Whoosh Effect?

amy_ross86
amy_ross86 Posts: 38 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Something strange I've been noticing as I've really been paying attention to my body and REALLY noticed it yesterday. I'm new to calorie deficits. I've been picking up my fitness hula hoop again as I've started this journey to help tone muscles as I hope to lose so I'm not just "skinny fat". I've been doing well for almost 2 weeks and drink 3 to 4 liters of water a day. Last night when I was done hooping my stomach looked almost "lumpy" and a lot less firm. Anyone else notice this?! It was obvious which I thought was strange. Of course I Google ( I should really quit that) and came across a whoosh Effect. It basically states your fat cells release triglycerides and hold onto water giving you no loss on the scale and a squishy fat sensation and then all of the sudden at some point releases that water and gives you weight loss and you seem to look more firm. Hm. Interesting

Replies

  • JustSomeEm
    JustSomeEm Posts: 20,271 MFP Moderator
    You found the whooshes and squishy-fat article. :) Yeah, this is a thing that many folks notice. I never noticed the squishy-fat thing, but I did notice sudden drops in weight when I was losing.

    And don't quit googling! ;)
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Here's a link for others who are interested: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/of-whooshes-and-squishy-fat.html/
  • JustSomeEm
    JustSomeEm Posts: 20,271 MFP Moderator
    I hadn't seen that graphic @kshama2001. Thanks for sharing. :)
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    JustSomeEm wrote: »
    I hadn't seen that graphic @kshama2001. Thanks for sharing. :)

    I saw it first when @Christine_72 posted it :)
  • amy_ross86
    amy_ross86 Posts: 38 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Each month, I can count on a whoosh exactly a week after my period starts.

    You know that's funny because mine started last Tuesday. I noticed I wasn't craving "bad" good but felt super hungry randomly without changing my calorie intake
  • amy_ross86
    amy_ross86 Posts: 38 Member
    I should try that next month
  • jamacianredhair
    jamacianredhair Posts: 230 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Each month, I can count on a whoosh exactly a week after my period starts.

    Same here. I didn't start experienceing it until I got closer to goal.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    Yes. I don't get the same squishy fat Lyle describes...My fat gets kind of melty/hangy looking. Then I'll drop a couple pounds all at once. I do not lose in a linear fashion anymore.
  • amy_ross86
    amy_ross86 Posts: 38 Member
    arditarose wrote: »
    Yes. I don't get the same squishy fat Lyle describes...My fat gets kind of melty/hangy looking. Then I'll drop a couple pounds all at once. I do not lose in a linear fashion anymore.

    Yes! That's how I would describe it looked bumpy and almost saggy. This morning was better, lost .5 pounds so nothing significant. I've been extremely thirsty today and going to the restroom a lot so I'm interested to see what will go on! I usually drink 100 ounces a day of water and today I'm almost up to 150
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    I didn't want to start a new discussion so I pulled this one out of the ether.
    I had what seemed to be a whoosh day yesterday. My calories were normal, but I wasn't drinking a lot of water. It seemed I was urinating extra, something more than I remembered drinking in recent hours. This morning I weighed 2 lb less than yesterday. Looking back on my reports for weight, I seem to detect a 2-week cycle of these whoosh days going back a few months. From August 1 to yesterday morning my weight had declined by 0.4 lb. I was so concerned that I spent yesterday morning creating a spreadsheet counting all my calories since July 22, a 3000 calorie day, to yesterday. In the time since July 22, my calories had been consistently within my plan parameters. The total calorie deficit in that time predicted a weight loss of over 3 lb. My actual weight loss was barely over 2 lb. When I added the calories burned from exercises I claimed, the predicted weight loss became greater than 4 lb. For the rest of yesterday, I doubted the validity of my claiming exercise calories for grocery shopping and standing at a desk.
    Since a lot of us experience this, I just want to post this to advise all to stay on the program, stay patient. It'll happen.
  • Summerberry1012
    Summerberry1012 Posts: 109 Member
    Yes, I've experienced the whoosh effect a few times during my weight loss this year. The first time I noticed looking leaner almost overnight, it was weird but then I figured it out via Google, lol! Love when it happens!
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
    And yes, lumpy, bumpy and jiggly are all part of the process. Just keep going and it gets better.
  • eringrace95_
    eringrace95_ Posts: 296 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    Each month, I can count on a whoosh exactly a week after my period starts.

    Same here! I'll retain right before and during, and then a week after its the whoosh!
  • afatpersonwholikesfood
    afatpersonwholikesfood Posts: 577 Member
    I dunno about squishy fat, but I started losing in whooshes about 40 pounds ago. Always lost pretty consistently until that point. I have large whooshes followed by 3 weeks of blah.
  • auzziecawth
    auzziecawth Posts: 244 Member
    I find I also get really really hungry a day or two before a 'whoosh' it's weird. Probably just a weird coincidence....
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,641 Member
    It seems I'm a woosher. I didn't have a menstrual cycle until April when I changed my birth control, so I was having small, consistent drops pretty much every week for over a year. Now that I have a cycle, I'll lose very little for a couple of weeks, stall completely for the couple of weeks before my period, then right before it hits, *woosh* 4 lbs in 3 days.
  • stephallen139
    stephallen139 Posts: 3 Member
    This happened to me and freaked me out. One morning about a week or so after my cycle started I woke up and went to the restroom and urinated quite a bit (as one does after sleeping all night). Laid back down, woke up about a half hour later and repeated the morning "go". Since then, about 5 days ago, I'm down 5.2 pounds. I've been doing bootcamp 4 days a week for 5 weeks (and lost about 3 pounds) but didn't start really eating clean until this week. I'm not happy about losing that much that quickly but I'm glad I came across this as it makes me feel so much better!
  • KiyaK
    KiyaK Posts: 519 Member
    Glad to have found this thread. I recently went off birth control that kept me from getting a period for the last few years. My weight has been doing some strange things, so I decided to stay off the scale for a while. Reading through these posts & how the weight changes are connected to monthly cycles is definitely going to help me in the mental game. Thanks for sharing everyone!
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,641 Member
    KiyaK wrote: »
    Glad to have found this thread. I recently went off birth control that kept me from getting a period for the last few years. My weight has been doing some strange things, so I decided to stay off the scale for a while. Reading through these posts & how the weight changes are connected to monthly cycles is definitely going to help me in the mental game. Thanks for sharing everyone!

    Yay, twinsies! I went from a combination pill to progestin-only.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    I lost 4lbs overnight last week, i didn't get any signs that it was coming. But i noticed i pee'd so much the day after, like every 15 minutes. I'm doing the whoosh backward.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    KiyaK wrote: »
    Glad to have found this thread. I recently went off birth control that kept me from getting a period for the last few years. My weight has been doing some strange things, so I decided to stay off the scale for a while. Reading through these posts & how the weight changes are connected to monthly cycles is definitely going to help me in the mental game. Thanks for sharing everyone!

    Yeah. Don't sweat it. Now that you are ovulating again you're going to see some swings too. I took plan B last month and I gained 5lbs overnight. Bleh on so many levels.
  • KiyaK
    KiyaK Posts: 519 Member
    arditarose wrote: »
    KiyaK wrote: »
    Glad to have found this thread. I recently went off birth control that kept me from getting a period for the last few years. My weight has been doing some strange things, so I decided to stay off the scale for a while. Reading through these posts & how the weight changes are connected to monthly cycles is definitely going to help me in the mental game. Thanks for sharing everyone!

    Yeah. Don't sweat it. Now that you are ovulating again you're going to see some swings too. I took plan B last month and I gained 5lbs overnight. Bleh on so many levels.

    Yeah, I don't know why it didn't cross my mind that having steady hormones was making my weightloss go so smoothly... damn...

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