madprofessor100

is it possible to lose so much weight in one day that you can see a difference?

I am asking this because there have been days where I have recduced my caloric intake and burned over 600 calories (thanks ellipitical trainer for effortless calorie burning!), and I really think I can see a difference in my legs. I am trying to diet, but because I live in a dorm, I have little control over what I eat, and I don't have very much time to exercise, so my "dieting" has been pretty haphazard so far. I am pretty sure that I've lost and re-gained a lot of weight this past week, which is why I believe I can see a difference after one day of a lot of exercise and little food. Or maybe I just have body image issues...

P.S. I'm a female, if that helps anyone answer this question.

Doctor Morbius

What kind of dictatorship exists in your country that they put a gun to your head to make you eat wrong? What a load of hooey. You are in control of everything you eat, unless you have an addiction.

And no you can't diet and exercise enough to see a difference in one day nor should you even strive for something like that. Your body doesn't respond that quickly to diet and exercise even though you may be heavily influenced by our instant gratification society.

Sorry if that isn't what you want to hear but those are the facts.

TheKillerPenguin

You haven't lost weight, your legs look more toned because you've been exercizing them. I notice that right after I work out my muscles look more defined and slightly larger; this is simply because A)I have been stressing them and B)I want to see them as larger, so I do.

The best thing you can do with your diet is eat a bunch of different food groups consistantly. That's what the human body is designed for =P screw the atkins diet and all those other things. If you start eating erratically (different times of the day, skipping meals, not eating enough), over time this eventually will lead to weight gain, not loss. I know its hard to do that as I'm in college too but do your best.

My weight varies throughout the day as much as + - 4 or 5 pounds, so you may be stepping on the scale and noticing natural variation and then attributing it to your legs losing weight.

dogbro

yesterday I lost 3 pounds after riding 30 miles with 1000 feet climbing.

My weight also varies plus or minus 4 pounds or so ... but I am always heaviest in evening and lightest in morning. I can tell when I have lost.

alison_in_oh

If you dehydrate yourself by exercising a lot, you might in fact find that your body looks less plump in the mirror even as the scale reads lighter.

Don't do that to yourself.

I totally understand about the body image issues, but here's what's worked for me to overcome mine. I have chosen to treat my body as well as possible, to lay a great foundation for the rest of my life. As a result, I am making healthful choices at almost every meal, making sure to get nutrient-rich foods and enough of it to fuel my workouts. I ride my bike as often as possible, getting stronger and faster even as I get fitter and leaner. I lift weights, which increases my bone density and develops my lean body mass, making changes I can see in the mirror.

Treat your body with respect, and you'll get the physical appearance to go with your strong, healthy physique!

forum*rider

Penguin, your muscles look bigger after you have worked out because of the increased blood flow to the area, not because you want them to.

As for seeing a change in your body in one day of diet and exercise, I don't think so. The minimum amount of time it took me to get noticeable change from diet/exercise was a week, and even then it wasn't much change.

TheKillerPenguin

I know my muscles look larger after I work out because of increased bloodflow, I just assumed that part of my perception of it is shaped by what I want my mind to see it as, not that I willed my muscles to look larger. Wouldn't that be awesome though...

Doctor Morbius

Losing 3 pounds in a single day goes beyond unhealthy. It's downright dumb. All you've done to yourself is get dehydrated. Except for the grossly obese, 2 pounds per week is the maximum weight anyone should lose. A healthier weight loss would be about 1/2 pound per week. However, I understand that we live in Western culture that requires us to expect immediate results, however ridiculous.

You should weigh yourself in the mornings after having used the bathroom and before eating. Comparing one's weight on Monday in the morning with Tuesday in the evening is not a fair comparison.

If your weight is varying by + or - 4 pounds, then you really haven't lost any. Not permanantly anyway.

mth

The quick answer is: yes, you can lose so much weight in a day that you can see a difference.

The better answer is what others have said here: you were probably a bit dehydrated, and your muscles were a bit engorged.

