Got food poisoning and lost 5 pounds in three days. Is this real weight loss?

allyyyson
allyyyson Posts: 22 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I haven't logged into here in years. I've yo-yoed so many times, including 60lbs+. I got from 176lbs to 117 in 2014, but for a year I've been 136... at least I didn't gain back everything.


Anyway, I got severe food poisoning from bad scallops. I couldn't keep anything down without vomitting, and went to the bathroom about 40 times in that time frame. I was in so much pain, weak and dizzy, I was crying.


Yesterday, I decided to fast until this stopped. If I ate nothing then I couldn't stay sick. I tracked my steps and due to my very physically demanding job, I walked 7 miles in 4 hours on no food.


I weighed myself and I am 131. Five pounds since 2-3 days ago. I finally ate today - plain ramen noodles with no sauce packet and yogurt... something easy to digest.


Will this loss stay? I am no longer sick, but I would love for that to stay off. Thank you.

Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    It's probably mainly water so it'll come back.
  • afatpersonwholikesfood
    afatpersonwholikesfood Posts: 577 Member
    You'll probably gain some of that back. You're likely dehydrated, and you don't have much food volume in you at the moment. You'd have to have a total deficit of 17,500 calories to lose 5 pounds.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Another vote for water weight rather than fat.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,331 Member
    Much of it will be water, some will be body weight. That means some will come back, but not all if you stay at a calorie deficit.
  • change4char
    change4char Posts: 85 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    It's probably mainly water so it'll come back.

    I agree, you have no food in your system and you've lost a lot of the water your body was holding onto. So, most likely will come back. But that isn't a bad thing as losing weight this way is not healthy!

    (Disclaimer: by no means am I an expert)
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    water
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    Besides it probably being water weight, your body can fluctuate by 5 lbs a day anyway.
  • Pawsforme
    Pawsforme Posts: 645 Member
    Sheer guess, but I'd say at the most you probably lost around a pound. The rest is almost certainly due to dehydration and having your system completely empty. It will almost certainly be "regained" once you're adequately rehydrated and start eating again.
  • allyyyson
    allyyyson Posts: 22 Member
    cee134 wrote: »
    Besides it probably being water weight, your body can fluctuate by 5 lbs a day anyway.

    This is different though... I haven't been 131 in probably a year. Mainly 134-137 fluctuating is normal for me.


    I think it is probably water, but with the fasting, vomitting and working during that, I think maybe one pound could be real. I hope that at least.

  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    I've had food poisoning where I couldn't eat or keep liquids down for a couple of days (managed to keep ginger ale down just shy of an emergency hospital trip). By the time a day or two had passed where I was at least able to drink normally, I had lost about a pound.

    Now, since the food poisoning left me barely able to tolerate food for a month or so, I subsequently lost a whole lot more. Also was to weak to stand for more than a half hour at a time. Don't recommend it.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    ^^ this! Drink some Gatorade if you can't keep anything down.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    Obviously it's fluid loss, not fat loss. Be sure to get yourself rehydrated as soon as you can tolerate it. Get well soon!
  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,745 Member
    edited July 2016
    You're dehydrated. Yes, you could have lost a bit of fat which your body burned for survival when you weren't able to take in food, but it won't be much, and your body will want to put it back on again right away. If it were me, I'd let it do that rather than trying to capitalise on the loss, and leave weight loss until you're completely recovered and back on an even keel. Be kind to your body, it's trying its best to look after you.

    Also once you rehydrate you could see some weight increase, sometimes the body needs to retain water during and after an illness as part of the healing process. Illness in general does strange things to your water levels. Don't panic, give it time to settle.
  • allyyyson
    allyyyson Posts: 22 Member
    newmeadow wrote: »
    If you look better in a tailored pair of pants, that's all that matters. How do you know it was scallops? I'd be more concerned about how I got the food poisoning...


    Thank you everyone. But how I knew, is that me, my parents and grandparents went and got seafood at a restaurant. Me and my dad both got the scallops, and only the two of us got food poisoning at the same time.
  • snerggly
    snerggly Posts: 112 Member
    I agree with everyone else. h20 weight comes back after a bunch of water.

    anyhow, I am so sorry you got sick like that, it must have been awful! Hopefully you notified the restaurant?

    Take care!
  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,745 Member
    I feel I should add, Get Well Soon.
  • angerelle
    angerelle Posts: 175 Member
    edited July 2016
    Why were you at work when you were suffering from food poisoning!?
  • allyyyson
    allyyyson Posts: 22 Member
    angerelle wrote: »
    Why were you at work when you were suffering from food poisoning!?

    My last time throwing up was around 3pm and last bathroom emergency was 5 I work night shift and went in at 7pm, and thankfully besides some pain did not throw up after that, due to me fasting...

  • Dejahvu04
    Dejahvu04 Posts: 18 Member
    So this is weird but once I got Noravirus and lost 10 pounds in 4 days. Here's the weirder part, it actually stayed off and jumped started my weight loss this has happened to me twice. So weird.
  • allenpriest
    allenpriest Posts: 1,102 Member
    Call your local health department to report the food poisoning. They monitor such incidents.
  • kthompson601
    kthompson601 Posts: 174 Member
    You'll probably gain it all back. Back in the winter I had a terrible stomach bug and spent 12 hours throwing up. I lost 5 pounds in 24 hours (I got ill the day I always weigh, so for comparison I weighed the next day and had lost 5 pounds). I gained it all back in a week or so, though, and then was able to resume my regular weight loss (and have lost about 20 pounds since then).

    You're mainly water, you know--anywhere from 65 to 75 percent of you is water right now. If you are vomiting or have severe diarrhea, you're losing a ton of water. 1 gallon of water weighs 8 pounds.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,992 Member
    Unless you burned over 17,000 calories over your TDEE during that time, then it's just mostly water weight.

    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

Categories