Did you gain water/glycogen weight when switching to maintenance?
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benevempress
Posts: 136 Member
There is a lot of talk on these boards about water/glycogen gains when changing from a calorie deficit to maintenance, and I'm curious as to whether this is a universal phenomenon that everyone experiences or if it is dependent on other factors. This is what I've seen in the message forums:
Since I don't expect many MFP users are scientists who can answer my questions about how this works and I didn't find anything in a google search, I'm asking for your personal experiences.
1) Did you eat any particular "diet" while losing (i.e. Low Carb, Paleo, Vegan, etc.), and did this change when we went to maintain? In other words, did your food choices change (if you were Low Carbing during weight loss did you increase your carbs) for maintenance?
2) Did your exercise regimen stay pretty much the same during the transition to maintenance, or did it increase or decrease significantly?
3) How much of a net calorie deficit were you using before switching to maintenance (including exercise calories)?
4) When you changed to maintenance, did you increase calories all at once or more gradually?
5) Did you gain water/glycogen weight when switching to maintenance? If so, a) How much? and b) Did that added weight stay (you either adapted your goal weight to the new number or had to restrict calories to get back to the original goal), or did it go away on it's own as your body got used to the new level of calories?
- Many people advise newbies to maintenance to increase their calories per day very slowly to avoid the water/glycogen weight gain that (apparently automatically) comes with increasing to maintenance calories. It isn't clear to me if this means the weight gain will still happen but it will be more gradual so it isn't noticable since the person is still in a deficit during the gradual increases or if it supposed to prevent the phenomenon entirely.
- One user told another the reason she was constantly hungry after 1.5 years of maintenance was because she never gained 5 pounds of water/glycogen so she's still depleted.
- At least one user said they didn't experience the scale increase at all.
- Other people said they purposely lost weight to below their target number to allow for maintenance at their target weight since they knew the glycogen restoration would put them higher.
- Others said they did get a scale increase, but it went away within a fairly short period of time (less than a month, I think).
Since I don't expect many MFP users are scientists who can answer my questions about how this works and I didn't find anything in a google search, I'm asking for your personal experiences.
1) Did you eat any particular "diet" while losing (i.e. Low Carb, Paleo, Vegan, etc.), and did this change when we went to maintain? In other words, did your food choices change (if you were Low Carbing during weight loss did you increase your carbs) for maintenance?
2) Did your exercise regimen stay pretty much the same during the transition to maintenance, or did it increase or decrease significantly?
3) How much of a net calorie deficit were you using before switching to maintenance (including exercise calories)?
4) When you changed to maintenance, did you increase calories all at once or more gradually?
5) Did you gain water/glycogen weight when switching to maintenance? If so, a) How much? and b) Did that added weight stay (you either adapted your goal weight to the new number or had to restrict calories to get back to the original goal), or did it go away on it's own as your body got used to the new level of calories?
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Great questions.
I've done pretty much all of them.
In a past life I've lost on low carb and been appalled how quickly the weight went back on. But this was before I knew about the glycogen thing.
I've also lost five pounds under what I needed, but because I wasn't on much of a deficit to start with I didn't gain much as I went to maintenance, then just went straight to a bulk.
I'm very into carbs and quite happy to have high water and glycogen weight as I'm only concerned with only fat loss nowadays.
I'm cutting very very slowly (100-200 calories unde my daily needs)and not expecting much water/glycogen gain at all if any, when I go to maintenance.
When I have a eat what I want day, I usually gain about 2% of my body weight but that goes down.
I don't know why people still struggle and panic about the concept of water/glycogen gain, there's so many posts about it.0 -
benevempress wrote: »There is a lot of talk on these boards about water/glycogen gains when changing from a calorie deficit to maintenance, and I'm curious as to whether this is a universal phenomenon that everyone experiences or if it is dependent on other factors. This is what I've seen in the message forums:
- Many people advise newbies to maintenance to increase their calories per day very slowly to avoid the water/glycogen weight gain that (apparently automatically) comes with increasing to maintenance calories. It isn't clear to me if this means the weight gain will still happen but it will be more gradual so it isn't noticable since the person is still in a deficit during the gradual increases or if it supposed to prevent the phenomenon entirely.
- One user told another the reason she was constantly hungry after 1.5 years of maintenance was because she never gained 5 pounds of water/glycogen so she's still depleted.
- At least one user said they didn't experience the scale increase at all.
- Other people said they purposely lost weight to below their target number to allow for maintenance at their target weight since they knew the glycogen restoration would put them higher.
- Others said they did get a scale increase, but it went away within a fairly short period of time (less than a month, I think).
Since I don't expect many MFP users are scientists who can answer my questions about how this works and I didn't find anything in a google search, I'm asking for your personal experiences.