So, you hadn't really "lost" any weight that you're not going to put back when you're properly rehydrated. I've lost enough in a day from having the flu so that I noticed a difference, but that doesn't mean it's healthy to get the flu.

SSP

That's a bad thing...it indicates that you're not drinking nearly enough fluids (unless you stopped during the ride to take a dump ).

TheKillerPenguin

hope he put something over his chamois if that's the case

cheebahmunkey

uh woa. He has a point. I only have 4-5 eating options here at school and I can tell you I get sick of them real fast. It's especially hard when we aren't allowed to have cars so going to get groceries isn't an easy thing to accomplish.

TheKillerPenguin

And when you don't have money for anything other than the meal plan. You develop a stomach lined with Iron.

College food does include all the food groups, its just that some don't taste the way they should. Try forcing down a plate of hard, congealing pasta with luke warm marinara every day; its not fun. Fruit isn't usually too fresh, the lettuce at the salad bar is all sorts of colors its not supposed to be. In addition to that, you have to follow the schedule of the dining hall, since they don't keep all foods out all day. On weekends they close wayyyy too early and open wayyy too late, etc. Other places on campus are grossly overpriced...It really can be tough to find things to eat.

Mikabike

From calorie reduction? Probably not.

1lb of fat = 3500 calories. I don't know that a marathon runner uses that many.

Now if you mean loss of water and fluids, you could vary by a few lbs if you lost a lot of water.

sswartzl

I don't know about marathon runners, but just for fun I threw this situation into a calorie burner calculator:

Consider a person who weighs 155 lbs and rides a century at 15 mph average speed. 15 mph = 4 min/mile, so that's 400 minutes of riding. This person will burn an estimated 4697 calories, or 1.342 pounds. Of course, not all of that comes from stored fat, and you probably wouldn't notice the weight loss visually. You would also probably be dead (or wish you were) if you didn't eat anything while riding that long, but as I said, it was just for fun.

https://summahealth.adam.com/pages/wctools/cal_burn.htm

Doctor Morbius

I'm now thinking the guy must have tossed his cookies at the end of his ride. That would make sense in the context of his post considering the 30 mile intense climb.

But 3 pounds of fat loss? No way.

Doctor Morbius

Times sure have changed. When I was in college living in the dorms we had a kitchen on every other floor and each room had a mini fridge, which we stocked ourselves. I didn't have a car for the first couple of years I was there but I always knew people that did. That's how we got around to run errands and do grocery shopping. Of course, this was back in the stone age when we didn't have to be politically correct.

SSP

Agreed - 30 miles, even with 1000 feet of climbing, would probably burn only around 1200 calories (roughly 0.34 lbs of fat).

FWIW, 30 miles with 1000 feet of climbing is not very "intense". With only 33 feet of climbing per mile, I would call that "Rolling" terrain (it would take 1200+ feet of climbing to qualify as "Rolling with Hills", per my scale).

Doctor Morbius

It depends on how fit the rider is, their power to weight ratio and how fast they were going. 1000 feet of climbing would kill me. I'd probably barf doing that ride.

wheelin

Dear mad100, you're seeing a lot of healthy advices here. BTW you can loose almost a kilogram just lying on your bed at night, and come out healthy. Simply weigh yourself before retiring for the night. Next morning empty your bladder, and presto remarkable weight loss. This is all natural. You need to weigh yourself right after waking up in the morning and gone to the toilet, to get yout true weight.

"You should weigh yourself in the mornings after having used the bathroom and before eating. Comparing one's weight on Monday in the morning with Tuesday in the evening is not a fair comparison.

If your weight is varying by + or - 4 pounds, then you really haven't lost any. Not permanantly anyway"

Apology, I'm indeed being redundant.

cheebahmunkey

that's interesting. I live in a dorm that was built in the 50s and the ony kitchen is on the main floor. I live on the 3rd floor. And as for having a fridge and/or microwave. Well those cost money and not everyone has the funds to waste on something like a fridge when you pay for meal plans. Also, I believe studying takes precedent over being able to spend a lengthy amount of time cooking a meal for yourself. Going to the eating place is faster.

