Weightloss patterns
 

I was just interested to hear how everyone's weight shifts. I have been weghing myself almost daily to keep myself in check and have noticed that my weight stays about the same and then I suddenly gain 2 pounds for no reason and the next day I am down 4 pounds i.e I am back to the weight I had before the gain minus the amount I gained. Quite weird.

Also anyone do try cycling in doing a vlcd for a week then count for the next? A colleague tried and lost loads, though have done vlcd in the past
and couldn't last too long 3 weeks or so.

I don't think you will get many responses on the topic of VLCD as it's not something many people do and stand for in terms of weight loss unless you are doing it with doctor's supervision and or clinically obese.

It can seriously damage your metabolism in a long run and create all other issues in your body but there are too many to mention.

As for the weight fluctuations, most likely it's the natural body water retention and fluctuation depending on your daily sodium intake and carbs you are consuming as well as maybe hormones. That's why it's more accurate to pick a day of the week and weigh yourself say on Mondays as it takes about 3,500 cal to loose one pound of fat and there is no way you can create that kind of deficit and then surplus daily.

Hope this helps.

My weight is up and down like that. I hate it... drives my bonkers. I have only been weighing once a week. To give an idea of what my loss/gain has looked like this year:
January 2: 194.8 (-0.6)
January 9: 193.6 (-1.2)
January 16: 188.4 (-5.2)
January 23: 194 (+5.6)
January 30: 190.2 (-3.8)
February 6: 186.8 (-3.4)
February 13: 183.2 (-3.6)

This week I started upping my protein and completely eliminating grains from my diet (which for me means substituting out my oatmeal for breakfast and 1/2 sandwich during lunch). I hope this might stop the crazy up and down (hey a girl can dream!)

I have no idea what vlcd is.

No idea what vlcd is here either.

I've only been doing this for about a month, so my experience is limited. I do an "official" weigh-in once per week, and thus far I have always seen a loss from the previous week. (That's bound to change at some point! :lol:) However, I do weigh myself probably 2 or 3 times each day, both because I'm curious and because it helps me to stay on plan in the same way that writing down everything I eat helps me stay on plan. The fluctuations I see on the scale definitely have a discernable pattern:

-When I've consumed too much sodium and not had enough water, my weight goes up. The increase is usually minimal (less than a pound), and when I get enough water in over the next 24 hours my weight goes back down. The gain is almost certainly the result of water retention.

-When I've kept my sodium in check and consumed enough water during the day, my weight is usually the same at night as it was that morning. Any loss usually comes after a good night's sleep.

-The day after I began strength training my weight was up 2 lbs. This was also most likely water retention (the pain in my quads was intense, and they were noticeably swollen). After two days of upping my water intake, walking on the treadmill to move the water and lactic acid out of my muscles, and taking a small amount of ibruprofen for the inflamation, my weight dropped back down.


The scale is obviously only one measure of how your body is responding to your diet, exercise, schedule, sleep, etc. For me though, at least right now, it's a useful guide to what's happening with my body, and it helps keep me on track with parts of my plan (specifically, managing my sodium and water intake).

Thanks,I suppose its true re VLCD (for those who aren't sure its a very low calorie diet). Its always tempting to me as I did my own versiion when I was far younger (and not fat but wanted to be thinner) and stuck to 700 or less calories a day for almost a month and lost 42 pounds. But I was young then and doubt my body could take it again. Last year I did one of those shake ones but couldn't last so I'll stick to my 1200 a day as I am finding that very easy. Most of my previous calories came from drinks (fruit juice, wine etc) so I haven't really changed my eating at all just switched to water only.

I am one of those who cannot stick to a diet without weighing daily, weekly doesn't work for me.It makes me cheat when I weigh weekly as I forget I am on diet;).

Wow, your loss is amazing. Your crazy up and down seems to be going mostly down.

I look at the scale as a barometer of how I'm doing. As I was losing, I generally looked for trends and tried not to focus too much on the specific number. As others have said, too much sodium or alcohol, a hard exercise session, or the way the wind blows that day :D can have a noticeable effect.

Well yes it looks great the past 3 weeks but I just know I am about to be sucker punched and prolly end up with a 5 pound gain this week or next followed by a week or two of no or very little loss. That is just the way it goes, sadly =\ Overall I am guessing I'll have a 6 or 7 pound loss for the entire month (which is great). But the point was that yes - up and down is very normal.