Woosh...
 

I am in my second week restarting and I have been at a stand still for a few days. I am not getting discouraged because I know the diet works...but...how often do you get a Woosh?...I seem to remember getting one after a few says standing still...Do you start moving again after the woosh???

WOW! 407 views and not one reply!

I only recently started weighing myself and fairly inconsistently but I haven't noticed a pattern of the 'whoosh.' I'm near the end of my weight loss so I suspect if I'd been weighing myself during the process the whoosh would happen on day 5 after last weigh in. I'd base this on how I felt thinner usually a couple of days before a weighin.

Hope that helps --

How has your sleeping and stress levels been? Sometimes I find that if I am really stressed at work, my body copes by holding onto EVERYTHING! Sorry, that's probably not the best answer but it might help explain why there hasn't been a whoosh?

Barri - "Woosh" - :) I associate that with the Low Carb forums I was part of for years...I guess my initial "woosh" was the first 10 days - and since then, my weekly losses have been steady.
For some reason I have yet to figure out through tracking, I have followed ONE pattern - and that is my lowest weight is always on a Saturday or Sunday morning around 9:00 am - lack of stress? extra sleep? more time to release water?

Also, keep in mind everyone's weight loss patterns are going to be individual.

As an FYI, here is a great article on why the scale lies: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=465759

After 16 weeks on the program, I had my first real stall this past week. Up and down the same 1.5 pounds. My weigh in happened on one of the "down" days (1 lb loss). The next day, at home, I was up again. This morning I am down 1.4 lb from yesterday morning. I'm ready to get off this particular ride...a whoosh would be welcome! I am upping my water intake, using smooth move tea for a couple of nights, and eating a mix of raw and cooked select veggies as opposed to strictly cooked selects. Something's got to give...I have way to many pounds to go to have a stall this early on.

Bring on the whoosh!!

I think maybe reluctance to reply is because your expectations seem a bit high. You are into your 2nd week and have apparently lost 12 lbs. That is a woosh -- most of us experience this starting out on IP, but a downward scale reading every day is not going to happen beyond the first week for most people. By the end of the second week I would expect you will show more loss but it is likely to be a single digit.

If you look at the ticker numbers for most people here on 3FC IP who have been doing the diet for 4 or 5 months or more, you will see that the majority show losses of an average of 10 lbs a month. It is not unusual to drop 20 the first month -- depending on how much you have to lose, maybe even more. But the first week is usually the biggest drop of all. Gradually it gets into the 3 lbs a week range and then about 2 lbs a week.

The woosh many of us look for becomes anything more than 3 lbs in a week. And as you approach goal weight the losses can really slow. That's where I am -- losing very slowly, now. I would love to see a woosh of even 2 lbs.

Barri I think also not everyone reads and responds to each thread, and there are many people that only read/view for inspiration but don't write anything - you might want to try posting questions on the Daily Chat thread, most people check in there every day.

I've been stuck at 205 since weigh in....HOPING for a Whoosh here shortly. Its also that Time for me.....so ANy time now!!! LOL

I saw your post but didn't reply because I didn't have much to add. The short answer is: Never. I never see "whooshes." Occasionally if I am eating really badly and switch to low carb I can lose a pound or two quickly.

My losses are always slow even on IP. I have lost 3.4 pounds in 2 weeks. I consider my 0.6 pound loss last week a success!

I have yo-yoed up and down the same 20 pounds for years now and I have learned if I set myself up to expect whooshes or even steady weight loss, then I set myself up for disappointment. (Though I admit that the whoosh is nice ... I guess I had a mini-whoosh today of -1.8 pounds in one day... I fully expect my weight will bounce up some tomorrow.)

Personally I find it more helpful to make a commitment to a behavior -- follow IP strictly or start going to the gym or whatever -- for X amount of time and evaluate at the end of that period. For me it is 4 months on IP with basic exercise most days of the week (walking, yoga, jogging or strength-training of the physical therapy variety). People on IP seem to end up with great physiques even when their scale numbers are not that low and that is one aspect that interested me in this diet. I may not even have to lose that much weight if I can just lose some FAT.

Good luck to you, I hope you figure it out and can enjoy your 12 pound loss! :congrat:

I'm off to check out that link about scale lies now... Being a slave to the scale stinks.

Also, don't weigh everyday. Or if you do (which I do), don't "count" but one a week. That helps to remove some of the fluctuations and see what the general trend is...

Thanks for everyone's responses...

I didn't have a 12lb loss my first week...that was my starting weight when I started dieting. I started at 180 last week so it has really only been 4lbs or so...this morning I was down to 175 though! YAY!!!