1) Did you eat any particular "diet" while losing (i.e. Low Carb, Paleo, Vegan, etc.), and did this change when we went to maintain? In other words, did your food choices change (if you were Low Carbing during weight loss did you increase your carbs) for maintenance?
2) Did your exercise regimen stay pretty much the same during the transition to maintenance, or did it increase or decrease significantly?
3) How much of a net calorie deficit were you using before switching to maintenance (including exercise calories)?
4) When you changed to maintenance, did you increase calories all at once or more gradually?
5) Did you gain water/glycogen weight when switching to maintenance? If so, a) How much? and b) Did that added weight stay (you either adapted your goal weight to the new number or had to restrict calories to get back to the original goal), or did it go away on it's own as your body got used to the new level of calories?
1) No, just calorie deficit
2) Stayed the same, possibly went a bit harder because of increased energy
3) 500
4) All at once
5) Yes. a) about 8 pounds b) can't tell because I went into a bulk soon after.0 -
Don't think so. I was 2 pounds from my goal so I just basically started eating to maintenance a couple days a week and I went from losing 2-3 pounds a month to losing nothing, and just gaining and losing the same 2-3 pounds over and over again for 1.5 year... But now I'm still 3 pounds heavier after the Thanksgiving-Wedding-PMS-Christmas horror from 3 months ago, so maybe?
For the deficit, I honestly have no clue. I've been more active but it seems my TDEE decreased by 100 or something in the last 6 months (even with the added exercise) because I should have lost a couple pounds again but I never did (I typically have a small 700-1500 calorie deficit every week... supposedly).
So basically... I have no clue.2 -
1. Ate what I wanted carbs and all, just stayed within calorie goalsbenevempress wrote: »
1) Did you eat any particular "diet" while losing (i.e. Low Carb, Paleo, Vegan, etc.), and did this change when we went to maintain? In other words, did your food choices change (if you were Low Carbing during weight loss did you increase your carbs) for maintenance?
2) Did your exercise regimen stay pretty much the same during the transition to maintenance, or did it increase or decrease significantly?
3) How much of a net calorie deficit were you using before switching to maintenance (including exercise calories)?
4) When you changed to maintenance, did you increase calories all at once or more gradually?
5) Did you gain water/glycogen weight when switching to maintenance? If so, a) How much? and b) Did that added weight stay (you either adapted your goal weight to the new number or had to restrict calories to get back to the original goal), or did it go away on it's own as your body got used to the new level of calories?
2. increased, I was eating so few calories at the end of my weightloss I couldn't do much exercise other than walking.
3. 1000 calories a day
4. All at once
5. Yes. 4lbs and it went away after a week all on it's own.
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1) My main weight loss was following the 5:2 IF protocol. Also lost with other ways of eating. Never gone low carb. Never gone for big weekly deficit / fast loss. Same food, different quantities.
2) No significant change in exercise volume - always high.
3) Various deficits but mostly 1lb week, has been as slow a pound a month.
4) Tried both. No difference seen.
5) Never get a glycogen/water weight bounce - just normal fluctuations.
Key points:
Part of my exercise is endurance cardio (cycling) so keeping glycogen levels up is important for performance.
I never go for extended periods in a big calorie deficit.
I never go for extended periods without odd days at (at least) maintenance.
I don't go low carb.
I accept that weight fluctuates for all sorts of reasons and don't seek to micro-manage my weight.
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1 - No changes either direction.
2 - usually get better performance with less deficit, especially endurance, as those muscle glucose stores are willing to top off totally rather than at some lower level.
3 - 250 calories usually on average, so usually not much water weight to gain from increased stores.
4 - pre-maintenance my program was couple days eating at maintenance, rest at varying level of deficit, so body already used to it.
5 - 1 lb, but since endurance & performance went up too - probably more related to that.
That weight is going to stay as long as your are doing the workouts that asks your body to keep it.
Every end of fall entering winter I'll lose some weight after last running race and that training is basically done, switching to more lifting mode. Body doesn't need those stores anymore.
And as I switch from lifting to cardio focus in spring, gain it right back.
And if winter was bad while lifting with unintended bulking (in wrong way for some of it), that winter weight too.
Don't worry about.
You do cardio and your body also increases your blood volume for cooling and dealing with extra arteries supplying oxygen to more used muscle.
Is that bad weight you should hope to get rid of, even if mainly water weight?
Of course not, it's the side effect of your body improving from the exercise you are doing.
Except it - merely proof you are doing workouts right.
Besides - are you inviting people in to see you weigh naked in the morning that it matters exactly what the scale says? or doing MMA or such with weight class?
Fast water weight lost when starting a diet will mostly be gained back at the end - both water weight.0 -
LOL - for some it seems. At least the public pics aren't totally naked. The PM'd ones, ehhh....0
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[/quote]
1) No, just calorie deficit
2) Stayed the same, possibly went a bit harder because of increased energy
3) 500
4) All at once
5) Yes. a) about 8 pounds b) can't tell because I went into a bulk soon after.[/quote]
About the same here. Only difference is on #5 and I gained 6lbs and then went on a bulk.
