Suddenly....I'm losing weight?

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craftzilla
craftzilla Posts: 29
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok, weird question here...and I'm not complaining. Just trying to figure this out. Over the past week, I have been really sick -- sinus headaches, ear aches, turned to burst eardrums...blah, blah, blah.
Though I've been really sick, I haven't lost my appetite and have kept eating like I usually do. If anything, I've actually eaten worse than I typically do (Including a chocolate binge and even a burger from Culvers). That being said, I've also not been working out for at least a week and a half. The weird thing, I'm dropping weight like a crazy woman. I was stuck at between 170 - 175 for months: even with doing p90x for 90 days, doing major workouts... Now, suddenly, I've dropped nearly 5 pounds in the last week. Any one else had this? I though I was supposed to work out and that would help lose the weight. I'm a bit confused. So, no real question, I guess...I'm just confused. Has anyone else found that you actually lose weight when you stop working out so hard-core? Was I not consuming enough calories to work out?

Replies

  • BarbWhite09
    BarbWhite09 Posts: 1,128 Member
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    Maybe the excess calories are doing you well. I upped my calorie intake & started losing more weight than I had when MFP had me set at 1200.
  • michael300891
    michael300891 Posts: 275
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    When you say sick - as in vomiting? - Will probably be the cause of extra weight loss if so (NO IM NOT RECOMMENDING BULIMIA TO ANYONE WHO READS THIS!)

    The human body is also wierd, Ive lost two pounds the night after eating a Dominos pizza - not sure if its the scales, water changes who knows haha (and no i didnt take a poo :P)

    Edit - Just realised you listed your symptoms which didnt include vomiting - silly me -)
  • swilk627
    swilk627 Posts: 245 Member
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    Two thoughts ---

    1. Make sure it's not just lost water weight. Yes, you can "lose weight" through mucous secretions (i.e. snot), but that's not true weight lost. If this is the case, once you're properly rehydrated your body, it will come back.

    2. If it is a true loss, sometimes the body needs a shock. There are dozens of people on here that swear by spike days - where you just eat about 2x your normal day. It works for lots and lots of people. So, it could be that your added calories on those days actually did your body good.
  • amyy902
    amyy902 Posts: 290 Member
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    as long as you have a calorie deff then youre able to loose. also when your ill your metabolic rate goes up as you have to work harder to function etc. so that maight be why.... also it can just sometimes happen an accumulation effect. you might have lost more water than normal too if you have been sick.
  • armcneely
    armcneely Posts: 1
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    LIkely, you are losing muscle from being inactive. Muscle is more dense than fat and will "melt" away when you don't use it. :cry:
  • sexyminxinthemaking
    sexyminxinthemaking Posts: 451 Member
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    i have found that if i have a free/cheat day that the pounds do fall off for after a few days of healthier eating

    bump
  • blankcanvas
    blankcanvas Posts: 177
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    I'd be curious too.. I also work out everyday and pretty much stay under my calorie allowance ( do have a bad day on occasion) but my scale also hasn't budged in weeks:( I have a friend I started with, she dropped 29 lbs and hasn't done s lick off exercise, she pretty much just eats Lean Cuisine meals...grrr..so I'm thinking I should either lay off the exercise or eat more packaged meals instead of all the fresh salads or 'real' cooking..so frustrating!
  • hofficoffi
    hofficoffi Posts: 88 Member
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    I always lose more weight when I diet alone. If im exercising my weight loss is much slower...BUT I see more changes in my body. I dont really get it but i'd prefer to lose inches than lbs so I dont mind losing slower as I exercise alot xx
  • lin7604
    lin7604 Posts: 3,019 Member
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    the same thing happened to me. I started working out crazy for 2 month, cardio and 30 ds daily... i had a hard time loosing, but when i decided to stop everything and just to see if i could do it by diet alone, i dropped 3 lbs in 3 days. i think it was mainly water retention as many have told me b/c i was retaining water in my muscles for repair while i was doing 30ds. once i stopped it, it released itself... i have started 30ds again and i gained 3 lbs again, so i know once i stop it at the end again, those 3 lbs will come off again...

    i also believe in spike days too,i think our bodies need that at times and get it out of eating healthy/ clean or what ever or just needs more calories..
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    If you went from working out, to not working out, odds are, it's water weight. Your body holds water to aid in muscle repair, when you stop working out, it releases that water.

    Also, if you have a fever, you can sweat out water weight as well.

    9 times out of 10 a sick person loses water weight while sick.
  • geargirl25
    geargirl25 Posts: 1
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    Sometims if you are eating too little calories, your body goes into starvation mode and holds onto the weight. Perhaps hitting a calorie count without the exercising put your body at an "equilibrium" phase where it felt it could let go of the weight.
  • baxter19
    baxter19 Posts: 1 Member
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    I wasn't sick but the same thing happened to me. For weeks I was working out and staying under my calorie count, but this past weekweek I have been really bad (a going away party and dinner in the same week) and pretty much overshot my calorie count. Everyday, and my elliptical is broke so I haven't been able to use it, but lost more weight this week than the weeks I was "following the rules". My calorie intake started at 1400 and when I lost my 1st 10 lbs lowered to 1200. Could it be the calories are too low for my body? How would I know if that is the case or not?
  • akangel81
    akangel81 Posts: 19
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    In my experiences if you diet alone and cut back your calories a lot than you seem to lose weight faster but all you really accomplish is the same smaller problem areas . now that im dieting and exercising on a regular bases i like that changes in my definition and it is worth it because i know im actually working towards a bikini body more that just skinny flab if you know what i mean.

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