I seem to stay stuck a few days and then get a woosh...and 1-2lbs are gone. IDK why this happens to me rather then steady losses like everyone else.

I will try and stay off the scale...it is so hard though! I wake up every morning and run to the scale to see what/if I have lost anything. It is how things have been for me for the last 15 years!

Thanks again everyone!

Believe me, the rest of us aren't seeing steady losses either! Weight loss is not linear.

Below is the graph of my weight loss for my first month on IP. I did not weigh daily the first two weeks, but after that, I was curious how my body shed weight throughout the week.

I found out that my body maintains or gains my weight during the week, and then I drop all my weight during the weekend. This happens every single week.

The pattern you are seeing is the same as the rest of us!

http://s3.postimg.org/c3uiyb5ar/image.jpg

SHARK....that's about what my graph looks like! UPs and downs, but I always end on the down side. Sorta seems weird, but I do the same things on the week days as I do the weekends, but always end up good!

I actually did see a woosh on my official WI today - down 4 lbs for the week! This after up and down and up and down and up and down for the past month!

I find that I am closer to 2 pounds a week, my coach said 3 should be my average, some weeks I am 3 but that is not consistent.

If you are on MFP you can check out this write up about the scale readings... very informative relative to what the number on the scale is trying to tell you...

Why Aren't I Losing Weight on My Low-carb Diet?

We have been conditioned most of our lives to put our hopes and worth into one single number: how much gravity acts on our bodies, which is more commonly known as “the number the bathroom scale spits out at us.” For some reason it's been given godly-status. But for many reasons it isn't always accurate.

How Much Weight Should I Expect to Lose and How Quickly?
You are going to lose weight at different rates at different times and how fast is going to depend on the individual: their starting weight, how much they have left to lose, and their own personal metabolic rate. People often get frustrated because they aren't dropping a ton of weight quickly on low-carb diets. You aren't guaranteed to. Some people lose faster, and these usually have a high starting weight. Some people lose more slowly, and these people generally have less weight to lose. As the body gets closer to goal, that dreaded H-word “homeostasis” comes into play and the rate of weight loss will slow. There are still others that will always lose slowly, regardless of how much they have to lose.

People often see low-carbers crowing about how they lost 7lbs or 10lbs in the first week. Low-carb diets do often give a large whoosh of weight loss the first week. This happens because the body is burning through its remaining glycogen stores (which the body has because it is sugar-fueled). Once this store is gone, and we are burning fat for fuel instead, the water is released. This accounts for those fast pounds. However, the size of the glycogen store varies among individuals. Some just have less to burn to begin with, so their water weight to shed is less. Most people continue to lose at a much slower rate. Some even experience a "pause" just after while their bodies adjust to the new fuel source. Staying on plan and waiting it out is the best strategy. Two pounds per week, one pound per week, or even only half a pound every 2 weeks, a minus is a minus. This extra fluff didn't get on our bodies in a week, and unfortunately, it isn't going to leave us that soon either. But if you are consistent and persistent, it will go.


Am I in a Stall?
You aren't stalling, or hitting a plateau, until your weight hasn't dropped any in 4 to 6 weeks. If you don't lose for a week or 2, your body is pulling a fast one on you to the tune of one (or more) of the issues you will find below.


So, How Do You Tell If You Have a Fibbing Scale?
First, make sure you know what you're eating. Check your macros, making sure you aren't eating too much protein and that you are eating enough fat. Check that you haven't accidentally engaged in that insidious devil: carb creep, where you get lax about how many carbs you are consuming. And finally, make sure you aren’t eating too many or too little calories. Remember that, as you lose, your body will need fewer calories, so you will periodically have to adjust your calorie goal downward. Accurately measure your food to make sure you aren't cheating yourself with either too much or too little.

So, you've checked your macros and calories, and you've been eating what you should, but the scale is still giving you nonsense. It has gone up, or it still isn't going down! Don't fret too much. The scale is a lying liarpants sometimes.

How Your Scale Lies:
Water weight. Did you know that a cup of water weighs half a pound (kg)? Water the body refuses to give up can add up to scale lies. There are several ways your body likes to trick the scale by holding onto water.
Hormones. Unbalanced hormone levels in the body caused by diet snafus, stress (elevated cortisol), or natural gender fluctuations (ovulation or the evil TOM) can cause the body to hold onto water.
Fat loss. Believe it or not, when we lose fat, the body sometimes fills the empty fat cells with water before letting it go. The fat cells are freaking out because they are now Empty-Nesters, and they aren't happy about it.
DOMS. Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness. Or other injuries. When you strain your muscles, they become stronger by tearing and then healing. This tearing of the muscle fibers causes inflammation in the form of water retention. When your muscles heal, the water will be shed by the body.
Too much sodium. If you've eaten a lot more sodium than usual, this can cause your body to hold onto water.


