So This Is A Little Weird

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... I'm not overly alarmed, but I'm trying to make sense of something...

I have been on mfp from the first week of January... MFP started me with a calorie goal of 1200, but that left me pretty hungry, so i raised it to 1400 myself.... I did not, at this point, have a food scale, or a bathroom scale, so I'm not sure what my starting weight was, but anyways, I lost at a decent rate, and started to feel some give in a lot of clothes that had been feeling pretty tight.

I got a food scale and bathroom scale in the middle of february, and at that time, clocked in at 185... Having my food scale, I opted for a slower weight loss rate (now that I can be more accurate about what i'm eating) and upped my calories to 1550... and that is where I have stayed.... up until last week, I had come down about another 5 lbs. So 5 lbs a month, more or less.

Cut to this week.... last weekend, I ate about 500-600 calories over my goal twice in a row... and it was all terrible wonderful awful food like Pizza, and fried chicken etc. So naturally i was expecting a temporary bump up in the scale...

but i actually dropped 0.6 lbs the next morning
and 0.6 lbs the next morning
and 0.8 lbs the next morning
and and entire pound the next morning!
and then 0.2 pounds the next morning
and then 0.4 this morning...

I haven't changed my calorie intake at all during this time, and have even gone over by a couple of calories most days... The only thing, the only single thing that i have done differently is switch from eating eggs for breakfast, to oatmeal. but i have lost more than three lbs in a week? :o
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Replies

  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    Weight loss is funny, just keep going!!
  • Jamiempang
    Jamiempang Posts: 39 Member
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    Your calories were WAY too low to start with! You should eat as much as you can while still losing weight. Not that the pizza, fried chicken, etc is good for you! I have noticed myself that sometimes having a cheat day/treat day will actually help me through a hump and help me drop more. Keep tracking. Keep those calories up to 1450-1550 for at least a couple of weeks and see what happens. Don't let yourself get so hungry you are starving! That is NOT good for your metabolism.
  • JustMissTracy
    JustMissTracy Posts: 6,338 Member
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    queenliz99 wrote: »
    Weight loss is funny, just keep going!!

    Yup, X2....sounds like you're doing amazing, I can't remember the last time I saw 5 lbs come off on one scale reading..lol! Keep up the hard work! xo
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,639 Member
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    Weight loss ISN'T linear. You can do the same exact thing next week and lose 1lbs or less. But the whole point is just to be on a consistent downward weight regardless of how each week goes.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

  • JustMissTracy
    JustMissTracy Posts: 6,338 Member
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    ninerbuff wrote: »
    Weight loss ISN'T linear. You can do the same exact thing next week and lose 1lbs or less. But the whole point is just to be on a consistent downward weight regardless of how each week goes.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

    LOL..I was just thinking the same thing...and she should be happy, I've seen the odd poster complain about 5 lb GAINS in two days...lol...downwards is good!
  • CassidyScaglione
    CassidyScaglione Posts: 673 Member
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    ninerbuff wrote: »
    Weight loss ISN'T linear. You can do the same exact thing next week and lose 1lbs or less. But the whole point is just to be on a consistent downward weight regardless of how each week goes.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

    LOL..I was just thinking the same thing...and she should be happy, I've seen the odd poster complain about 5 lb GAINS in two days...lol...downwards is good!

    I'm not complaining, I'm just trying to understand what the heck happened.
  • macgurlnet
    macgurlnet Posts: 1,946 Member
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    Hmm, what does your carb intake look like for the last week or so? If that and/or your sodium intake has been lower, then some of this might be water weight leaving.

    ~Lyssa
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,639 Member
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    ninerbuff wrote: »
    Weight loss ISN'T linear. You can do the same exact thing next week and lose 1lbs or less. But the whole point is just to be on a consistent downward weight regardless of how each week goes.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

    LOL..I was just thinking the same thing...and she should be happy, I've seen the odd poster complain about 5 lb GAINS in two days...lol...downwards is good!

    I'm not complaining, I'm just trying to understand what the heck happened.
    Some people restrict too many calories and homeostasis sits in. Influx extra energy and the body sometimes senses that with that availability, it doesn't need to conserve. Kinda how like a dam works in drought and excess rain.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

  • JustMissTracy
    JustMissTracy Posts: 6,338 Member
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    ninerbuff wrote: »
    Weight loss ISN'T linear. You can do the same exact thing next week and lose 1lbs or less. But the whole point is just to be on a consistent downward weight regardless of how each week goes.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

    LOL..I was just thinking the same thing...and she should be happy, I've seen the odd poster complain about 5 lb GAINS in two days...lol...downwards is good!

    I'm not complaining, I'm just trying to understand what the heck happened.

