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Old 12-30-14, 12:01 PM  
SuzieC
 
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Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Canada
Need help: losing too much weight (Not OT)

Hi all,
I'm hoping for a little help and some advice. Due to extreme stress, I stopped exercising at the end of November. I was doing Tracy Anderson continuity, year 2, I was starting the second month. I reached my weight loss goal with TA about the time my stress started.
I've stopped exercising. I'm now losing a lot of weight. I've lost 6 pounds in the last 2 weeks, which for me is a LOT (I usually lose a pound a month exercising 6 hours a week).
Is this weight loss due to muscle loss? I need to build up some muscle but it needs to be gentle and not give me many DOMS. Any advice? I had asked for gentle exercise advice in another thread, but this was before I started dropping weight. I don't want to do much cardio right now.
Thanks for your help.
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Old 12-30-14, 12:17 PM  
slysam
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SuzieC View Post
Hi all,
I'm hoping for a little help and some advice. Due to extreme stress, I stopped exercising at the end of November. I was doing Tracy Anderson continuity, year 2, I was starting the second month. I reached my weight loss goal with TA about the time my stress started.
I've stopped exercising. I'm now losing a lot of weight. I've lost 6 pounds in the last 2 weeks, which for me is a LOT (I usually lose a pound a month exercising 6 hours a week).
Is this weight loss due to muscle loss? I need to build up some muscle but it needs to be gentle and not give me many DOMS. Any advice? I had asked for gentle exercise advice in another thread, but this was before I started dropping weight. I don't want to do much cardio right now.
Thanks for your help.
I don't think it is likely that you lost that much muscle in two weeks. My understanding is that muscle loss can happen if you are undereating, not eating enough protein (there is debate on how much is enough) and not doing strength exercise can help lose it. Some claim too much cardio can cause muscle loss, I don't know, it seems like that would need to go with under eating. In two weeks, I think the loss would most likely be largely a release of retained fluids in the body. Vigorous exercise causes us to retain some fluid in the muscles and a lot of other things can also effect fluid retention and release. Quick gains and losses usually have to do with this as the response can be immediate--things like how much sodium we eat, workouts, illness, how much food we eat, dehydration, hormone cycles, etc can all cause ups and downs on the scale.

I don't know about building up muscle without DOMs. DOMs don't necessarily mean a workout is effective, but I personally don't see strength or muscle gains without them (this seems to vary by the person, I get DOMS for eccentric contractions and isometrics so for me it means I followed the full range of motion for the exercise at a challenging resistance or number of repetitions. Some people are lucky and rarely get them.)
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Old 12-30-14, 12:41 PM  
bzar
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when a person loses weight, it's not from 1 source. you lose both fat and muscle, and water.

for this week and maybe next, monitor your daily statistics (# of sleep hours, what your food intake was, and minutes/hours of activity, and weight on the scale). as it is with "wanting" to lose weight, keeping a simple journal can reveal what might be happening with "unwanted weight loss."

I know that when I was losing weight, my "whoosh" (major drop in weight, like 3# seemingly overnight) came after 2-3 weeks of making a change (be it dietary, activity, rotation, intensity). so yours might be a delayed response from prior efforts, and maybe it'll stabilize.

congrats on having reached your goal w/TA. how many hours were you working out/day & # of days w/TA?
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Old 12-30-14, 12:56 PM  
bubbles76
 
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It could be stress. When I was going through a particularly stressful time, I was dropping weight quickly, just like you. I also was not exercising. I stabilized once my stress got under control, and gained the weight back.

This could just be a temporary thing. Just wanted to throw that out there in case the rapid weight loss was also stressing you out.
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Old 12-30-14, 12:58 PM  
PrairieGem
 
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(((hugs))) for your ongoing stress

I just wanted to chime in and say that I've experienced the same thing: losing a lot of weight suddenly after *stopping* an exercise program, when all along it was a struggle to get lbs to budge at all. I remember one particular rotation about 7-8 years ago; I was doing cardio and weights, six days a week, for about 8 weeks, and I might have lost a pound or two over the span. I had to stop for some reason (it might have been injury or work), and *immediately* dropped like 7 lbs, in about 3 weeks. Mystifying and frustrating! This has happened to me a couple of times. I think it might be a matter of the physical demands prompting the body to hang onto reserves. When that lets up, your body lets go. (How very technical and scientific was that! LOL)

The good news is, your weight will stabilize based on the number of calories you're eating. You must still be eating at a deficit, if you're losing. If you really want to halt the weight loss immediately, try adding healthy foods that are packed with nutrients. (I can gain weight just by *looking* at nuts, all other things being equal!) YMMV, of course.
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Old 12-30-14, 01:08 PM  
firmaholic
 
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If you keep losing weight, I would go and get a physical and blood work done, just to rule out health issues.
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Old 12-30-14, 01:30 PM  
JackieB
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I also would recommend going to the doctor and doing some blood work. Sounds like thyroid issues to me. When I'm hypo, I lose weight.
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Old 12-30-14, 01:44 PM  
Demeris
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Oh, Suzie--I'm so sorry you're having this health issue. I know you're under enormous emotional stress, but please see your doctor. You remain in my prayers.
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Old 12-30-14, 01:49 PM  
JulieIL
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Others have given good advice, so I'm just sending you a <<hug>>. Sending you reassurance and healing thoughts. Please take care.
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Old 12-31-14, 05:47 PM  
Terry
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
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The answer to these questions is probably "No", but I'm asking anyway just in case:

Eating plenty of food and dropping weight anyway?

Thirsty for TONS of water?
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