Why water weight ??? Myth? Truth?

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Replies

  • sugarbone
    sugarbone Posts: 454 Member
    Omg thank you everyone who is helping spread that you need surplus calories to build muscle! You have NO idea how many times I hear on the internet and in real life "don't worry babe, you probably just gained muscle". Gained 3 lbs in muscle after a night of carbs, I don't think so...
  • lovelee79
    lovelee79 Posts: 362
    ok I understand the water weight thing now, it does make sense.... doing the math with calories, sodium etc....

    @Ninerbuff : Thanks!! you sound very knowledgeable ! :smile: If I want to gain muscle i need to eat more calories? Would a surplus of donuts give me muscles, or only protein and plant protein ? If I want muscles I need to eat the right foods right ?
    Would you agree that when it comes to building muscles not all calories are created equal ? Thanks for your posts, I'm learning so much tonight !!

    And thanks to everyone for their response as well !! :happy:
  • redraidergirl2009
    redraidergirl2009 Posts: 2,560 Member
    Well most people don't drink enough, and when you don't drink enough, you store water because your body doesn't know when it's going to get enough. When it gets enough it doesn't have to store it like a camel and your digestive system works better. That is my understanding.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,994 Member
    ok I understand the water weight thing now, it does make sense.... doing the math with calories, sodium etc....

    @Ninerbuff : Thanks!! you sound very knowledgeable ! :smile: If I want to gain muscle i need to eat more calories? Would a surplus of donuts give me muscles, or only protein and plant protein ? If I want muscles I need to eat the right foods right ?
    Would you agree that when it comes to building muscles not all calories are created equal ? Thanks for your posts, I'm learning so much tonight !!

    And thanks to everyone for their response as well !! :happy:
    A pound of muscle is approximately 600 calories, so the very minimum you would need in surplus is at least that much, however not all the calories are going to build muscle. Muscle is built from protein. It cannot come from carbs or fats. So you increase you protein (1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight is a baseline) then you also need carbs to sustain the energy you need to increase your lifts in weight training.
    I'll be honest in telling you that for about every pound of muscle you gain, you'll add .3 pounds of fat in the process. It's inevitable and goes with the territory. The better your food choice the less fat you accumulate along with muscle.
  • khua0808
    khua0808 Posts: 95
    when people say all water weight they don't mean that. You will still have fat and some muscle loss approximately equal to how much calories below maintainance you ate for the first weeks. But beyond that weight you will deplete glycogen that is stored in liver and muscle which are hydrated and carries water with them. Thats the "easy gain easy lost" water weight even though its just water and will simply make your muscle look fuller or flat. It doesn't have much to do with the "weight" your looking to lose. So yes... you are losing fat and not just water weight.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,994 Member
    Well most people don't drink enough, and when you don't drink enough, you store water because your body doesn't know when it's going to get enough. When it gets enough it doesn't have to store it like a camel and your digestive system works better. That is my understanding.
    Think of your body like a dam when it comes to water. If there is sufficient enough rain, the valves remain open to let water out. If there is a drought, then the valves are closed off to conserve water till more rain is available. If there's too much water, then the valves are open to max and it seems the water won't stop (you'd be peeing alot).
  • elsg
    elsg Posts: 21
    It doesn't matter to me what kind of weight loss it is as long as it comes off and stays off. :happy:

    I'm with you!!!!
  • lovelee79
    lovelee79 Posts: 362
    Well most people don't drink enough, and when you don't drink enough, you store water because your body doesn't know when it's going to get enough. When it gets enough it doesn't have to store it like a camel and your digestive system works better. That is my understanding.
    Think of your body like a dam when it comes to water. If there is sufficient enough rain, the valves remain open to let water out. If there is a drought, then the valves are closed off to conserve water till more rain is available. If there's too much water, then the valves are open to max and it seems the water won't stop (you'd be peeing alot).