    Oh no, honey...don't take me wrong!! I know you're not complaining....maybe wrong word used...WORRYING might be better...lol!!!
  • HealthyGinny
    HealthyGinny Posts: 821 Member
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    Jamiempang wrote: »
    Your calories were WAY too low to start with! You should eat as much as you can while still losing weight. Not that the pizza, fried chicken, etc is good for you! I have noticed myself that sometimes having a cheat day/treat day will actually help me through a hump and help me drop more. Keep tracking. Keep those calories up to 1450-1550 for at least a couple of weeks and see what happens. Don't let yourself get so hungry you are starving! That is NOT good for your metabolism.

    +1
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
    edited March 2016
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    This is a common phenomenon that has been noticed when athletes carbo load before a race. They actually drop weight the next day, which is desirable to be lighter on race day. The science behind it is murky, and it doesn't work for everyone. But as others have pointed out, weight loss is not liner, and the calories still count, no matter what the scale says on one day.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    edited March 2016
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    You don't magically gain fat from eating the day before.

    Also pizza and fried chicken doesn't make you fat, eating too many calories of any food does.

    500-600 calories over your deficit in general means that you ate at maintenance for a couple days. Why would you gain weight from that?

    *edit because I have sausage fingers, touchscreen, and a retarded spell checker*
  • 6502programmer
    6502programmer Posts: 515 Member
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    It happens.. I'm down five pounds in three days ,and I was only at moderate deficits of 500 to 750 per day, not the 6000 that would be required to support that loss. Weight loss is completely non-linear, and your weight is the end result of a whole pile of processes, only one input of which (calories in) and one output (calories out) is in your control. Accept it and be glad to lose, but don't go thinking that you will keep doing it and keep losing. Post hoc ergo propter hoc and all that jazz. :smile:
  • CassidyScaglione
    CassidyScaglione Posts: 673 Member
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    Chieflrg wrote: »
    You don't magically gain fat from eating the say before.

    Also pizza and fried chicken doesn't make you fat, eating too much of any food does.

    500-600 calories over means in general that you at maintenance for a couple days. Why would you fail. Weight from that?

    I was thinking water retention more than actual weight gain, both days put me way over in sodium, and i generally do retain water after heavy sodium consumption...
    macgurlnet wrote: »
    Hmm, what does your carb intake look like for the last week or so? If that and/or your sodium intake has been lower, then some of this might be water weight leaving.

    ~Lyssa

    Normal. If anything, they will have been higher, since, as i said, I had some restaurant foods at the beginning of the week (lethal sodium) and have had more oatmeal than usual for breakfast...
  • CassidyScaglione
    CassidyScaglione Posts: 673 Member
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    ninerbuff wrote: »
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    Weight loss ISN'T linear. You can do the same exact thing next week and lose 1lbs or less. But the whole point is just to be on a consistent downward weight regardless of how each week goes.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

    LOL..I was just thinking the same thing...and she should be happy, I've seen the odd poster complain about 5 lb GAINS in two days...lol...downwards is good!

    I'm not complaining, I'm just trying to understand what the heck happened.
    Some people restrict too many calories and homeostasis sits in. Influx extra energy and the body sometimes senses that with that availability, it doesn't need to conserve. Kinda how like a dam works in drought and excess rain.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

    But is 1550 low? I have been eating at that level for about a month now... according to this: http://dailyburn.com/life/health/how-to-calculate-bmr/ my TDEE is 2071... meaning that I am 500 calories in deficit, which is a pretty normal number on here... I agree that MFP's number of 1200 is pretty dumb, but mine seems reasonable...
  • CassidyScaglione
    CassidyScaglione Posts: 673 Member
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    Post hoc ergo propter hoc and all that jazz.

    Breaking out the latin on me now?

  • 6502programmer
    6502programmer Posts: 515 Member
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    Breaking out the latin on me now?
    Sure thing. My dad was a Franciscan Latin teacher and I studied the language for five years. Id est quam volvam.
  • CassidyScaglione
    CassidyScaglione Posts: 673 Member
    edited March 2016
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    Breaking out the latin on me now?
    Sure thing. My dad was a Franciscan Latin teacher and I studied the language for five years. Id est quam volvam.

    Stop making me google things! The only latin i know is Corpus delicti... and i still get it confused with Corpus Christi :D : corpus-christi-south-texas.rend.tccom.966.544.jpeg
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    This is actually not weird. People on low calorie diets are subjecting themselves to stress, which raises cortisol, which is documented to cause water retention. When you increased your calories, your stress levels went down and so did the water weight.
  • CassidyScaglione
    CassidyScaglione Posts: 673 Member
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    This is actually not weird. People on low calorie diets are subjecting themselves to stress, which raises cortisol, which is documented to cause water retention. When you increased your calories, your stress levels went down and so did the water weight.

    But is a 500 calorie deficit that bad? It seems like pretty much the go to number for people on here, once they get sick of the initial 1200 setting that mfp gives them.