Good News and Bad News (for me ... no one else is likely to care)

[dreamshark]

I lost 4.5 pounds in the last week! Well, not really, but that's what my scale says. In reality, I think I lost the weight over about a month of constant biking and moderate calorie restriction. But for some reason it takes 2-4 weeks for my body to notice that it is running a continuous calorie deficit and let go of the weight. Sometimes I actually gain a pound or two the day before the actual weight loss appears on my scale. I have come to think of it this way: over several weeks of dieting, fat gradually liquefies into water which is stored in teeny little canteens all over my body, just in case I should need it for something. Then one day the cleaning crew comes in and empties all the little canteens. I know that doesn't make sense, but since I have no idea what is really going on here, it's the best I can come up with.

On the downside, my legs and lower back are exhausted and aching to the point of cramping up. Presumably this is because I did a lot of biking last week. But.... it was approximately the same thing I have been doing for the last two months (commuting to work twice a week, plus walking or short bike rides on some of the off days). Isn't there supposed to be some point where it gets easier???

Anyway, I'm not doing anything today.

Comments

[dsgood.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on the weight loss.

Sympathy on the exhaustion.

[davidschroth.livejournal.com]

In my experience, one's body's response to diet, or exercise, or diet and exercise, is very non-linear. Or, to put it another way, "Some days you eat the bear, some days the bear eats you."

Congratulations on the weight loss.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

"Non-linear" is exactly what I mean. Thanks for the confirmation that I'm not the only one that sees this.

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

With all that exercise, chances are that you've put on some muscle mass even while burning stored fat. Muscle weighs more than the fat does. Maybe the muscle gain outweighs the fat for a while, then it gets to the point where the amount of fat burned outweighs the muscle gain.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

.... and maybe all those new little baby muscle fibers don't like doing work, which is why my legs hurt more each week instead of less. ;-)

Actually, I'm pretty sure it has something to do with water weight. Nothing else really explains 3-5 pounds weight changes in a matter of days.