Understanding how the body works during weight loss

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-fluctuations

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: