Hello i'm New, and What is Water Weight?

Chris Huggett

New member
Hi all,

22 years old bloke here. I think i came on here like a year and half ago, saying i was planning to diet/exercise etc. That lasted around 2 months, then i gave up after my mum passed away. Back here, hoping to give it a another shot. I was in all sorts of terrible habbits. 20 a day smoker, average 8 cans of lager a night. Eating when i was bored etc etc. Now, i'm not stupid, i know that it's going to be a hell of an upwards hill battle to change these things. But i have to change something.

So i've cut the cigs back to around 10 a day, which i can cope with. The beer is more difficult, as it became almost a routine to grab 8 cans from the shop on the way home from work. Myself and my dad would bounce off each other, just taking it turns to buy the beer. Am planning to limit beer to just a weekend thing, but also making sure that i don't hit it so hard on a weekend just to make up for the days i didn't in the week.

Boredom eating is another problem. Eating too fast is another, i'd make myself a large lunch, and shovel the lot in before my stomach could tell me i was full.

Exercise is out of the question at the moment. It's exercise that puts me off the whole idea of weight loss. I want to take it slowly and not force myself into all this stuff and only have to give up in 2 months time.

I began last week. Jumped on the scales, weighing in at 285 lbs. I have been eating porridge for breakfast every morning to fill me up and keep me away from snacking. Lunch a tuna, pasta salad (without mayo). Dinner is fine, dad cooks like a chef, and always serves healthy stuff. Just asked him to cut the portions down a little. Over the weekend i was naughty and ordered a takeaway pizza, also put away around 18 pints of lager.

I stepped on the scales this morning and weighed in at 279 lbs. A 6 lb loss. I know that the healthy amount is around 1-2 lbs. But then i have heard a lot off people throw the water weight term around, yet i don't know what it means, what it does, why, how long, etc.

Is this relatively big loss also down to the significant drop in lager consumption?

Thanks in advance.

Chris
 
Hello and welcome to the forums.

Just a quick answer to your question about water weight and the 6 lbs lost. Water weight is simply the amount of fluid that your body is retaining. Sodium, alcohol, caffeine and a lot of other stuff can make your body retain water, and you'll see that on the scales. If you cut down on those things and hydrate your body properly, the body will stop 'clinging' to the water, and get rid of it. That's why usually, when people start changing their eating and drinking habits, they are running to the toilet like mad.

I would assume that some of the weight you lost is indeed water weight, and cutting down on the amount of alcohol you had could be a large factor in that., yes. I remember when I started, the first few weeks I lost between 8 and 10 lbs per week. It quickly went down though, to roughly 1 - 2 lbs per week. I am sure it'll do the same thing for you.

Good luck on your weight loss journey. :)
 
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