    I lost 3 lbs first week and 2 lbs second week. I'm over weight but I have always drank about 2 litres a day for as long as I can remember (I love water).
    So the only thing I have changed is I lowered my calorie intake... I'm eating less, drinking the same amount of water that I always have. That's why I thought I have been burning off fat, not water the past two weeks.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,994 Member
    I lost 3 lbs first week and 2 lbs second week. I'm over weight but I have always drank about 2 litres a day for as long as I can remember (I love water).
    So the only thing I have changed is I lowered my calorie intake... I'm eating less, drinking the same amount of water that I always have. That's why I thought I have been burning off fat, not water the past two weeks.
    What was your calorie deficit in both weeks?
  • sexforjaffacakes
    sexforjaffacakes Posts: 1,001 Member
    After almost 2 weeks, IME.

    Sorry to rant, but I must prove your stupid little dieting myths WRONG.

    How could you possibly say that 2 weeks is the definite time? Well guess what, I know for a fact that's not true. (And before you judge me, I want you to know that I did not intend on getting an eating disorder, it was a good diet gone bad.) Oh, and it truly depends on your diet and exercise plan. THERE IS NO DEFINITE TIME. Even if two people were doing the same diet and exercise plan, they may not get the same results. If a 180lb person ate what I ate, they'd probably loose insanely fast, where I don't loose as much because I have less body fat, and a lot of other things play a role into it, like metabolism and so on.

    I lost a pound a day when I first got my ED. Guess what! That was approximately 14lbs in 2 weeks. Eventually the weight loss slowed down, but that was because I had a lot less fat on my body to loose. I started at 162 and am now at 124. The weight loss slowed to about half a pound a day when I got to 140, and got increasingly harder once I hit 130ish, but that happens to anyone who is at a good weight. The more fat you have on your body, the easier to loose.

    Oh, and while we are talking about dieting myths, I have proven the "starvation mode" myth wrong, too. I eat around 500cal a day, and don't eat whenever it is possible - but I still loose weight. Look at Holocaust victims and tell them that starvation mode is true. They wouldn't have died.

    Sorry for the ranting again, but I hate false information being passed around. It drives me insane.
    And I want to let you all know I am not proud of my ED, and if you guys really understood what I go through on a day to day basis, than I doubt you would still hate on me for it.
    So what exactly did you prove wrong??? You just gave us YOUR opinion on what has worked and works for YOU like everyone else has.....

    I'm having trouble understanding why the ED had to be brought into this at all.

    hahaha, Some people are just ridiculous.
  • lovelee79
    lovelee79 Posts: 362
    I lost 3 lbs first week and 2 lbs second week. I'm over weight but I have always drank about 2 litres a day for as long as I can remember (I love water).
    So the only thing I have changed is I lowered my calorie intake... I'm eating less, drinking the same amount of water that I always have. That's why I thought I have been burning off fat, not water the past two weeks.
    What was your calorie deficit in both weeks?

    Yikes! I don't know !! How do I calculate or find that out? I was eating an average of 1400 cals a day.
  • rutkowsm
    rutkowsm Posts: 43 Member
    I lost 3 lbs first week and 2 lbs second week. I'm over weight but I have always drank about 2 litres a day for as long as I can remember (I love water).
    So the only thing I have changed is I lowered my calorie intake... I'm eating less, drinking the same amount of water that I always have. That's why I thought I have been burning off fat, not water the past two weeks.
    What was your calorie deficit in both weeks?

    Yikes! I don't know !! How do I calculate or find that out? I was eating an average of 1400 cals a day.


    I believe you take the BMR from your starting weight, and subtract your current calorie intake to find out what your calorie deficit would have been for that weight loss.
  • lovelee79
    lovelee79 Posts: 362
    I lost 3 lbs first week and 2 lbs second week. I'm over weight but I have always drank about 2 litres a day for as long as I can remember (I love water).
    So the only thing I have changed is I lowered my calorie intake... I'm eating less, drinking the same amount of water that I always have. That's why I thought I have been burning off fat, not water the past two weeks.
    What was your calorie deficit in both weeks?


