What's wrong with water weight??

gabbyo23
gabbyo23 Posts: 100 Member
edited November 13 in Health and Weight Loss
So I kind of get water weight. Trust me I've lost it many times. You lose a big whoosh of Wright when you first start dieting..I know I did. And I knew it was mostly water.

Now...I assume that is down to the fact I was eating a lot of junk containing salt which naturally dropped when I reduced my calories. Hence, I lost water that my body was clinging to. But I never gained it back?

This is where I get confused. Sometimes I lose more than expected in a week. And if I came on here and said "I've lost 3lbs in 2 days!!" You lot would all say it's just water weight, right? But I don't gain it back again. So as far as concerned that is still valid weight loss!

I hope this makes sense. Can someone clarify for me? What's wrong with water loss?

Why is it 'JUST' water weight? OK ok it's not fat. But if it makes you look thinner what's the issue?

Replies

  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    If you don't gain it back then its a real loss....(but weight does fluctuate normally for lots of different reasons) initially there is a whoosh so people can see higher losses in those first weeks but then the loss slows to a more normal rate. After all it takes being in deficit of 3500 calories to lose a single pound...

  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,745 Member
    Because there's a limit to it. Your water retention goes up and down in a limited range and can't affect the fat loss - it can only hide it. Whatever your water retention is doing, if you've got a steady deficit, you are steadily losing fat whether you can see it or not.

    In the case you mention, where you lose a lot of weight in a whoosh and don't gain it back, yes, some of that was fat. Some was water, and of course you do gain the water back - but probably at the same time as you lose more fat, so it looks like a stall. In fact it's nothing of the sort, the fat loss keeps going, but you're filling up your water tank at the same time so you can't see it.

    There's absolutely nothing wrong with water retention. It just is, and you need to keep the faith that you are still losing fat and not let the vagaries of water retention discourage you too much.
  • gabbyo23
    gabbyo23 Posts: 100 Member
    So...I have lost 4lbs this week. That's real weight loss then. But I can't possibly have eaten at a 14000 deficit? I'm not starving myself.

    I really think cico isn't quite as black and white as people make out that it is.
  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,745 Member
    No, you lost a bit of fat, and a bit of water happened to come off at the same time. In future you may lose less than you expected one week - assuming accurate logging, that's because you lost a bit of fat, but happened to gain some water at the same time.

    Maybe if I get time I'll draw a diagram of this, I think understanding it makes a big difference in terms of not getting discouraged.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
    gabbyo23 wrote: »
    So...I have lost 4lbs this week. That's real weight loss then. But I can't possibly have eaten at a 14000 deficit? I'm not starving myself.

    I really think cico isn't quite as black and white as people make out that it is.

    CICO is a simple equation describing an energy balance.

    Scale weight does not equal fat loss though. You have to account for water weight, food waste in transit and LBM loss (which you cannot accurately track).

    The best solution is to look at the bigger picture; weigh yourself daily/weekly and track your weights on an excel sheet or a weight trend app like Libra.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,687 Member
    gabbyo23 wrote: »
    So...I have lost 4lbs this week. That's real weight loss then. But I can't possibly have eaten at a 14000 deficit? I'm not starving myself.

    You have to look at the big picture. How much did you lose the week before? The week before that? The week before that?

  • gabbyo23
    gabbyo23 Posts: 100 Member
    trigden1991 wrote: »
    gabbyo23 wrote: »
    So...I have lost 4lbs this week. That's real weight loss then. But I can't possibly have eaten at a 14000 deficit? I'm not starving myself.

    I really think cico isn't quite as black and white as people make out that it is.

    CICO is a simple equation describing an energy balance.

    Scale weight does not equal fat loss though. You have to account for water weight, food waste in transit and LBM loss (which you cannot accurately track).

    The best solution is to look at the bigger picture; weigh yourself daily/weekly and track your weights on an excel sheet or a weight trend app like Libra.

    I do all of this
  • gabbyo23
    gabbyo23 Posts: 100 Member
    Machka9 wrote: »
    gabbyo23 wrote: »
    So...I have lost 4lbs this week. That's real weight loss then. But I can't possibly have eaten at a 14000 deficit? I'm not starving myself.

    You have to look at the big picture. How much did you lose the week before? The week before that? The week before that?

    I have always lost 1- 2lbs per week. I've never lost nothing and never gained so far. Two or three times I've had a big unexplainable drop of 3 or 4lbs.

    I'm 26, female, 5ft 4 and160lbs. I've lost 37lbs so far over roughly 3.5 months.
  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,745 Member
    But you've had weeks where you lost closer to 1lb than 2lb?

    That's when you gained the water weight, so it makes your weight loss look slower. Then when you lose water weight, you'll get these big unexpected drops.

    The water weight is coming and going all the time. It isn't random, but it's so complex it might as well be.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    There's nothing wrong with it. If we didn't lose water weight when going from overweight /obese to healthy weight, we'd look like big gushy flesh bags in the end.
  • Azdak
    Azdak Posts: 8,281 Member
    When people talk about "losing weight", what they almost always mean is "losing fat".

    Water is not fat.

    Because water can move relatively freely throughout the body, and because water levels can fluctuate more dynamically then either fat or muscle, and because the scale weighs everything, changes in "water weight" can mask the actual, more significant changes in fat, lean mass, or muscle.

    The only thing "bad" about "losing water weight" is when people mistakenly (or in the case of product marketing, willfully misrepresent) interpret changes in water weight as "weight (fat) loss".
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    fat loss =! weight loss

    sure, water weight contributes to "weight loss"
  • ShammersPink
    ShammersPink Posts: 215 Member
    edited December 2016
    There's nothing wrong with it at all, it's all part and parcel of weight loss.

    It's just that when people are all excited about a huge weekly loss (typical at the beginning, or cycle-related for women), or slitty-wristy about a huge weekly gain, then other posters want to calm their expectations, because it doesn't reflect a massive calorie deficit or excess, and will not happen consistently.

    Your huge gain after, say, a holiday, will reduce over the next few days / weeks. Your huge initial loss will slow to a sustainable rate.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,687 Member
    Where's that Weight Loss is not Linear thread?
  • gabbyo23
    gabbyo23 Posts: 100 Member
    Machka9 wrote: »
    Where's that Weight Loss is not Linear thread?

    I understand that perfectly well. I never expected my weight loss to be linear. This isn't my first day.

    I'm just curious as to how water weight works.
  • mlsh1969
    mlsh1969 Posts: 138 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    There's nothing wrong with it. If we didn't lose water weight when going from overweight /obese to healthy weight, we'd look like big gushy flesh bags in the end.

    Exactly
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