The whoosh theory: true or false?
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I have no idea why it happens, but like many others I have lots a significant amount overnight after no change for weeks.
I was stuck at a weight for TWO weeks. I was about to try and figure out what I was doing wrong. Then I went out for a treat meal - two days later I had lost 0.9 kg. No idea why this happens but the key message is: Do not give up! Even if it does not seem to be working.0 -
I have no idea why this is, but sometimes when I've worked out hard on a previous day, and am retaining lots of water, I will crave sodium (I'm not a big salt eater). Twice in the past month I calmed the craving without adding calories by microwaving a coffee mug of water with a good old Wylers chicken bullion cube. And within the same day or next day I'd have a whoosh. I'm almost wondering if my lack of sodium doesn't help with water retention.
Probably my imagination that salt actually helped relieve water retention, but that was my observation.0 -
Soooo…. basically there is no science to back up this theory, but there is no alternate theory for why weight loss is not linear even in the presence of a consistent deficit.2
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Soooo…. basically there is no science to back up this theory, but there is no alternate theory for why weight loss is not linear even in the presence of a consistent deficit.
The human body is 50-65% water...fluctuations in water can be substantial...they can mask fat loss...this is not the same thing as water taking up space in fat cells and then "whooshing". You also have variable amounts of waste in your system at any one time.
While I have not experienced a linear relationship in weight loss, I have also not experienced going months without a loss and then some big whoosh either. In most cases for myself, it's a smaller loss one week...maybe no loss one week...a slightly bigger loss one week, etc...when I average it out over weeks, that average is roughly equal to my desired rate.
Also, the deficit equation while valid is a vast oversimplification of what is going on in the body. The human body is very adept at conserving energy when necessary as well as becoming less efficient when necessary. Like if you ate 3,500 calories over your maintenance for a singular day, you would not default to 1 Lb of fat gain...the human body is very adept at energy balance and it takes consistently underfeeding to lose weight and overfeeding to gain weight.6 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »Soooo…. basically there is no science to back up this theory, but there is no alternate theory for why weight loss is not linear even in the presence of a consistent deficit.
The human body is 50-65% water...fluctuations in water can be substantial...they can mask fat loss...this is not the same thing as water taking up space in fat cells and then "whooshing". You also have variable amounts of waste in your system at any one time.
While I have not experienced a linear relationship in weight loss, I have also not experienced going months without a loss and then some big whoosh either. In most cases for myself, it's a smaller loss one week...maybe no loss one week...a slightly bigger loss one week, etc...when I average it out over weeks, that average is roughly equal to my desired rate.
Also, the deficit equation while valid is a vast oversimplification of what is going on in the body. The human body is very adept at conserving energy when necessary as well as becoming less efficient when necessary. Like if you ate 3,500 calories over your maintenance for a singular day, you would not default to 1 Lb of fat gain...the human body is very adept at energy balance and it takes consistently underfeeding to lose weight and overfeeding to gain weight.
Do you mean that the fluid is interstitial rather than intracellular?
edit: no snark, just conversing.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »Soooo…. basically there is no science to back up this theory, but there is no alternate theory for why weight loss is not linear even in the presence of a consistent deficit.
The human body is 50-65% water...fluctuations in water can be substantial...they can mask fat loss...this is not the same thing as water taking up space in fat cells and then "whooshing". You also have variable amounts of waste in your system at any one time.
While I have not experienced a linear relationship in weight loss, I have also not experienced going months without a loss and then some big whoosh either. In most cases for myself, it's a smaller loss one week...maybe no loss one week...a slightly bigger loss one week, etc...when I average it out over weeks, that average is roughly equal to my desired rate.
Also, the deficit equation while valid is a vast oversimplification of what is going on in the body. The human body is very adept at conserving energy when necessary as well as becoming less efficient when necessary. Like if you ate 3,500 calories over your maintenance for a singular day, you would not default to 1 Lb of fat gain...the human body is very adept at energy balance and it takes consistently underfeeding to lose weight and overfeeding to gain weight.
Do you mean that the fluid is interstitial rather than intracellular?
edit: no snark, just conversing.
Well, we retain water in our body tissues which are made up of cells...but I've never seen anything compelling that would lead me to believe that the fat in fat cells is displaced by water...
I think maybe women experience this more because they go through far more hormonal changes in a months time than a guy does which is going to have a pretty profound impact on water retention and release.2 -
Whooshes are real. The thing that sets them apart from say, water retention because of new or increased intensity exercise is the thing called squishy fat. That is a well described phenomena that Lyle writes about in the article linked above. That squishy fat develops as a person's weight loss stalls, then suddenly there is a whoosh and the pebbly squishy fat disappears post whoosh.
I personally have never experienced anything like this. My water retention is quite different without the squishy fat, and usually is not something that masks my weight loss for long periods of time. However, I do know people who have had squishy fat and whooshes as described in the article linked above.
Having said that, I highly doubt the explanation of water going in to fat cells replacing some or all of the triglycerides is an accurate representation of what is going on. It is, however, part of the scientific process. There is an observed situation, and the scientist puts forward an hypothesis as to what is going on. The difficulty here is developing a protocol to do some sort of tests to determine what is going on, not to mention is is unlikely that funding for such research would be easy to come by as long as there are other areas of research that are far more pressing.
