Progress So Far?

lgfrie wrote: »

You're doing great. And everything is normal. If you're eating all your calories, and the # is sane, you have nothing to worry about.

There's always water loss at the start of a diet, because you're taking in less sodium (due to less food) and therefore the body gets rid of water it was holding based on your previous eating habits.

But there's another factor - carbs. Carbs actually cause far more water retention than sodium. People who go low-carb can get very extreme dumping of water in the first 4-5 weeks, on and off, seemingly at random, very extreme on some weeks. The lower the carbs on the diet compared to how you were eating before the diet, the more water is gonna be expunged. Which is fun, but I hardly need to tell you, it's gonna end. Enjoy it while it lasts. I lost 19 lbs in 26 days on 1600 calories with reduced carbs, and then my body was done rebalancing water and it immediately transitioned to a consistent, simple 2 lbs/week, where it's remained ever since.

The underlying fat loss behind all the water dumping depends on your calories, weight, height, etc., but is usually 1-2 lbs/week.

lgfrie wrote: »

jaysanchez4 wrote: »

lgfrie wrote: »

You're doing great. And everything is normal. If you're eating all your calories, and the # is sane, you have nothing to worry about.

There's always water loss at the start of a diet, because you're taking in less sodium (due to less food) and therefore the body gets rid of water it was holding based on your previous eating habits.

But there's another factor - carbs. Carbs actually cause far more water retention than sodium. People who go low-carb can get very extreme dumping of water in the first 4-5 weeks, on and off, seemingly at random, very extreme on some weeks. The lower the carbs on the diet compared to how you were eating before the diet, the more water is gonna be expunged. Which is fun, but I hardly need to tell you, it's gonna end. Enjoy it while it lasts. I lost 19 lbs in 26 days on 1600 calories with reduced carbs, and then my body was done rebalancing water and it immediately transitioned to a consistent, simple 2 lbs/week, where it's remained ever since.

The underlying fat loss behind all the water dumping depends on your calories, weight, height, etc., but is usually 1-2 lbs/week.

Thanks so much for this information, very helpful and makes so much sense. When you say “it’s going to end” are you referring to this rapid water weight loss? What do I do once it ends? I mean, yes I’ll continue to eat within my calories but will u continue to lose weight? Just not as fast?

Thanks again! I’m loving the progress this week, even though I know it’s secretly just water weight.

Yep. The rapid weight loss due to water rebalancing will definitely end. At that point the loss you see on the scale will come to reflect true fat loss (with some bumping around up and down due to water fluctuations over time -- a pound or two at a time, not the huge changes you're seeing right now). The idea is to just keep plugging away and hitting your calorie number day after day and the fat will burn off as it should!! If you used the MFP tool to pick your calorie number, whatever goal you gave it - 1 lb a week, 2 lbs a week, etc - should more or less come true for you when you hit the #'s in your eating. MFP's tool has been a very accurate estimator of fat loss for me, within 10 %.

But definitely be sure to enjoy and savor the initial loss, even if it's largely water. Loss of water still means clothes fitting better and less bloat, and all that good stuff. And you did lose some fat in there too.