Dinstee

For about the cost of two cases of powerbars you can buy a minifridge. They aren't as expensive as they used to be. As far as home-preparing a nutritious meal taking longer than restaraunt goes- that really isn't true. I, as many around here do, juggle a very busy day going to work, taking care of my family, etc. I can still prepare a decent and nutritious dinner in 45 minutes. Thats the same or sooner than any restaraunt that I'd be willing to pay for. It's really all about priorities, planning and practice. Sound familiar? You're doing that for your bike. Do it for your body.

TheKillerPenguin

Just because you have a mini fridge doesn't mean you can afford to fill it all the time. And it is true in college that it does take longer to cook meals yourself. In the dining halls, the food is already laid out for you. When you prep your own meal, first you have to have the money to buy the food, then you gotta buy pots and pans, find an oven that friggn works (ours keep getting vandilized so the powers that be shut them off), then take the time to cook it. When you don't have a car and have little money, the only choice left to you is to just go to the dining hall and eat there. While their food doesn't taste good, its free, and thats all some of us can afford.

alison_in_oh

It's not free. You're paying for it. Or your parents are. Probably a lot more than it's worth, too. Only now do I appreciate my vegan friend who got out of the meal plan so she could cook her own (delightful looking and smelling) meals in the communal mini-kitchen. Sometimes you have to take your own health into your own hands.

On the other hand, we had a great meal plan. You should get your campus catered by Bon Appetit, they rock. I had no problem eating balanced meals of starch, protein, and veggies -- plus a big fresh salad; I could have eaten vegan at every meal too, as there was always a meat-free dairy-free option (usually based around brown rice, yum!) Snick a few pieces of fresh fruit at the mess hall and you're good to go. Mm, I still miss chicken and veggie bentos, Friday subs, and the salad bar...MMM! Sunday brunch was to die for, with fresh omelettes made-to-order and piles upon piles of fruit.

If you can't get to the store, where do you get toothpaste and other personal essentials? We used to take regular trips to the store on the bus for munchies and toiletries. There was also a small, specialty grocery store about a mile from campus: an easy walk. Likewise at the university where I now work, the student food options are varied (between Subway, packed salads and wraps, veggie options at the grill I think it seems quite possible to make healthful choices) and the grocery store is less than a mile walk or a 5 minute bus ride (free with student fees).

TheKillerPenguin

Yeah, I realize the plan is paid for, its just that I don't have to fork over money to go eat there when I'm hungry

The food in the dining hall does have all the food groups, its just that the cooks aren't all that great, and the quality of the food isn't a lot of the time either. There is also a vegan section as well. My point with this was the food doesn't taste too good a lot of the time, but I make myself eat it anyway. I can understand why someone wouldn't want to

The dining halls also have specific times for meals, and in between those times they have a lot less food out. I can understand how someone could get sick of it after a while. On the weekends, the dining hall is open from 11 to 7, so if you're an early riser you can't eat breakfast, and if you like to eat dinner late (like yours truly) you wind up eating dinner early when you still aren't really hungry. Later when you do get hungry, you can't get food.

It is possible to get to a store. There is one less than a half mile off campus, and there is a shoprite a mile away. There are even on campus grocery stores, but they are wayyyy overpriced. Really, my point was that ya don't always have the money to go out and buy stuff. I know I don't anyway. When I have money, I do use it to get other types of food, but a lot of the money I get goes to pay for my car and my biking. Furthermore, since I have no pots or pans, and the stoves have been deactivated, the only things I can really buy at the grocery store are things that don't require cooking. There is a microwave, but it is small and underpowered, suitable really only for a bowl of soup or a bag of popcorn.

The main point of my post was to provide a rebuttal to the previous poster, as he seemed to dismiss cheeky's arguments as no more than BS. It's akin to walking over to a starving refugee living in a tent camp and saying "I can fix a healthy meal, why can't you?" (pardon the dramatics)

It is possible to eat healthily while living on campus, it just doesn't always taste too great, and I can understand why someone wouldn't want to eat crusty pasta or brown lettuce.

I'm a slob, I'm not too picky