Understanding how the body works during weight loss
fdlewenstein
Posts: 231 Member
I started a weight loss program on August 13 (under a doctor's supervision). I have 5 weeks of a losing phase with 4 oz of protein, 2 cups of vegetables, and 1 fruit for lunch and dinner. No breakfast. Then 3 weeks of maintenance where I eat 71 g carbs, 88 g protein, and 86 g fat per day. I try to have a 24 fast (dinner to dinner) during maintenance once a week. On Wednesday I fasted from lunch to lunch, so I could eat a comfortable Thanksgiving meal. I try to maintain an overall average (carbs, fats, proteins), so if I fall short one day I try to make it up the next day. From Thursday morning to this morning I weighed 2.6 pounds more. I was very careful on Thanksgiving. I understand that weight fluctuates, but I am frustrated. When I feel I am making progress I always have the scale go up. I am drinking 100 ounces of water a day, following the parameters that the program sets for me diligently (I am extremely compliant), and I have now been walking 5-6 days a week. This past week I added a workout on an elliptical. I started out being able to complete 10 minutes at one time. This morning I worked out for 45 minutes with a small break after 30 minutes. No matter how frustrated I get I have not given up. I can't really relate that well to my weight loss coach, but I am determined. I want to understand how I can do everything I am suppose to do with slow results?
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Replies
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Weight loss is a slow process. Just keep going. The 2.6 lbs is just a bump and probably mostly water weight.
If you are weighing daily (it sounds like you might be) then I would suggest using an app that you can log your weight in and get a moving average. It will smooth out the fluctuations and give you a more accurate picture of your weight loss.
Happy Scale is the popular choice for apple users
Libra is the popular choice for android users2 -
Exercise, particularly new exercise, triggers a lot of water retention as part of the muscle repair process. Don't worry about the scale. I recommend measurements as an additional metric. Frequently I will see increases on the scale while also seeing reductions in my torso/belly measurements, and it helps to keep me motivated until the stupid scale catches up to the slimming process. Pictures help too!2
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In the long term you might be better off with slow results.
In the end I spent about as long losing 100 lbs as I did gaining it. Now I’ve been maintaining longer.4 -
If you happened to eat more carbs or salt/sodium on Thanksgiving than usual, even if a perfectly reasonable amount, that, too (in addition to the new exercise), can increase water retention. If that's what the gain is, it's (1) temporary, (2) not fat, and therefore (3) not worth stressing over.
Give it a few days to a week or two; see how things settle out.
Best wishes!2 -
I weigh myself everyday, at the same time as closely as possible. Part of the program is to take body measurements during the losing phase, but I really don't care that much about the measurements. I look at how my clothes are fitting. It is difficult not to stress, because I am following the program as closely as possible and I am working so hard. I feel like I am always trying to catch up from taking two steps forward, two steps back.2
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I weigh myself once a week. You end up driving yourself crazy if you weigh in every day.
Change up your workouts. Get that heart racing!! Good luck1 -
fdlewenstein wrote: »I weigh myself everyday, at the same time as closely as possible. Part of the program is to take body measurements during the losing phase, but I really don't care that much about the measurements. I look at how my clothes are fitting. It is difficult not to stress, because I am following the program as closely as possible and I am working so hard. I feel like I am always trying to catch up from taking two steps forward, two steps back.
Weight fluctuation up and down during weight loss is how the process works. That's because variations in water retention and digestive system contents in transit are going to vary more during a day, and across a few days to even a couple of weeks, than the magnitude of assured fat loss in that same time period, even if your fat loss is completely on track. In other words, the swings in water weight and digestive contents mask the fat changes.
Water and digestive contents in transit are not fat, so they're not worth stressing over.
Over several weeks to months, the changes in body fat become more clear, because the range within which scale weight fluctuates will gradually move downward, if you're losing fat.
For example, I'm in year 4+ of maintenance, but shooting to very slowly drop my weight a little. Over the last week or so, my weight has been fluctuating up and down within the range of about 132 to 136 pounds. A month or so ago, it was fluctuating up and down within the range of about 135 to 138 pounds. Therefore, I know I'm losing fat, as intended (slowly, in my case, because fast loss at a lower weight is IMO a Bad Plan).
Personally, I like to weigh myself daily, because it helps me understand why my weight fluctuates, and accept that it will do that even when I'm following the proper process . . . which helps me trust the process. I do use a weight trending app (Libra, because I have an Android phone) to help me visualize the trend.
OP, you might find it useful to read this:
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations6 -
That makes sense and I realize there are multiple variables. I found the article helpful and I think I'll be rereading it frequently! Is there something I can do to minimize water weight?0
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fdlewenstein wrote: »That makes sense and I realize there are multiple variables. I found the article helpful and I think I'll be rereading it frequently! Is there something I can do to minimize water weight?
