water weight or actual fat????

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Samia22
Samia22 Posts: 25
in Success Stories
Hey guys just wanted to know after how many pounds lost can u class ur weight loss as actual fat that u are losing, its just that when I told someone about how much I had lost ( 8lbs in 4 weeks) they laughed and said " well u know that that's not fat and just water" it really put me on a downer!
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Replies

  • WingMan380
    WingMan380 Posts: 2,139 Member
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    Oh heck, that was so not cool for them to say that. The way I look at it, pounds lost is pounds lost and as long as you don't gain them back you are doing good.
  • Samia22
    Samia22 Posts: 25
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    I know I just laughed it off but it really did upset me. Xx
  • androde
    androde Posts: 96 Member
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    I track measurements, I lost 5 inches off my beer belly in first weeks of taking a break from alcohol. It also helps me know if it's fat or muscle I'm losing
  • cue_chik
    cue_chik Posts: 63 Member
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    Don't let it discourage you... That's just someone not feeling great about themselves with a pang of jealousy that YOU are doing something about feeling good about yourself! Like the previous poster said 'Pounds are pounds' and being that fat is mostly water... it ALL counts! keep up the great work! You are doing a fantastic job! Don't let anyone tell ya different!
  • Seblirium
    Seblirium Posts: 4
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    Don't let it discourage you... That's just someone not feeling great about themselves with a pang of jealousy that YOU are doing something about feeling good about yourself! Like the previous poster said 'Pounds are pounds' and being that fat is mostly water... it ALL counts! keep up the great work! You are doing a fantastic job! Don't let anyone tell ya different!

    +1!

    Ignore the comment, you're the one who's putting in the effort and will reap the rewards.
    Pounds are pounds, as has been said above. I made a comeback to the gym and healthier eating around 10 days ago, and have lost 5lbs since then; water or fat, it's progress either way you look at it :)
  • TourThePast
    TourThePast Posts: 1,753 Member
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    When you start eating fewer calories, your body loses a bigger proportion of water in the first week.

    After that, you're losing either fat or muscle. What you need to get rid of is fat, so don't drop your calories below what this site advises and get some resistance training in and the fat will drop off, leaving you with all that lovely calorie burning muscle that you already have - and which will make you look awesome and shapely when you are down to target weight. :)

    So yes ignore that comment, and if you can, cut them out of your life. Someone who says something like that is a pretty nasty character, so why waste time with them when the world's full of great positive people who could make your life nicer.
  • lexidell46
    lexidell46 Posts: 143
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    Ignore that rude comment. Just stick with your journey. Unless they have a medical background, it is most likely something they heard along the way.I will take the pounds lost and be happy.
  • alondrafd
    alondrafd Posts: 18
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    When you start eating fewer calories, your body loses a bigger proportion of water in the first week.

    After that, you're losing either fat or muscle. What you need to get rid of is fat, so don't drop your calories below what this site advises and get some resistance training in and the fat will drop off, leaving you with all that lovely calorie burning muscle that you already have - and which will make you look awesome and shapely when you are down to target weight. :)

    So yes ignore that comment, and if you can, cut them out of your life. Someone who says something like that is a pretty nasty character, so why waste time with them when the world's full of great positive people who could make your life nicer.

    I agree
  • treetop57
    treetop57 Posts: 1,578 Member
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    Two pounds a week over four weeks could well be actual fat loss for someone looking to lose 60 pounds.

    For me, it took about a month and half for the water weight to stabilize . . . at least my weight bounced around quite a bit for the first six weeks then has been steadily downhill since then. (I'm talking about weekly weigh-in at the same time of day, not variation within the day.)

    At four weeks, I was down eight pounds. Then I gained three pounds over the next two weeks. Then lost five pounds in a week. Since then, it's been down a pound or two per week.

    I have no idea if that is typical.

    And I agree with everyone else: "Ignore that rude comment."
  • Carolyn_79
    Carolyn_79 Posts: 935 Member
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    As you keep losing I would just go up to her one day and say, "Guess what? I've now lost 25 pounds of water. It's amazing how much space that water takes up!"
  • clintbritt3
    clintbritt3 Posts: 123
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    As you keep losing I would just go up to her one day and say, "Guess what? I've now lost 25 pounds of water. It's amazing how much space that water takes up!"

