Water weight?

[Msfraker]

So, I just started Keto out Monday, March 9th. It’s been six full days. When I got on the scale yesterday, I was down 12.5 lbs. First of all…great. But, was I really carrying around that much water weight? Im 30, short; only 5’0 and my beginning weight was 166. Yesterday, I weighed in at 153.8.

Today, I ate a large breakfast of eggs and sausage. I weighed myself at the same time as I have everyday and I’m up exactly one lb. That was discouraging, as I was flabbergasted at the weight loss (water weight) thus far.

I’m curious if it’s because I started drinking flavored carbonated water yesterday? I got bored with plain water. Maybe my body didn’t react to it well.

Either way, is it true I should stay away from the scale? Or, at least not weigh in every day? I eat around 19g net carbs each day. Protein is met and fats are met. Calories are usually under 1200 each day. I haven’t been hungry. I don’t know if I’m in Ketosis yet as I never experienced the “keto flu” and I haven’t tested yet. If it helps, I could eat a lot before. Like, go to McDonald’s and eat two Quarter Pounders with fries and a pop then head home and eat a WHOLE batch of homemade Chex Puppy Chow (Muddy Buddies). Maybe the loss is so drastic because of how much I was consuming before.

I feel good. Just a bit discouraged by the lb gain last night. But, my face has changed from last week until now! Oh, my goodness…you can see it in my face.

[amwassil]

Short answer: Probably. Assuming you’re in ketosis.

Longer answer: One of the first (of many) things that happens when you start keto is loss of water. This is because glucose and glycogen are hydrophilic and retain up to 3-4 times their weight in water. In ketosis, you start dumping that water as the glucose and glycogen get burned out. There is also a lot of water in the digestive tract. It is virtually impossible to lose 12 pounds of fat in a week. So it has to be mostly water.

Congratulations even so. Going keto is one of the best things you can do for yourself.

[PaulL]

Welcome to the forums!

Weight loss is not linear, nor is it always consistent. I doubt your 12.5 lb. loss was entirely water, which is good, but don’t expect that all the time. The largest quick fat loss occurs in people with a lot of fat to lose, and being close to goal weight generally means that pounds will come off much more slowly at that point.

Another complicating factor is that on a well-formulated ketogenic diet it is possible to gain muscle and bone, which works to confuse our scales. We suggest not using your scale weight as your sole marker of progress, but to also keep track of how well your clothing fits. It is possible to lose fat while gaining bone and muscle, which means that it is possible for your clothing size to shrink, even while your scale weight fails to change.

[Shinita]

It’s surely mostly water, what else? Some people have a pretty big amount, it’s a bit surprising from someone with your stats but I don’t actually know what can be expected at that front… My weight is the same as yours, I always lose 4lbs water weight at most but my weight is very stable anyway.

I had no keto flu myself, it’s not required for keto, it’s usually electrolyte imbalance as far as I know, some people say it’s carb withdrawal for them…? Whatever, it’s fine not to have it, actually, it’s ideal

Yeah, maybe you ate a lot (those items say absolutely nothing to me) AND had a quick metabolism so you gained fat slowly and now you lost surprisingly much fat, it’s imaginable but don’t get used to it. Still, you surely lost not very little water weight too. Losing many pounds of fat, that takes a lot and metabolism slows down into its natural, not overeating speed pretty quickly even if one has the genetics to have it sped up like crazy when overeating. As far as I know (and experienced). It wouldn’t make much sense to use way more energy than what your body needs to function pretty well even when you eat little. But people are very strange sometimes…

Whatever, the first few weeks aren’t very informative. Get used to this and you will see what will happen with your weight and other things.
Weighing every day? I tend to do that. I can handle seeing bigger numbers or the same for 2 weeks while I am aware I am losing fat just fine. It’s not as good for many others. You can forget about weighing for life if you want, it’s not important, you see yourself anyway, you see how your previously a bit tight or just right clothes feel… And that’s more important than actual numbers anyway. But our weight is some information, I like to know what vaguely. Just keep in mind, weight-loss isn’t linear, our bodyweight fluctuates and don’t be too impatient. But you have better chances than some of us for a decent fat-loss speed for your small size But no one can predict these things at this point.

[David_Stilley]

A pint of water weighs a pound. Drink a glass, gain a pound for a bit. It is more important what a longer trend reveals than one day. Weigh in weekly and write down the numbers. As the weeks go by if nothing is happening for several weeks then you can do something to adjust and get it going again. It’s a long term thing, not a race.

1-2lbs per week is an average weight loss rate, some get faster results than others. Good luck with your goals.

[PaulL]

Speaking of scales, weird things can happen. I remember, about four or five months after starting keto, weighing myself one day and being 20 pounds lighter than the day before. It was consistent with my weight during the following weeks, so it was real. It turns out that there is a phenomenon, called a “whoosh,” in which large weight losses suddenly occur. It appears that fat cells may retain water for a while, to leave room for more fat if it should come back, and at some point they yield up this water, hence the sudden loss.

I believe it was last year that my scale suddenly started showing my weight as 30 pounds heavier, though my clothing size remained unaffected. I don’t know what to make of this, except that I observed the weight to slowly decline to its previous level, a pound or two at a time, over a period of about six weeks.

I also find that my weight varies up or down within about a twenty-pound range, according to the location of the scale on the bathroom floor, whether I put my weight on my toes or my heels, and such like manipulations. Best not to take the reading as Gospel, that’s for sure. In any case, it’s not how much weight we lose, it’s how much fat we lose that matters.