Stop Excercising to Loose Weight???

[sofarsogood]

Hi everyone

Here's something kinda weird. The scale didn't move for the past 7 days - not at all (that's not the weird part). Anyway, I've been kind of slack with the bike riding because for one I'm getting paranoid about being run over by cars and also I've had a lot of yard work to do. So then I weigh myself this morning, as usual, and I've lost 1.4 pounds. I wonder if laying off the excercising has helped me start loosing again. Does that make any sense to anyone?

[DragonflyMoon]

Re: Stop Excercising to Loose Weight???

That's a great question ~ i'll be interested in hearing what people have to say about that one...

[boonie stomper]

Re: Stop Excercising to Loose Weight???

While it kinda makes sense in that I can see you logic, it does not make sense to stop exercise. You could have had the scale show no loss for 7 days for a number of reasons, all of which do not mean you havent burned fat! But if you don't exercise, you will burn fat more slowly (in the short term) than if you exercise, and (in the long term) reduce muscle tone and mass thereby slowing your metabolism.

[jroche5998]

Re: Stop Excercising to Loose Weight???

It does, but it has a valid reason for it.

It's all about water. When you start (or modify) a vigorous exercise program your body reacts by superhydrating those muscles in response to the "attack". Therefore you will see many people complain that they gained a few pounds after starting a program. This excess water will usually shed after the body realizes that it is the new norm. But not all of it, the body will store a reserve within those muscles because the "norm" is now that those muscles will need some extra water. So when you stop an exercise plan that extra stored water can shed as a result as well.

I'm curious if the weight loss will continue or was is just one weigh-in. I would expect that once you restart your exercise the scale will climb a bit at first.

[illy]

Re: Stop Excercising to Loose Weight???

My theory is that you were gonna lose that 1.4 pounds anyway. Possibly more. Everyone gets stuck occasionally and keeping to what you are doing means (at least with my logic) that you'd have to get over that hump eventually.

Something that I do is overexamine everything. Every time I step on the scale and lose even 1/2 a pound I try to replay what I've done so as to keep the "magic". Same, only opposite, if I have gained. I believe the bottom line has to be that exercise is healthy. Our bodies were designed to move. Since a lot of us are in office situations daily, we have to compensate with exercise.