Pounds lost while sick...

[Camy]

Hey,
I have a question. I am currently in bed, on bedrest, because I have contracted bacterial pneumonia. My appetite is completely gone and I really haven't eaten much since Sunday (I drink enough, a drink a lot of juice for vit C and eat minimally, but I feel nauseous if I eat more than about half a bowl of anything).
Of course I am losing a lot of weight this way (the "starvation way"), to date I have lost over 3 pounds in slightly over half a week. Does anybody know how to keep these pounds from piling back up? Because they will, won't they? As soon as I start feeling hungry again I will start to put them back on, right?

I know that starvation diet is not the way to go and I would have never chosen to do this, but it has already started happening and I can't stop it, I can't force feed myself these days... so if I am going to lose a week of my life lying around feeling miserable I might as well get something (a decent amount of weight loss) from it, right?
So... any tips? Any ideas?

Thank you, Camy

 

[maleficent]

the pounds might or might not come back... just gradually ease yourself back into eating and back into exercising - you don't want a relapse..

get healthy first.. then worry about your weight.. pnemonia is a tough thing for the body to fight... get yourself better.. don't worry about the scale

 

[allyphoe]

A lot of the weight you're losing is dehydration. And a larger-than-normal portion is likely to be lean mass (rather than fat) - lean mass is metabolically "expensive" to maintain, and because it produces fewer calories when used for fuel (~600 calories per pound, rather than ~3500, IIRC), pound-for-pound you can lose muscle weight a lot faster than fat weight when you're in a caloric deficit. When you're normally active (as opposed to lying in bed), even just walking around acts as a form of resistance training (you've got to use your muscles to counteract gravity) that helps preserve your lean mass. But when you're bedbound and getting insufficient protein, you can lose muscle fast.

If that weren't the case, you wouldn't be losing weight fast. Say your BMR (the number of calories your body needs just to lie in bed and breathe) is 2,000, and that you're getting ~500 calories a day of juice and nibbles. So you've got a 1,500 calorie per day deficit, which is 3 pounds in a week if what you're losing is fat.

So you shouldn't expect 3 pounds in 3 days to stay off when you return to eating and drinking normally.

I agree with Mal - take care of your body, and don't worry about the scale.