after how long is it no longer "water weight"..
 

ok so ive lost a good amount of pounds, yet no one notices a difference and if they do.. they arent telling me. i was talking to my mother and she asked me how much had i already lost and when i told her, she said alot of that is water weight. i freaked! i thought water weight was like the first 5-10lbs lost.. so now im just wondering if thats the case. plus im scared to drink a lot of water because i do notice a gain on the scale after i drink water. im freaking out that if i start drinking more water, that i will gain all my weight back. help!

Relax! :hug: You're right and Mom's wrong (it happens sometimes :lol: )

You've lost 74 pounds and you can be absolutely sure it's fat, not water. Just like you said, a lot of weight lost in the first week or two is water. After that, you're chipping away at F-A-T.

Oddly enough, drinking water will help you lose water weight. I know it sounds goofy but drinking water flushes out retained water. Sure, the scale temporarily goes up the amount that the water weighs (one cup of water weighs 7 ounces!) but it will get flushed out of your system. So keep drinking - water is good for you!

As to why people aren't noticing, I think when we start out heavier, it takes a longer time for clothes sizes to change and people to notice. But YOU must be able to tell a difference, right? And your clothes have to be fitting differently. Have you been taking your measurements? I'm sure there's a change there. :)

And sometimes people don't say anything because they don't want to offend you by saying the wrong thing. Weight is a touchy subject, as we all know. :lol:

Don't get discouraged! You are doing so well and should be very proud of your progress. Keep doing what you're doing and drinking that water and soon everyone will be commenting on your losses!

Looking at it from a purely scientific way, if it was 74 lbs of *water weight*, you wouldn't exactly be human anymore! No one can pack THAT much useless water. Meg is totally right, if there is 'water weight' to lose, it is necessarily during the first week or first two weeks of your weight loss. After that, it's all fat. Although the viewability of the results may depend on your body type, too: in some people, it's very easy to see, in some others, the body change in such away that the weight loss is done on... well, everywhere at once instead of in one very remarkable part, for instance, so those who happen to see you very often may not pay attention.

I'm pretty sure, though, that if you put a 'before' picture and a 'now' pic right next to each other, you WILL be able to really see the difference. :) (Yes, OUR perceptions tend to be pretty much flawed as well whan it comes to that!)

Wow! 74 pounds! You should be so proud of yourself! That is awesome!

I'm finding that most people don't notice my weight loss either. Granted, I've only lost 15 pounds... but I want people to notice!! So I hear you. But I agree with the former poster... it's a touchy subject. I guess as long as you're happy that's all that matters.

Hey! Yeah, drink that water! It will help!

I have a friend who only this week asked me if I had lost weight. And the reason she hadn't said anything was that she was afraid I was sick and wasn't losing on purpose. She works in the medical field so I guess she's really sensitive to people losing weight for that reason.

Anyway, sometimes people also don't know what to say--they are afraid the person who's lost will be offended by someone noticing--as in, "Gee, you look good!" [reply:] "So, I looked like a blimp before?" :( So don't worry about it--just keep going with your plan! :cb: :cb: :cb:

Jay

Yeah, Mom is definitely wrong. 74 lbs must be noticeable, but I agree that people are afraid to mention it. Also, if you aren't wearing fitted clothing it isn't quite as noticeable either. Until I broke down and bought a few new pieces of clothing, people just weren't really sure if I had lost weight or not.

74 pound of water?? Mother needs to give her head a shake. She doesn't exactly sound supportive....you might want to look elsewhere for your rah rah's, because if she can fluff off a 74 pound loss as water weight, I don't think she has it in her to get behind you on this. Perhaps has issues of her own re: weigtht/food?

Have you taken your own measurements? Water weight usually drops within the first couple weeks. You should see a big difference in your measurements with 74 lbs lost.

74 pounds! Wow, wow, wow! That is great! Water weight, fat weight ... I don't care if you lost 74 pounds of chocolate chips, 74 pounds is nothing to scoff at!

I agree that only the first few pounds is water weight and, as Janie said, your mom "needs to give her head a shake" - ha ha.

New clothes that fit will definitely help show off your emerging figure. Way to go and keep it up!

Water gain, the temporary day to day fluctuations caused by TOM, too much salt... isn't usually something to be concerned about, but dismissing any part of permanent weight loss (even the first 5 lbs) really irks me. I mean, water takes up space too, so the part of your permanent weight loss that was water, still means you are now that much smaller. So as far as permanent weight loss, the permanently lost water counts just as much as the fat.

My highest weight (which I list as my starting weight) included a good deal of water retention, because it was a TOM weight. The week before I had weighed 379. My highest stable weight was around 383. I was at 394 for no more than 4 days, and lost 15 lbs in 5 days - now that's water weight. Still, I list it as my starting weight, because I was taking up 394 lbs worth of space - water space yes, but also fat space, bone space, muscle space.

Believe me, people ARE noticing. There's a lot of reasons they aren't saying anything, and it may range from it being a low priority on their part, or jealousy or fear of offending or countless other reasons that have nothing to do with you. My mother's oldest sister who recently passed away, was always the "thin" one of three sisters. My mom was the "fat" sister (but also the "smart" one). Myu aunt refused to acknowledge any of my mother's 100 lbs weight loss, during the last five years. The obvious jealously really upset my mom, but when her sister passed away, I think it finally dawned on her that her sister had been afraid of losing her place as the "thin" one.

I agree with kaplods, and as you can see, the larger you are, the more water weight you can gain and lose.

kaplods, congratulations on your weight loss so far! :broc: :cb:

I'm still trying to envision what 74 pounds of chocolate chips would look like... :lol:

Jay

74 lbs of choooocolate...... :drool: (a la Homer Simpson)

Drink drink drink drink that water. The less you drink the MORE you retain. Its like the metabolism that way. If you dont give it enough to flush everything through, it hoards what it has.

Water weight is in the first couple weeks and then after that when you see the scale jumping around instead of being linear that is water caused by many things (except drinking water ironically)

I can not believe your mom said that. Quite frankly if it was anyone else but your mom we would all be using the B word on her and saying it sounds like she has her own issues.

Drink water, and come HERE for support, not to mom:D

I think there are definitely issues with your mother. I can't believe she dismissed a 74 pound loss as 'water-weight'. You need to tune her out when it comes to your weight, food and body.

You have done an *amazing* job and should be incredibly proud of yourself. Even if it were all water-weight (or chocolate chip weight) you've still dropped from 305 to 231 and are on your way to creating a whole new body. It's fantastic.

Take a real pride in your accomplishment, keep on going, and ignore your mother and other people who try to belittle what you have achieved.

Maybe Mom is just a little clueless about these things. Let's not be too hard on Mom given the time of year... ;)

You are doing great--keep going!

Jay

thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your replys, they added a well needed smile to my face and that is one of the many reasons why i love this board. people dont judge you and there arent any jelousy issues here and if there are, i havent come across any. thank you thank you.