Does your weight stall when you have a cold?

Ive had a cold for the past 2 weeks. this month is the first month my weight has stalled, and needless to say i'm frustrated. I've not been able to work out due to the cold. My weight loss is slow. I consider myself active as i don't drive and have to pretty much walk everywhere with a pram and hills. despite this, i only have been successful with losing 1.5 kilos a month on average for the past 5 months. this month has been my worst month. no loss and no gain. i mean obviously it fluctuates on the scales, but nothing has gone lower than my lowest current weight (79.1Kilos at start of may, currently 79.6kilos, did get up to 80kgs, but its dropped since.) my average calorie intake is about 1500 a day.

Does anyone have experience with colds and weight loss? we're entering winter here, and i won't be surprised if we're hit with constant colds for the season, I really don't want my weight to stall. Any tips? I've been drinking heaps of water to keep fluids up too with this cold.

Replies

  • Terytha
    Terytha Posts: 2,097 Member
    I've been sick for a week and my weight didn't budge until I felt better.

    I assume my body was just hanging on to extra water or something while I recovered. But also, I move less when I'm sick, like I don't even fidget or walk around the house as much, so my NEAT probably dropped too.
  • sharonlep
    sharonlep Posts: 50 Member
    Yes I stall or even out a pound or 2 on due to some meds if i need them, or sympathy comfort food! Very frustrating.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,118 Member
    You know all that yucky mucus that clogs up your sinuses & such? It has weight, and your body uses extra water retention to create it. Probably some inflammation elsewhere, too: Likely more water retention. It's not fat, and it will go away as you recover.

    Ride out the cold, don't try for a big deficit. Get yourself well again, and weight loss will renormalize, without much if any lost time or lost overall progress.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,216 Member
    The occasional bout of eating at maintenance arguably improves your weight loss results.

    You're not helping them, anyway, by potentially slowing your recovery by eating at a deficit.

    A weight loss pace of 40lbs a year doesn't sound particularly slow on the abstract either....