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Please allow me to clarify that I am not worried about it at all. I'm well acquainted with the idea that just as my weight loss was not linear and had ups and downs, so will my maintenance weight.
I'm interested in the concept since I hadn't heard about it before I started reading the MFP boards. The so-called "whoosh" effect is another one that was new to me, but there is a long string about people's experiences with that so my curiosity was satisfied on that topic. Now I'm just trying to see what real life people have experienced regarding increasing calories after being at a deficit for a long time. When I hear about something new I am the sort of person to wonder, "If that is true, I wonder what causes it. Are certain circumstances more likely to lead to this effect?"
Thanks for indulging my "inquiring minds want to know" curiosity.
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I did not. I had slowed a LOT on weight loss before dropping those last 5 pounds and hitting maintainence. I upped by 250/day when I did hit it. I never gained anything.0
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1) Same, macros roughly equal
2) Same
3) 250
4) Gradually
5) No. I think it's because my deficit was small to begin with and I tapered. If I eat a big carb meal, though, I see it on the scale the next couple days. That has nothing to do with transitioning.
I agree with Springfield. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being fully hydrated and glycogen stocked. That's awesome!0 -
A few years ago I did the Dukan Diet (low carb/low fat/high protein) and when I switched to the Consolidation stage, I actually lost another pound or two. That really surprised me. Before babies, I lost 20 lbs with WW and I think the scale went up maybe 2 lbs when I switched to maintenance.
This time around I'm doing a low carb/high fat/adequate protein diet. I bumped up my calories 100/day a week or so ago and will go up another 100 calories next week and continue like that til I hit maintenance. The scale did bounce up 1-2 lbs (it's been waffling up and down day to day in a 2-lb range) but that's it. I'm staying relatively low carb/high fat though since this way of eating helped with some of my health issues (aching joints, reflux, PCOS/irregular cycles, etc.).0 -
benevempress wrote: »There is a lot of talk on these boards about water/glycogen gains when changing from a calorie deficit to maintenance, and I'm curious as to whether this is a universal phenomenon that everyone experiences or if it is dependent on other factors. This is what I've seen in the message forums:
- Many people advise newbies to maintenance to increase their calories per day very slowly to avoid the water/glycogen weight gain that (apparently automatically) comes with increasing to maintenance calories. It isn't clear to me if this means the weight gain will still happen but it will be more gradual so it isn't noticable since the person is still in a deficit during the gradual increases or if it supposed to prevent the phenomenon entirely.
- One user told another the reason she was constantly hungry after 1.5 years of maintenance was because she never gained 5 pounds of water/glycogen so she's still depleted.
- At least one user said they didn't experience the scale increase at all.
- Other people said they purposely lost weight to below their target number to allow for maintenance at their target weight since they knew the glycogen restoration would put them higher.
- Others said they did get a scale increase, but it went away within a fairly short period of time (less than a month, I think).
Since I don't expect many MFP users are scientists who can answer my questions about how this works and I didn't find anything in a google search, I'm asking for your personal experiences.
1) Did you eat any particular "diet" while losing (i.e. Low Carb, Paleo, Vegan, etc.), and did this change when we went to maintain? In other words, did your food choices change (if you were Low Carbing during weight loss did you increase your carbs) for maintenance?
2) Did your exercise regimen stay pretty much the same during the transition to maintenance, or did it increase or decrease significantly?
3) How much of a net calorie deficit were you using before switching to maintenance (including exercise calories)?
4) When you changed to maintenance, did you increase calories all at once or more gradually?
5) Did you gain water/glycogen weight when switching to maintenance? If so, a) How much? and b) Did that added weight stay (you either adapted your goal weight to the new number or had to restrict calories to get back to the original goal), or did it go away on it's own as your body got used to the new level of calories?
1. Not really a particular diet. Lower carb, but not low carb. Carbs were and still are around 30 to 40% of my macros. Fat is 30 to 40% and so is protein. It varies from day to day.
2. Exercise regimen is the similar or maybe slightly less intense cardio now. I lift heavy 3 times a week and do cardio about 5 days a week. I also go for walks a lot with my 19 month old DS.
3. I was around a 750 daily caloire deficit on average. Some days 1000, some 500, but it averaged out to 750ish.
4. I switched gradually. Went to a 500 daily it for a few weeks, then around 350, then around 250. Then maintenence. It would appear by my diary that I'm still at a 250 deficit, but I leave that as a buffer for inaccuracies in logging and my fitbit. So far I'm maintaining, but still might be losing fat (recomp).
