How come you loose 2-3 after a run and sometimes nothing at all??

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mattlynch2015
mattlynch2015 Posts: 17 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
most of the time after I have been for a run I will see a 2-3 pound difference, usually after about 10 miles, this morning I went for a run and the scales where the same, what is the reason for this, water retention??

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  • ashleighmxxx
    ashleighmxxx Posts: 57 Member
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    Yeah, water retention sounds like this is why there is no change, this happens to me quite often which is why i go off my clothes & not the scales as it can be disapointing when your step on & theres no change.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,633 Member
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    Why bother weighing yourself after a run? You don't burn that much fat doing it.

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  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    mattlynch2015 wrote: »
    most of the time after I have been for a run I will see a 2-3 pound difference, usually after about 10 miles, this morning I went for a run and the scales where the same, what is the reason for this, water retention??

    What?

    That's bananas :disappointed:

    You don't really think that an individual run is responsible for weight loss (as in fat loss) do you?

    You're just looking at water weight fluctuations
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    Weigh yourself in the morning, after you wake up, after you've used the bathroom, before you've eaten something and naked

    Look at your trend in weight over 6-8 weeks

  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
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    Every time I've weighed in after a run I weigh more. I put that down to inflammatory responses of fluid going to muscle to repair it.
    It's strange to me that you'd normally see a drop but then I'm not someone that weighs daily. Are you hydrated enough?
  • crazyjerseygirl
    crazyjerseygirl Posts: 1,252 Member
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    My guess is water retention related to the weather. You must be a spritzer!

    Me? I puff up!
  • mae3599
    mae3599 Posts: 29 Member
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    I lost some weight after cardio because sweating I guess u are losing water retention only :)
  • nordlead2005
    nordlead2005 Posts: 1,303 Member
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    Assuming you weigh immediately before and after there are 3 possible results.

    1) you didn't replenish the water you lost due to sweat/breathing and you went down
    2) you did replenish exactly the amount you lost and your weight stayed the same
    3) you drank more than you needed and your weight went up.

    Yes, there is a very tiny amount of fat loss in there, but it will be noise compared to the water intake/loss.

    If your weight went up without drinking water and while sweating a lot, then your scale is not accurate.

    Really, I don't know why you would weigh after a run unless you were trying to see if you could run to lose enough weight to make a cutoff.
  • 7lenny7
    7lenny7 Posts: 3,493 Member
    edited August 2015
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    I'll often weigh myself before and after my morning weekend runs to see how much water weight I lost through sweat and breathing. It's not unusual for me to see a 4 pound loss, which is quickly regained after I drink a lot of water afterwards.
  • Kexessa
    Kexessa Posts: 346 Member
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    I weigh most times after skating only because it's nice to see that (temporary) 2-3lb loss from sweating. I am always outside in the Florida heat exercising though, so I'm sweating up a storm.
  • kozykondition1
    kozykondition1 Posts: 45 Member
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    Assuming you maintain the same level of hydration during the run, the weight loss is due to glycogen consumption. Your muscles replenish ATP (the primary fuel) by burning blood sugars and fats, glycogen, and stored fats. The ratio of those depends on your intensity and what's available. Blood volume does not change as you burn sugars and fats, so long as you maintain your hydration level. Stored fats weight 1 pound per kcal and never affect hydration. One gram of glycogen has a minimum of three grams of water mixed with it. One pound of glycogen/water only produces 400 calories. The water is released when you burn the glycogen (through sweat, urine, or respiration). There's normally only 3-5 pounds of glycogen/water in our bodies.

    So you lose those pounds more likely when you were well-fed the day before, have decent running intensity, and do not have a full stomach.
  • LuckyAndi
    LuckyAndi Posts: 203 Member
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    I experienced a similar situation this morning, and it really confused me.

    I'm on week 2 of using MFP so all of this is very new to me. Last night I walked 4.5 miles in just over an hour. I drank 17oz of water during and right after the walk then a little more throughout the few hours after. I weighed myself when I got home and was at 197.8. I weighed myself this morning and am at 195.7.

    Tomorrow is my official weigh in day, but I was curious because my clothes were feeling a lot looser. Should I expect a higher number tomorrow? Was this just water loss, too?
  • SaffronSunrise
    SaffronSunrise Posts: 182 Member
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    I've discovered that I can lose 2-4 lbs if I stop lifting for a week. The scale goes back up when I get back in the gym but it's only water so I don't worry about it. It's just interesting how our bodies work.
  • mbaker566
    mbaker566 Posts: 11,233 Member
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    my guess is it water related, hydrated v dehydrated. mostly

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