Other Issues Affecting Weight:
Water weight isn't the only way your scale can be tricked.
Here are some other common reasons your scale gives you grief.
Homeostasis. A big word to say that your body wants to keep the status quo. It want things to stay the same. When we change things up too much for its liking, it will defensively hold onto weight until it is sure it can handle what we've done. For example, it is not uncommon for people to experience a mini-stall after dropping 10, 20 or 30 pounds. The body “pauses” to evaluate, before showing progress on the scale again.
Medications. Some medications are known to cause stalls or even weight gain. Talk to your doctor if you suspect this is the case. You may be able to adjust dosage or change to a different drug if it is too severe a side effect. Or it may just be something you'll have to battle with if the drug can't be changed.


What Can I Do About a Lying Scale?
The number on the scale isn't the only character in our weight loss story. The scale lies. So how do we see the truth? The scale is going to bounce all around like a kangaroo on crack. It will go up, down, up, down. Weight loss is not going to be linear. Your chart will at times look like the line on an EKG. And that's perfectly okay, as long as the overall trend is downward. What you need to do, for your own sanity, is read a different character's story.

Our Other Characters:
Measurements. Regularly keep your measurements. Grab a measuring tape and every week or two and keep track of what your body is physically doing. When your body is holding onto water for the above reasons, or you have gained muscle, often you will have lost inches, even if the scale has bounced up or showed no change.
Pictures. Take progress pics of yourself every few weeks. Using this in tandem with your measurements will show you in a tangible way how far you have come, even if the scale hasn't changed much. Some people can finally see in pictures what they can't see in the mirror.
Clothing Fit. Use how your clothes feel on you as a guide. Often, if you are tracking well and keeping your calories in check, but the scale is being a twit, chances are your clothes will start to get loose in places or even just look better on your body.
Health. How do you feel? So what if the scale isn't moving like gangbusters? You are getting healthier and feeling better. That is a NSV in itself.


Should I Stop Weighing Every Day?
If your numbers bouncing around bother you to the point that they affect your happiness, even though you know what a liar your scale is, then it might be wise to stop weighing daily. Weigh every other day, twice a week, or even just once weekly. However, if you can't resist the daily torture (you masochist, you :wink:), look into websites and apps that track your daily weigh-ins and give you an average, like Libra or Happy Scale. Or just look at your EKG-like weight chart here on MFP and look for trends that may reassure you or give you clues as to when you might see another dip on the scale.


A Word about Patience
Patience has got to be one of the hardest things for someone wanting to see a positive change. Especially for those of us who want the weight off us YESTERDAY! But patience is exactly what we need during this time. Time is going to pass anyway, regardless of what we do. But change will happen if we take the necessary steps. Patience isn't a virtue; it is a skill. And one sorely tested while we are making healthy sacrifices. Exercise your patience, and it WILL get stronger. The scale will dither and lie, but you can defeat that Liar. Be gritty. Be doggedly determined. Be consistent. Time will take care of the rest.

I'm starting my 13th week on Ideal Protein today. I see that Sharkie said exactly what is my experience -- weight loss is definitely not linear. I have the same pattern of weight loss where it dips low, bounces up, then down a little bit, bounces back up -- just not as high -- and then back down to start low weight before dipping down again.

For some people, weighing every day makes them obsess. NOT weighing every day makes me crazy! And if I did not weigh every day, I would not have noticed that pattern and would have panicked even more than I did when my official weigh in two weeks ago showed zero weight loss. But because I had no weight loss for the week, I took the opportunity to examine everything again, to see if I was allowing too much fat, eating too many carby veggies, etc.

I went back last week and had lost over 4 pounds. Three more this week. I wouldn't worry about a week of no loss. A true stall is way over one week duration. Your body is adjusting and you'll see the needle moving in the right direction in no time!

Thank you so much for that write up, One. Just what I needed to help me understand better what's going on and to get a little inspiration to forge ahead despite numbers being what I want.

Patience is not my forte.
Marci: I hear you! I have had to do the same thing this past week or two. Getting over confident in "I know how many veggies make up 2 cups" or "what's another splash of WF caramel syrup in my cappuccino going to hurt?" can really make a difference in this program. Back to the basics. Back to paying more attention to what I am putting in my mouth, even if it does read 0/0/0 on the label.

Wow!!! Congratulations on the weight loss to date. You're an inspiration. I hope my numbers are that good at week 13! :hug:

Aww, thank you! It will happen to you, too. I know it! :)