does anyone count losing water weight a success in losing weight?

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  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
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    What often happens is, a person loses several pounds of water weight the first week or two. Then, the next couple of weeks, the scale may not move much. If you are in a deficit, you will be losing fat, but it is being masked on the scale because of the initial water weight drop. You will only be able to calculate an accurate weekly weight loss after about 4-6 weeks of data.
  • lildickybarrett
    lildickybarrett Posts: 20 Member
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    If you look at legit studies most often the weight that comes off is always a combination and not just pure water weight, if the weight lost is driving you further towards your goal, hell yes count it! :)
  • ericadcruz32
    ericadcruz32 Posts: 48 Member
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    Yes, I logged mine and I just got started like 3 weeks ago. I've been on a downward trend ever since. You will always have a starting weight and an ending weight. The journey to get to the end will likely be full of fluctuations so log them all. I think you can just log your weight once a week and be fine. You might see the number change quite a bit (both up and down) before you get to your weigh-in day.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,195 Member
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    What I really care about, during weight loss, is fat loss. I know that water and digestive contents can mask that in the days to a week or so time horizon, so as long as my eating is on track, I don't worry about the short run. Over weeks to months, what I expect to see happen (based on calorie intake/output estimates) generally does happen, and that's what I care about.

    What no one should want to do is to start trying to micro-manage water retention or variation in digestive contents as a "weight loss strategy". Water weight fluctuations and disgestive contents variations are signs of a healthy body in action. Attempts to micro-manage water retention and digestive contents to keep the scale down? That's a sign of unhealthy thinking about body weight.

    Drink the right amount of water, eat a sensible amount of food, and keep an eye on the long-term weight trend.
  • Razzle4012
    Razzle4012 Posts: 7 Member
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    How do you know it’s water weight you’re losing though?
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    edited February 2019
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    Razzle4012 wrote: »
    How do you know it’s water weight you’re losing though?

    Fat is lost due to a consistent deficit over time- you don't gain or lose a significant amount of it in a few days time. Water weight can spike & drop over a matter of hours, often to the tune of 5 lbs or more.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Razzle4012 wrote: »
    How do you know it’s water weight you’re losing though?

    Fat is not fast lost or gained.

    So if it's fast changes - it's water weight.

    Sadly water weight can also creep on slowly - like stress induced cortisol effect water retained - upwards of 20 lbs possible there slowly - that could mask fat loss on the scale for many many weeks.
    Usually stressing someone out more causing the issue more.

    Water weight can also drop off slowly - like after eating a high sodium meal.

    In either case - measurements usually tell the real story of what's going on - because those also don't change fast.
  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
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    how on earth would I know what part is water and what part is fat and what part is whatever else?

    I also never count the first time I see a lower number as "hitting that number" I wait until a trend at the number and lower. like I won't say I hit 123 until I log 3-4 days below that.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,195 Member
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    Razzle4012 wrote: »
    How do you know it’s water weight you’re losing though?

    You track intake carefully for a while, so that you know what calorie intake you need to lose fat at a sensibly moderate rate; and you track weight carefully for a while, so that you understand what makes your very own personal body fluctuate in water weight and/or digestive system contents.

    After a while, by doing those things, you recognize water weight, and trust that if your calories meant you'd lose fat (and your daily life activity/exercise didn't change significantly), you're actually losing fat, whether the water weight fluctuations let you see that fat loss or not.

    Patience and persistence, mostly.
  • AudreyJDuke
    AudreyJDuke Posts: 1,092 Member
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    Nope
  • flatcoatedR
    flatcoatedR Posts: 173 Member
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    I keep it pretty simple, if my scale says it's a loss I count as a loss. I don't care if its water, fat, or the last meal I ate. A loss is a loss. We have no idea how much is water and how much is fat. Just celebrate that it's a loss and go forward.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 8,998 Member
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    I'm not sure how you could not count it.

    What I do is weight myself weekly and record whatever the scale says.

    However I realise fluctuations are normal so what I am looking at really is maintaining that approximate weight over time (in maintenance or losing an average or a lb per week or whatever my goal was, over time)
  • corrarjo
    corrarjo Posts: 1,157 Member
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    When my feet and ankles swell up I'm pretty sure I'm gaining water weight. :#
  • Danp
    Danp Posts: 1,561 Member
    edited February 2019
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    No, because water weight ebbs and flows, it naturally comes goes up and down. Counting water weight as weight loss means that when that water weight increases you're counting that as weight gain. It's kinda like building a sandcastle at low tide. What's gonna happen when that tide eventually comes back in?

    Besides, no one here is truly trying to lose weight. We're trying to lose fat (and get fitter.)

    Let me illustrate with my 2 magic pills analogy.

    The green pill will add large amounts of fat to your body and your proportions will balloon out so you'll look huge! This pill will also destroy your strength and fitness so that even standing up out of a chair is difficult or going from one room of the house to the next will leave you breathless and worn out. BUT the pill also turns the fat in your body lighter than air so consequently you'll be at your ideal dream weight when you step on the scales.

    I also have a yellow pill. This pill will strip all the extra fat from your body so that you look lean with the body you've always dreamed of. It will also make it so you're in the best shape of your life with strength and stamina for days. BUT in giving you this fitness it causes your muscles to grow very dense so when you step on the scales it reads twice as much as you've ever weighed before.

    So which pill are you going to take. The one that makes you huge, weak and unfit but you weigh very little? Or the one that makes you lean, strong, fit but makes the scales blow out?

    I know which one I'd choose.

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