramps overnight.

Same with my wife -- I had her try Mg supplements for a while with no change. It's usually dehydration for her. For some reason, she just doesn't drink enough water and wakes up with leg cramps.

I drank 180 oz of water yesterday, took my Mg, and still had cramps this morning.

What's your potassium intake like? Could be the culprit.