So for the past 3 days I've had the flu or some flu like sickness (not of the swine variety I don't think). When I got on the scale, I noticed a whopping 6 pound loss in just a couple of days.

While I didn't eat much while sick, there is no way humanly possible I could have lost that much in fat. While sick, I also was unable to go to the gym at all (the last time I went was last Friday!).

So I guess my question is when you are sick and you lose weight, it is just water from dehydration? I tried to drink plenty of fluids, so I don't necessarily think that is the issue. Is it possible to lose muscle in only a week?

I assume I'll be putting back on the weight that I lost since I'm feeling better now. I hope those six pounds stay off, but I'm certainly not counting them as official....yet.

You probably have some combination of the aforementioned. As you have the good sense to do don't count your sick pounds. Eat for your health, and take care of yourself.

Even if you tried to get plenty of fluids, you likely didn't. Fever can push your water requirements up. Also, if you didn't eat much, keep in mind that there is less digestive byproduct in your body than you might otherwise have.

It's doubtful this is mostly muscle. Some is probably fat, most is probably water and digestion products.

Probably not fat loss. My DH had a stomach thing -- he lost around 8 pounds in 2 weeks. Most of it was because he wasn't eating much and what he DID eat sure wasn't retained! Probably he lost a bit of muscle as he didn't go to the gym and your body needs fuel SOMEHOW if you aren't eating alot. And he probably lost some water weight because he was depleting his glycogen stores in his muscle which means that water is lost from there. And since his GI system was pretty purged, some of the weight lost can be attributed to that.
He's back at the gym now and eating regularly, but has experienced a net loss of 3 lbs (6 foot tall, went from 184 lbs to 176 lbs, and is now 181lbs)...
SO, don't count the 6 lbs as weight loss -- you'll probably see a net loss over the next month which is a bit more than usual, though...

Kira

Don't you wish the weight we lost while we were sick would stay off. I think I'd be handing out at the doctor's office!!

Hope you are feeling better!

empty bowels
slight dehydration
bit of fat loss

That being said... the last time I had the wicked *ss flu (and it was an *ss flu lol!) I lost 6 lbs. And they stayed off. So who knows!