    Yikes! I don't know !! How do I calculate or find that out? I was eating an average of 1400 cals a day.


    I believe you take the BMR from your starting weight, and subtract your current calorie intake to find out what your calorie deficit would have been for that weight loss.
    Taken from my goals:
    Calories Burned
    From Normal Daily Activity 1,930 calories/day
    Net Calories Consumed*
    Your Daily Goal 1,400 calories/ day
    Daily Calorie Deficit 530 calories
    Projected Weight Loss 1.1 lbs/ week

    530 cal deficit x 14 days=7420 / 3,500 =2.12. So does that mean that I lost 2.12 lbs in fat and 2.88 in water ? =5lbs

    I used the BMR calculator in tools. and it said 1568.
    So 1568 - 1400 cals =168

    Is this right ?
  • lacroyx
    lacroyx Posts: 5,754 Member
    After almost 2 weeks, IME.

    Sorry to rant, but I must prove your stupid little dieting myths WRONG.

    How could you possibly say that 2 weeks is the definite time? Well guess what, I know for a fact that's not true. (And before you judge me, I want you to know that I did not intend on getting an eating disorder, it was a good diet gone bad.) Oh, and it truly depends on your diet and exercise plan. THERE IS NO DEFINITE TIME. Even if two people were doing the same diet and exercise plan, they may not get the same results. If a 180lb person ate what I ate, they'd probably loose insanely fast, where I don't loose as much because I have less body fat, and a lot of other things play a role into it, like metabolism and so on.

    umm she said IME which I think stands for In My Experience. she is giving her opinion. not stating it as fact.
  • rutkowsm
    rutkowsm Posts: 43 Member
    I lost 3 lbs first week and 2 lbs second week. I'm over weight but I have always drank about 2 litres a day for as long as I can remember (I love water).
    So the only thing I have changed is I lowered my calorie intake... I'm eating less, drinking the same amount of water that I always have. That's why I thought I have been burning off fat, not water the past two weeks.
    What was your calorie deficit in both weeks?


    Yikes! I don't know !! How do I calculate or find that out? I was eating an average of 1400 cals a day.


    I believe you take the BMR from your starting weight, and subtract your current calorie intake to find out what your calorie deficit would have been for that weight loss.
    Taken from my goals:
    Calories Burned
    From Normal Daily Activity 1,930 calories/day
    Net Calories Consumed*
    Your Daily Goal 1,400 calories/ day
    Daily Calorie Deficit 530 calories
    Projected Weight Loss 1.1 lbs/ week

    I used the BMR calculator in tools. and it said 1568.
    So 1568 - 1400 cals =168

    Is this right ?

    If the calories you burn from normal daily activity is 1930 and you're eating 1400 daily, your deficit would be 530, as MFP says.
  • lovelee79
    lovelee79 Posts: 362
    i just edited my post ^
  • rutkowsm
    rutkowsm Posts: 43 Member
    You're doing great! My understanding is that if you factor in exercise, and you don't eat back those calories (there's a lot of debate about whether or not this is good though, as I can see from clicking around on the boards) you've increased your calorie deficit.

    Forgive me if my posts aren't making sense. My brain isn't working at full capacity (but it won't turn off to let me sleep).
  • lovelee79
    lovelee79 Posts: 362
    You're doing great! My understanding is that if you factor in exercise, and you don't eat back those calories (there's a lot of debate about whether or not this is good though, as I can see from clicking around on the boards) you've increased your calorie deficit.

    Forgive me if my posts aren't making sense. My brain isn't working at full capacity (but it won't turn off to let me sleep).

