How do people lose large amounts of weight in short periods

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pennylove76
pennylove76 Posts: 14 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm just curious. I have some MFP friends and even others who can literally lose 15lbs in 2 weeks. I also know people who are the fitness model types and they will drop 5lbs over night. What the heck? I just don't get it. Does the body just dispose of the weight that quickly? Also, I thought if you are starving yourself the body goes into a different mode and it's actually harder to lose weight. Which, leads me to assume that these people are NOT starving themselves. Also, how safe is it for one to lose weight so quickly?

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  • dlwyatt82
    dlwyatt82 Posts: 1,077 Member
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    Regarding the "15 pounds in 2 weeks", it depends on where the weight is coming from. In short bursts, a lot of that could be water weight. If you're talking about a consistent 8.5 pounds of fat / muscle per week, I'm not sure that's even possible except for extremely obese people who practically stop eating altogether. I'm a pretty big guy (6 feet and 330 pounds), and my TDEE is roughly 3100. Assuming I ate absolutely nothing for an entire week, I'd be at a deficit of 21700 calories, which is still not enough to justify an 8-pound weight loss (assuming the usual statement of "3500 calories = 1 pound" is true).

    Regarding losing weight overnight: if you weigh yourself just before bed and again in the morning, it's perfectly normal to see several pounds difference; weight fluctuates quite a lot throughout the course of a day. Very little of that comes from fat / muscle changes. It's mostly water.
  • pennylove76
    pennylove76 Posts: 14 Member
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    Oh, that makes sense. Especially since I believe many of my fitness model pals go into some sort of water deprivation mode right before their big show. Of course, then I am compelled to say "but I thought water was supposed to make you lose weight"...uuggghhh lol
  • staceydeelane
    staceydeelane Posts: 71
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    i once lost 4lbs over night but i spent 3 hours in the gym the night before and was breastfeeding a 10 month old baby (that burns a stupid amount of callories) i do not think it is possible to lose 5lbs overnight under normal circumstances. ive had a sick bug for 2 days now and have only lost 2lbs though ive eaten nothing and have nothing in me so to speak even if they were starving themselfs they wouldnt have that sort off weight loss
  • anfmusicgrl
    anfmusicgrl Posts: 63 Member
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    Well....this happens to me frequently, but what these "short periods" all have in common is: the week before the big losses I had only seen like a .2 loss; and the week after was a stand still... What I believe happens (because I see this happen with me pretty often) is that I am losing fat over the course of two weeks (just an example); However, due to heavy weight training, high-impact cardio, and hormonal shifts, I tend to retain water. Usually, if I take 2 days off exercise in a row; and have a high calorie day; What I see happen the following week is like a "whoosh" effect. I'll see my weight drop 1-2 lbs every day for a few days...

    So, it's not that I'm losing all that fat in one week. It has been lost over time, but water retention has masked those losses. Once my body repairs it's muscles (days off) it lets go of that water, and whoosh. There I can see my fat loss. Over 6 months, this is how almost all of my losses are. 1 week - not so much loss. Another week - range of 2-10lb loss. (Totally random IDK why once in a while I have a really big loss week) I am very consistent in my water intake, so it's not "dehydration" or anything like that...it comes down to my exercise patterns mostly and diet somewhat. (sodium)
  • JoolieW68
    JoolieW68 Posts: 1,879 Member
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    I once lost 6 pounds overnight......by having stomach flu and retching all night long.

    I don't recommend this for weight loss. :tongue:
  • pennylove76
    pennylove76 Posts: 14 Member
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    Well....this happens to me frequently, but what these "short periods" all have in common is: the week before the big losses I had only seen like a .2 loss; and the week after was a stand still... What I believe happens (because I see this happen with me pretty often) is that I am losing fat over the course of two weeks (just an example); However, due to heavy weight training, high-impact cardio, and hormonal shifts, I tend to retain water. Usually, if I take 2 days off exercise in a row; and have a high calorie day; What I see happen the following week is like a "whoosh" effect. I'll see my weight drop 1-2 lbs every day for a few days...

    So, it's not that I'm losing all that fat in one week. It has been lost over time, but water retention has masked those losses. Once my body repairs it's muscles (days off) it lets go of that water, and whoosh. There I can see my fat loss. Over 6 months, this is how almost all of my losses are. 1 week - not so much loss. Another week - range of 2-10lb loss. (Totally random IDK why once in a while I have a really big loss week) I am very consistent in my water intake, so it's not "dehydration" or anything like that...it comes down to my exercise patterns mostly and diet somewhat. (sodium)

    So this makes me wonder if it's bad to exercise 2 days in a row? So if someone does weights on Monday, Zumba on Tuesday and jogs in the park on Wednesday, will the scale show a weight gain on Thursday?
  • anfmusicgrl
    anfmusicgrl Posts: 63 Member
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    Well....this happens to me frequently, but what these "short periods" all have in common is: the week before the big losses I had only seen like a .2 loss; and the week after was a stand still... What I believe happens (because I see this happen with me pretty often) is that I am losing fat over the course of two weeks (just an example); However, due to heavy weight training, high-impact cardio, and hormonal shifts, I tend to retain water. Usually, if I take 2 days off exercise in a row; and have a high calorie day; What I see happen the following week is like a "whoosh" effect. I'll see my weight drop 1-2 lbs every day for a few days...

    So, it's not that I'm losing all that fat in one week. It has been lost over time, but water retention has masked those losses. Once my body repairs it's muscles (days off) it lets go of that water, and whoosh. There I can see my fat loss. Over 6 months, this is how almost all of my losses are. 1 week - not so much loss. Another week - range of 2-10lb loss. (Totally random IDK why once in a while I have a really big loss week) I am very consistent in my water intake, so it's not "dehydration" or anything like that...it comes down to my exercise patterns mostly and diet somewhat. (sodium)

    So this makes me wonder if it's bad to exercise 2 days in a row? So if someone does weights on Monday, Zumba on Tuesday and jogs in the park on Wednesday, will the scale show a weight gain on Thursday?

    I wouldn't worry about that. Working out 2 days in a row isn't bad for you. (Unless your body really just needs rest/repair) Your general goal is weight loss/improving how you look, right? Working out will get you there. Any water retention, etc. that keeps the scale at a stand still eventually will go away! Drinking water *does* help you lose weight, meaning it's supposed to keep water retention down (due to dehydration); however, if your muscles are swollen...not much you can do about that until it passes :)

    Don't worry too much about water weight. Your goal is fat loss, so keep up the exercise! My main moral of my story was that eventually the scale always catches up with actual fat loss. Water was just temporary, and does mask losses for me sometimes. Was just offering an explanation as to why I personally see big losses in short time frames occassionally... however, if your model friends do extreme things for those losses, who knows? I can only explain what causes my big losses, and sometimes others.

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