Lost a huge amount of weight over Christmas - want to maintain

soulraver
soulraver Posts: 17 Member
edited November 14 in Goal: Maintaining Weight
Hi there!
I have been extremely ill over the Christmas break - i lost 6 kilos in about 9 days. I really want to maintain it. Im.still not eating at 100% yet as i have completely lost my appetite but im trying to get better. Any tips for maintaining that weight loss? I don't want to go back!!!! Im a little concerned about eating fully as im worried i will gain it all back.
Thanks!

Replies

  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,619 Member
    It was probably a lot of water weight. Fat loss doesn't usually occur that quickly. Just try to stay in a moderate deficit. I hope you feel better!
  • ShammersPink
    ShammersPink Posts: 215 Member
    edited January 2017
    Some will certainly be water, but when you are feverish, you can lose weight much more quickly than usual, too. That's how I started this weight loss cycle. It was only a bad flu, but my fever was very high for quite a while, and it took some time to get fully better. My nails have growth arrest lines from that time. The weight I lost stayed off, and then I lost more.

    Basically, I didn't push past my lack of appetite, just let it return gradually, tried to make sure that what I did eat was nutritious. And by the time I fully recovered, I was used to eating less, so found it easy to continue to diet.

    And I didn't make the mistake of getting into a cycle of sugary things to give a quick energy boost while I was convalescent - I've gained weight that way in the past.

    I also tried to walk regularly while getting better - I was too weak to do more than that, and started off with pretty short slow walks which increased in speed and length over time.

    Get well soon!
  • dopeysmelly
    dopeysmelly Posts: 1,390 Member
    I hate to break it to you, but the chances of keeping that weight off are very low. It's going to be mostly water, which your body will replenish once you start eating even a little bit more. It's more important that you fuel your body carefully for recovery with lots of fruits and vegetables and lots of water, and also enough calories.

    I lost about 7lbs recently through illness and it all came back on within a few days, so I understand that it hurts to see the scale go up again, but if you don't eat properly, you'll feel starving and overindulge and end up doing more harm to your body than if you just ate normally in the first place.
  • riffraff2112
    riffraff2112 Posts: 1,756 Member
    That is similar to people who want to 'kickstart' a diet by severely limiting calories or starving themselves. While this wasn't intentional definitely expect a rebound.

    To play devils advocate, once my appendix ruptured and was removed and lost 10 lbs from my hospital visit. It motivated me to go on a diet and I did manage to keep it off.

  • soulraver
    soulraver Posts: 17 Member
    Thank you so much for the comments. Going to try to keep my head in the game and try to keep it off!
  • Kimblesnbits13
    Kimblesnbits13 Posts: 369 Member
    I was in the same boat as you. Long story short, I left for vegas christmas weekend, Fri dec 23th @ 125.5 I got bad food poisoning christmas eve and came back monday morning @ 123.1. I returned to normal ish eating mon & tues (because I felt better and food wasnt bothering my stomach) and my weight went up to 124.2. Since that low of 123.1 I've been fluctuating between 123.5-124.5 (still a loss from 125.5). I assume I either lost the real weight because I threw up so much or because the deficit from the other week finally showed up on the scale. Not sure which one...
  • TheFrostyCanuck
    TheFrostyCanuck Posts: 28 Member
    I got strep throat in June and ate Popsicles for a week. It definitely boosted the weight loss I had already started and I haven't gained any of it back. It was a terrible terrible time but there was some good that came out of being that ill.
  • HippySkoppy
    HippySkoppy Posts: 725 Member
    I have no idea how much you will keep off as a direct result of illness. I do know that for me when the Lupus is flaring despite eating at maintenance my weight will drop and I agree that illness associated with fevers have a much bigger impact on weight.

    I also wanted to say how dreadfully sorry I am that you were so ill, especially over Christmas. Don't force yourself back into the saddle too quickly, whatever you eat make sure it is nutritious and perhaps eat smaller meals more often, keep up your fluids and take it easy getting back into excercise. Now is the time you should be focusing on getting your health back to 100%.

    All the best.
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