5. I overshot my goal to account for this, but I didn't really put back as much water as I thought I would. Maybe 2lbs. But I fluctuate within those 2lbs daily. Some days I'm 105, some 106, some 107. Depends on the time of my cycle too.0 -
Let's think of the simple science behind this. This phenomenon is based on the temporary storage of water which is always temporary and not actually fat stores. The only thing that would cause the latter is an excess of calories which, in maintenance, one would not actually have. Therefore, the few lbs seen increased on the scale is really not permanent, will go away shortly and after all, insignificant.
For what it's worth, I did see the scale go up. About 3 lbs and slowly toggle back down over a few weeks.0 -
@mommanursemommarnurse wrote: »Let's think of the simple science behind this. This phenomenon is based on the temporary storage of water which is always temporary and not actually fat stores. The only thing that would cause the latter is an excess of calories which, in maintenance, one would not actually have. Therefore, the few lbs seen increased on the scale is really not permanent, will go away shortly and after all, insignificant.
For what it's worth, I did see the scale go up. About 3 lbs and slowly toggle back down over a few weeks.
No - the discussion is not about fat or calorie excess and the water/glycogen doesn't go away, it's the body returning to normal.0 -
benevempress wrote: »1) Did you eat any particular "diet" while losing (i.e. Low Carb, Paleo, Vegan, etc.), and did this change when we went to maintain? In other words, did your food choices change (if you were Low Carbing during weight loss did you increase your carbs) for maintenance?
2) Did your exercise regimen stay pretty much the same during the transition to maintenance, or did it increase or decrease significantly?
3) How much of a net calorie deficit were you using before switching to maintenance (including exercise calories)?
4) When you changed to maintenance, did you increase calories all at once or more gradually?
5) Did you gain water/glycogen weight when switching to maintenance? If so, a) How much? and b) Did that added weight stay (you either adapted your goal weight to the new number or had to restrict calories to get back to the original goal), or did it go away on it's own as your body got used to the new level of calories?
1) No special diet
2) No changes in exercise
3) 0.5 pounds/week
4) Gradual
5) No big increase just normal fluctuations. In fact it took me about a month to find out I was still losing weight and needed another 100 extra calories.
I do have some large swings in water weight at maintenance though. It usually happens after I have a much larger than normal meal, a really high sodium day, or if I drink alcohol.0 -
1. Simple calorie deficit with moderate carbs. Early in my diet I did a 30% carb/35% fat/35% protein. As I exercised more (weights + cardio) I changed my macros to 40% carbs/ 30% fat/30% protein.
2. Slight change in exercise by reducing cardio by 1 hour per week. Current schedule on maintenance is weights 3X and cardio 3Xs per week. I use a Fitbit and always do a minimum of 15,000 steps per day (including exercise).
3. While losing I had MFP set for 1200 cals/sedentary (I'm old, 66 and petite, 5'2.5") and ate back 3/4s of my exercise calories averaging around 1600 to 1800 calories per day.
4. Recently shifting to maintenance added a whopping 128 calories for maintenance (1328) plus exercise calories. I'm still eating in the same range of 1600 to 1800 calories depending on exercise.
5. Fluctuated up about 2 lbs and I'm waiting to see if that drops back down. I'm currently at 127 lbs.1 -
@mommanursemommarnurse wrote: »Let's think of the simple science behind this. This phenomenon is based on the temporary storage of water which is always temporary and not actually fat stores. The only thing that would cause the latter is an excess of calories which, in maintenance, one would not actually have. Therefore, the few lbs seen increased on the scale is really not permanent, will go away shortly and after all, insignificant.
For what it's worth, I did see the scale go up. About 3 lbs and slowly toggle back down over a few weeks.
No - the discussion is not about fat or calorie excess and the water/glycogen doesn't go away, it's the body returning to normal.
That's what this discussion is about, though. What are you trying to say exactly? The body is in a constant state of balance, while losing weight or not glycogen stores/use, water retention ETC. All ebb and flow on a daily basis. I do not believe it's "returning to normal" the water comes and goes and it's a temporary reactive mechanism (the few lbs seen increased on the scale after going to maint.) Such as how we see an increase on the scale after a hard weight lifting session or consuming a large salty calorie-dense meal.0 -
I believe @sijnomial was merely pointing out the OP was only asking about the idea about glucose stores - not the natural daily water fluctuations, not deviations from average sodium levels, not retained water for lifting repair - merely glucose stores on average.
So not even the daily fluctuations of those stores based on having perhaps a huge carb day compared to normal, or big endurance cardio day.
Merely the fact when you go into a diet those don't top off in the muscles to where they could be outside of a diet.
And when you stop dieting the body is willing to top them off again, and if doing more exercise now than prior, perhaps more than you had.
Obviously as some above have shown - skid into goal weight with minor deficit and you may not observe the effect because you've already topped them off.0
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