How weird is this?

Ok so I've been steadily losing weight for about 3 months now. Usually losing around 2lbs every 2 weeks. Well I went super hardcore for 2 weeks, did extra cardio, really watched my calories, and was surprised to only lose 3lbs (I was hoping for 4lbs).

Here's the weird part.

The next 2 weeks, I got a super bad cold, so I missed a few days of cardio, did less intense strength workouts, and just moved way less in general than usual. I also took in more calories than usual (probably 1400 instead of 1200). Yet I have lost just about 5lbs in that 2 weeks.

FIVE POUNDS!!! That's crazyness. I tried to find some articles on how and why and when weight comes off the way it does, but didn't really find much.

Anyone have similar experiences or read articles about this phenomenon?

Mon. Feb 5, 1:45pm

granted I had a stomach flu, but I lost four pounds this week and I couldn't get out of bed except to run/ sprint to the bathroom!

Monday, February 5, 2007, 1:48 PM

Your metabolism may have slowed down to accomodate the lower number of calories (1200). When you started eating more, your metabolism started to "rev up" again and burn more calories. The theory behind this is kind of "feast or famine" mentality where if your body thinks it's starving, your metabolism slows down so you can hold on to your fat stores in case another meal isn't right around the corner. I have known a lot of people to have this same experience.

Monday, February 5, 2007, 2:02 PM

It's not craziness...it's usually dehydration and it comes back on, though sometimes not until your cold/flu is 100% through your system.

Also, a vacation from your usual diet routine often shakes things up and gets the weight moving. It's a good argument for trying new foods, new workouts, etc.

Monday, February 5, 2007, 2:02 PM

I've read this...

Fluctuate Calories

Zigzagging calories is by far one of the most effective methods for keeping your metabolism revved. Homeostasis is the action your body takes to "remain stable." In other words, if you drop your calories, your body will try to slow your metabolism in order to keep things the same.

By zigzagging calories, you may be able to thwart this mechanism. Some people zigzag day by day - for example, if their target is 2000 calories, they'll consume 1800 one day and 2200 the next. I prefer to consume low calories for a week or two, and then raise calories for a week, and then drop them again

Monday, February 5, 2007, 2:14 PM

A calorie is a unit of heat, specifically. If you have a fever..... You see where this is going. In order to maintain the higher body temperature, your metabolism is amped right up!

I can tell you I had bacterial pneumonia last year and could barely get out of bed. I was eating coconut milk (one of the most fattening things on earth, I swear!) straight out of the can because there wasn't anything else in the kitchen that I could imagine eating. I lost ten pounds of "real" weight, not water weight, in a week. Obviously, I would not recommend this weight loss method.

Monday, February 5, 2007, 2:27 PM

HAHAHAahhaa... I can see it now.. advertisements for a NEW weight loss method...

Get sick to get FIT!! haha

Monday, February 5, 2007, 2:31 PM

It's also possible that you've lost muscle mass through not moving as much. Muscle weighs a lot. If you lost 3lbs in 2 weeks, and then 5 more in the next two weeks, I'd think your clothes would be beginning to look and fit differently than they were a month ago, if you lost 8lbs of fat (just look at what a pound of fat looks like at the meat counter of a grocery store!), but if you lost some muscle mass, then the size difference wouldn't be as much.

How much 8lbs of fat will change your size differs with your size. For example, I think I remember reading somewhere that the difference between sizes in plus-sized clothing is about 20lbs; the difference in sizes in regular clothing is about 15 lbs, and for petites, 10 lbs. That could be totally off though!

Monday, February 5, 2007, 3:03 PM

OP here

I've noticed that I go down a size about every 10lbs.. and in that two weeks I went from wearing size 12 to size 10.

I also weight train 3 days a week to keep from loosing muscle, and have maintained my lean body mass through losing 25lbs now.. but I'll get remeasured on Wednesday and will find out for sure what was lost, how much of it fat, water, muscle, etc..

Monday, February 5, 2007, 3:32 PM

I have indeed had similar experiences and was similarly flabbergasted. (I love that word.) I was thinking what others have posted about metabolism, but was also wondering if it was because it took my body a while to catch up to my caloric intake, if you know that I mean. Because when I pig out for a few days and then stop, the opposite happens - I keep gaining days afterward.

Monday, February 5, 2007, 10:12 PM

Another thing-- Your body needs calories just to regulate your body temp....

i.e. if you live in a hot climate, you could possibly eat twice as many calories as one that's more moderate, because your body needs the calories to keep itself cool. The same is to be said for colder than "normal' climates... :-)

If you have a fever, your body will be burning calories to try to bring itself down to "normal" temperature as well.

Tuesday, February 6, 2007, 12:47 AM

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