Suffice it to say that squishy fat and whooshes are real. Why they happen, at this point we don't know. Does it happen to everyone? Likely not.3 -
It's a theory based on observation and experience - so you could say it's not really either true or false, neither proven or disproven.
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/of-whooshes-and-squishy-fat.html/
The whooshes did seem to happen to me and I had a visual difference in how some of my fat appeared before the whoosh.
Was going to post Lyle's link too.
I had my whooshes down.
Would diet hard during the week, have a fat burger Saturday night, whoosh Sunday from the excess calories and sodium. N=1 but whatever.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »While I have not experienced a linear relationship in weight loss, I have also not experienced going months without a loss and then some big whoosh either.
That's because you're male. Women's menstrual cycles see us retaining many pounds of water at certain times of the month and make us very prone to the "whoosh" effect - especially as we get closer to goal weight.2 -
I only ever experienced one stall with a whoosh. It was right after I started weightlifting last year. Stalled for around 4 weeks, and then over a couple days, big drop. It was fracken frustrating, because I knew my logging was spot on. The only thing that kept me focused was knowing that the tracking was spot on. I expect that the water retention was enough to mask the loss for a while. I can't say for sure about the squishy fat though. At the time, I was convinced, but now my logical mind says I was reaching for an explanation.0
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ladyreva78 wrote: »I'm in a squishy fat phase (and have been for a good few weeks). I HATE the squishy fat phases... I have the impression I look like a marshmallow right now...
I don't care what the mechanics of it are. But I'm seriously looking forward for the whoosh and the nice feeling of NOT being squishy that comes with it.
Well, I hope you get the "whoosh" but I didn't.
I went into the squishy fat/marshmallow phase and stayed there for several months. During that time, I was steadily losing about 1 kg/week for the first couple months, and then I slowed my weight loss down to about 0.6 kg/week for the next few months.
It really wasn't until I neared my goal and started weight lifting more that I slowly began to tone up or something and the marshmallow feel started to go away.
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It happens to me on a regular basis. I see the numbers on the scale drop quickly over a short time about once a month or so. Then about a pound of that weight will come back, until next month. Averaged out, I'm losing about at the rate expected given my calorie deficit. I wish there was some science backing this all up, but I've never seen any studies on what's causing it to happen. I suppose it could be menstrual cycle related for many people, but I haven't had those in several years (thanks, IUD!).3
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Where is this squishy fat that you all are discussing?6
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On My Fitness Pal, I lost an average of .73 pounds per week for a total of 110 pounds lost.
No "whoosh"...and maybe it's just "whooshful" thinking on your part.
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I don't get the squishy fat Lyle talks about. I get "melty" fat though. Looks like I'm a freaking melting candle. It's horrible.3
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Where is this squishy fat that you all are discussing?
All over.
It's like I put on a marshmallow suit. I had lost about 12 kg and suddenly my arms, legs torso and everywhere went all soft and mushy.
It was actually quite a disappointing time for me, and as I mentioned, went on for months while I continued to lose weight. Here I was losing weight and able to do more ... and when I wore long skirts or pants and long sleeved tops, I looked slim and trim. But underneath it was all squishy and droopy and saggy and mushy like loose marshmallow or like when you're kneading dough. To me, it looked awful. I even changed clothes in the dark because I didn't want to look at myself.3 -
All cells contain water. That's a scientific fact.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK9879/1 -
Soooo…. basically there is no science to back up this theory, but there is no alternate theory for why weight loss is not linear even in the presence of a consistent deficit.
Not so. There are a number of things that can cause weight loss to be nonlinear that have significant scientific backing. Damaged muscles hold fluid. Once muscles repair themselves the fluid goes away and can appear to be a sudden drop in weight. Glycogen holds more than its own weight in water, so a drop in glycogen can result in a significant nonlinear drop in weight. When constipated, food solids begin to back up in the system. Once the constipation goes away and things start flowing again, a significant nonlinear drop in weight will be seen. Higher amounts of sodium can cause water retention and a reduction in sodium or an increase in potassium can result in a drop in water. The "whoosh" is explainable, but the fat cells replacing the fat with water is fantasy.2 -
TimothyFish wrote: »Soooo…. basically there is no science to back up this theory, but there is no alternate theory for why weight loss is not linear even in the presence of a consistent deficit.
Not so. There are a number of things that can cause weight loss to be nonlinear that have significant scientific backing. Damaged muscles hold fluid. Once muscles repair themselves the fluid goes away and can appear to be a sudden drop in weight. Glycogen holds more than its own weight in water, so a drop in glycogen can result in a significant nonlinear drop in weight. When constipated, food solids begin to back up in the system. Once the constipation goes away and things start flowing again, a significant nonlinear drop in weight will be seen. Higher amounts of sodium can cause water retention and a reduction in sodium or an increase in potassium can result in a drop in water. The "whoosh" is explainable, but the fat cells replacing the fat with water is fantasy.
Yes ... I've experienced all/most of those things. And also ... in hot weather, and especially if we get a sunburn in the hot weather, the body will retain water for a few days until the brightness of the sunburn subsides and/or the weather cools off. And also ... flying, for some reason, causes people to retain water.
And then ... approx. 3 days after a big workout resulting in damaged muscles, or a meal of very salty food, or a bit too much sun on a hot day, or a flight to the mainland and back ... I wear a path in the carpet to the toilet all day long, and the next day, I've dropped the 1.5 kg I gained. Like clockwork.
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