    That's exactly what I would do, but I'm a smartass.... you are doing great.... Weight is weight! My 1st week of my life style change I lost 5lbs and I got so many compliment and all I did was cut out yucky sodium.
  • NovemberJune
    NovemberJune Posts: 2,525 Member
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    Wow. :\

    Well I honestly do think that if someone loses 8 lbs in their first week. I figure that I big part of that must have been water weight. But it's definitely possible to lose 8 lbs of fat in 4 weeks.
  • MrsGreenTea703
    MrsGreenTea703 Posts: 300 Member
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    Don't listen to 'those type' of people. They are jealous! I had a guy at my work try to tell me that the weight I lost was mostly water and that was after I had already lost over 70 pounds. I laughed and said "you think I lost 70 pounds of water?" It amazes me the stupidity of some people. There are also a lot of old wives tales about weight loss do or don'ts. If someone you even half believe tells you something, you may want to cross reference it online to see if it's true or has been proven to be a myth. Just a thought.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Some of it will probably be water weight - but some of it is most likely also be fat - especially after 4 weeks. There really is no way to calculate how much is what. One reason is because some of it may or may not be lean muscle mass - or, and more likely if you are weight training, you may have gained lean muscle mass, so net, net , you may have lost 8lb of fat. Just making numbers up here to show my example.....lets say you lost 4lb of water weight but you gained 2lb of lean muscle mass you actually would have lost 6lb of fat. I have over-simplified here, and unless you have your body composition tested each time you will never really know how much of what you have lost...but then again neither does the person who made the comment, so someone just assuming that its water (and making that comment rather than being encouraging) is pretty much likely to be wrong.
  • treetop57
    treetop57 Posts: 1,578 Member
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    It was 70 lbs of green tea!
  • _kimberly_
    _kimberly_ Posts: 5 Member
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    Sounds like someone is JEALOUS of you!! Some ppl will try to beat you down to make themselves feel better when they see you making positive changes. I think 8 lbs in 2 weeks is very reasonable, and you wouldn't still be losing just excess water after 4 weeks!
  • ashhills
    ashhills Posts: 64 Member
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    Two pounds a week over four weeks could well be actual fat loss for someone looking to lose 60 pounds.

    For me, it took about a month and half for the water weight to stabilize . . . at least my weight bounced around quite a bit for the first six weeks then has been steadily downhill since then. (I'm talking about weekly weigh-in at the same time of day, not variation within the day.)

    At four weeks, I was down eight pounds. Then I gained three pounds over the next two weeks. Then lost five pounds in a week. Since then, it's been down a pound or two per week.

    I have no idea if that is typical.

    And I agree with everyone else: "Ignore that rude comment."

    That is about what happened to me, also.
  • jenlb99
    jenlb99 Posts: 213 Member
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    Some of it was water, but after 4 weeks, some of it was most definitely fat. Congratulations on that!

    Make sure you're eating enough, though because you do NOT want to lose muscle mass. The more muscle mass you have, the more calories you burn naturally. I suggest taking pictures (front, side, and back) wearing as little as you're comfortable with, and taking measurements.

    Keep going and you'll shut the naysayers up! :)
  • MrsGreenTea703
    MrsGreenTea703 Posts: 300 Member
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    It was 70 lbs of green tea!

    LMAO! Green Tea ROCKS!
  • hufflypuff
    hufflypuff Posts: 185 Member
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    I didn't read everything here and someone may have already said in but in general its suggested that losing more than 2 lbs a week is water weight. Think about it in these terms. 3500 calories is a pound. Did you burn/ cut back on food enough to be down 7000 calories? So about 1000 calories a day? The number seems big but 30 minutes of exercise a day is about 300 calories. Cutting down that bad for you dessert is another 200-300 a day. Taking the stairs instead of the elevator could add 50 more and then some of the other good choices you make like some veggies instead of a bag of chips... or even one serving of the bag instead of the whole bag of chips.

    TLDR: 8lbs is completely acceptable to be fat loss. Plus what really counts is at the end of that month did you feel better? did your jeans fit a bit better? If you have a yes to one of those then you are doing good.

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