I completely understand that water weight can be frustrating, but I think it's a bad idea to try to manipulate it. It's part of how a healthy body functions, to do things like keep body chemistry in healthy balance (electrolytes, for example), to heal (from minor injuries, workout "damage" that helps build new and useful muscle, etc.) and more.
Premenopausal women will tend to see fluctuations that correlate with certain points in the menstrual cycle (often at ovulation or just before menstruation, but it varies by woman). Even something like a minor head cold - not surprisingly, when you think about head congestion - can mean extra water retention.
Instead, I'd encourage trying to learn how it operates in your body: It can be a little bit individualistic in its details! This is why I like to weigh daily, under as consistent conditions as I can manage (on awakening, after bathroom, before eating/drinking), and record that daily weight. (I put it in my weight trending app, but before I had that I just graphed it on graph paper!). That lets me correlate my weight fluctuations with likely causes, and learn about when they'll tend to drop off. Very empowering knowledge!
In this context, it helps me to think of my body weight not as "a number" or "one true weight" but as two separate but interrelated things: A current weight range, and a long-term weight trend.
Like I said, over the course of a day, and up to a couple of weeks or more, my scale weight will fluctuate up and down within a range of a few pounds (water weight, digestive contents, mostly). That's the current weight range.
Over the course of several weeks, to months and even years, I have a longer term weight trend. That is, the weight range gradually goes up (weight gain), down (weight loss), or keeps cycling around the same numbers (maintenance). That long-term trend, which is mainly about changes in stored body fat, is what defines weight loss, gain, or maintenance for me; the short-term range is just sort of random noise, considered on its own.
If you're logging what you eat consistently and with reasonable accuracy, along with your scale weights, over time it becomes obvious that calorie management works. Now, I just trust that, and don't worry about minor fluctuations.
If you're not logging, but just following the methods your coach provided, in a couple of months you may also develop confidence that that process will work for you, because you'll see that if you follow the process, you're losing weight (in that "longer term trend" sense). (Obviously, if you stick with it for a couple of months, and aren't losing weight, you'll also see that . . . and want to adjust methods.)
Weight loss is inherently a long-term project. Patience and persistence are always necessary. If you stick with it, following your method long enough to know that it works (or doesn't), but keep working at it either way, you'll succeed. :flowerforyou:5 -
I am weighing myself everyday under the same circumstances (as closely as possible). I use a feelfit scale. However, I am using the scale only for my weight and I'm assuming there is more useful information I could obtain, such as trends. I measure and weight my food diligently and I have opened my palate to new foods. I've been trying new recipes, including low carb and keto, and a new way of cooking healthier. I still eat out, but I won't eat anywhere I can't find nutritional information (because I am not confident yet to determine portion size without a scale). I am a perfectionist in most things that I do and that is why it is difficult for me to trust the process. Thank you for your insight. I can accept that weight loss is a long-term process, but I want to be successful getting to my goal weight and to maintain it. Changing a mindset is also a long-term process!1
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I definitely recommend Happy Scale or Libra- it will help you understand that weight fluctuations don't mean fat gain or overall weight gain. I've found that using Happy Scale and weighing myself everyday helps me understand which foods contribute to excess water retention (and therefore an increase in weight the morning after consuming them). The weight always goes back down after a few days and some poops (don't underestimate the importance of poop in influencing your scale weight- whew!). I am much more relaxed now when I see the scale go up 2 lbs after consuming french fries or another bloating food like sugar- after a few days it goes back to where it was pre-french fry consumption. It sounds like you are very compliant with your program, so you are definitely not gaining weight.0
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This sounds like HCG, and if it is, i am surprised you have a doctor going along with it. Anyways, even in the propaganda - i mean literature - it says that there will be “stalls”. That’s why it suggests taking weekly measurements. Like everyone else stated, though, the new workouts and the salt from Thanksgiving can cause water retention, which will drop soon enough.
If it’s not HCG, i’m sorry, but if it is: you do not lose weight because of the expensive drops, which are basically just mineral water and are definitely not under quality control. You lose because you are only eating about 500-600 calories a day for 3 weeks, or longer, at a time. Please be careful.0 -
I don't know what HCG is, but I am smarter than that. I'm not sure where in my post it would lead you to believe that I am taking some drops. I am eating real food, measuring, weighting, and logging carbs, protein, and fats. I am under the supervision of a MD with a real license. I'd be careful commenting on a post without reading carefully. It's not just one "stall" that I have been experiencing.1
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