    I'm just talking about water weight here. ninerbuff asked me what my deficit was so I'm waiting for his response.
  • jerelallday
    jerelallday Posts: 3
    Hey-

    Part of the reason for the "loss of water weight" in the beginning of a fat loss program comes down to the science of the molecules. Long story short, your body stores carbs and each Carbohydrate molecule has the ability to bond with 3 H2O molecules to become fully saturated. As your body burns through stored carbs, the C-H2O bonds break, causing the "loss of water weight". The point at which you begin to lose fat is when you are a) eating at a calorie deficit and b) burning through your stored carbohydrates. There's also a link between higher sodium and water retention, as well as dairy products and water retention... which is the reason people who train for competitions stick to complex, slow digesting carbs, and avoid sodium and dairy leading up to a competition, show, or shoot. Hope this helps :)

    Jerel
  • lovelee79
    lovelee79 Posts: 362
    Hey-

    Part of the reason for the "loss of water weight" in the beginning of a fat loss program comes down to the science of the molecules. Long story short, your body stores carbs and each Carbohydrate molecule has the ability to bond with 3 H2O molecules to become fully saturated. As your body burns through stored carbs, the C-H2O bonds break, causing the "loss of water weight". The point at which you begin to lose fat is when you are a) eating at a calorie deficit and b) burning through your stored carbohydrates. There's also a link between higher sodium and water retention, as well as dairy products and water retention... which is the reason people who train for competitions stick to complex, slow digesting carbs, and avoid sodium and dairy leading up to a competition, show, or shoot. Hope this helps :)

    Jerel

    Yes! helps so much! thank you very much.
  • shakybabe
    shakybabe Posts: 1,578 Member
    QUOTE
    [/quote]"Sorry, but you should know gaining muscle on calorie deficit is practically impossible. To gain muscle you need to be in calorie surplus"
    [/quote]


    Not always... I have a medical condition that defies this explanation! Since developing Dystonia where my muscles involuntarily contract and relax and sometimes just contract and stay in that position for a while.. I have increased muscle even though my food calories very rarely go over 1300. Admittedly its only by a small amount I think my lean muscle mass was 31.0 and is now 32.9 or something but it has increased despite been on a low calorie diet and not been able to manage any weight lifting or high intensity aerobic/zumba etc (full time wheelchair user for last 6 years)

    Sometimes looking at what happens when our bodies go wrong can give you the answers to what they are doing, when they are working properly! :wink:
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,994 Member
    I'm just talking about water weight here. ninerbuff asked me what my deficit was so I'm waiting for his response.
    So you probably dropped a little water and fat, but you may have also lost a little lean muscle. When losing weight you will lose fat, but some lean muscle along with it. What you want to do is keep lean muscle loss minimized by exercising it. Some people say they don't care, but if you lose too much lean muscle it will quickly lower your resting metabolic rate which means you then need to eat even less calories to lose fat. This is why many dieters who just cut calories only stall within a few weeks and then plateau.
    Exercise is important because it keeps your muscles active and stronger and keeps your metabolism higher.
    Based on your deficits, you'll lose about a 1lb a week. If you lose more than that, then you may be burning more than just fat.
  • lovelee79
    lovelee79 Posts: 362
    I'm just talking about water weight here. ninerbuff asked me what my deficit was so I'm waiting for his response.
    So you probably dropped a little water and fat, but you may have also lost a little lean muscle. When losing weight you will lose fat, but some lean muscle along with it. What you want to do is keep lean muscle loss minimized by exercising it. Some people say they don't care, but if you lose too much lean muscle it will quickly lower your resting metabolic rate which means you then need to eat even less calories to lose fat. This is why many dieters who just cut calories only stall within a few weeks and then plateau.
    Exercise is important because it keeps your muscles active and stronger and keeps your metabolism higher.
    Based on your deficits, you'll lose about a 1lb a week. If you lose more than that, then you may be burning more than just fat.

    Thank you so much! I really appreciate your response. I have learned a lot. Ya learn something new everyday !
    Cheers! :happy:
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