Lost 15lbs while sick.. will it stay off?

jessieknh · October 2017

I was sick over the past 4 weeks and lost 15lbs. I would like to keep as much off as possible now that I am feeling better and incorporating more foods. If I stick to the 1200-1400 calories a day should the weight stay off or does it normally just come back once you start eating again normally? I was doing MFP before I got sick and losing the normal .5lb a week.

callsitlikeiseeit · October 2017

thats quite a lengthy sickness

in the 3 years ive done this (and hundred pounds ive lost), SOMETIMES the weight stays off but really, a lot of times what you lose is fluid weight, so it comes back, or at least most of it does. i dont get sick often (maybe one bad head cold a year), and certainly not that sick though.

toxikon · October 2017

You'll probably regain around 5lbs of it, due to the water weight returning when you get back to normal eating.

Siran12001 · October 2017

Some of it might be lost water. This you will gain back if you start eating normally. But you won't get all 15 lbs back if you eat under you maintenance calories.

jessieknh · October 2017

Thanks. I can deal with 5lbs. This was awful but the smaller pants size was the silver lining. I'd hate for it all to come back.

cheryldumais · October 2017

Probably alot of the loss was food in your system and water. If you actually burned an extra 112,000+ calories over the 4 weeks above what you were eating (about 4,000 a day) then it would be permanent although some would be muscle which isn't good. And you would have had to be incredibly active; if you were really sick you probably weren't. You mght maintain some of the loss but alot of it is likely water and solids from your digestive system. It's important that you eat a healthy diet now to allow your body to heal. If you gain back some water don't panic. You likely have lost a few pounds and it takes time to reach a healthy weight. Hope you feel better soon.

animatorswearbras · October 2017

Don't look at it as weight loss, sure be happy if some of it stays off after a couple of weeks of returning to normal but alot might be water weight and an empty digestive tract not fatloss. xxx Also if you've been ill enough to lose 4 pounds a week I would suggest going into maintenance for a couple of weeks if you're just getting better that's an extremely long illness. xxx