Bodyweight changes = body water changes

Weight loss and fat loss are almost always assumed to be the same thing. Bodybuilders assume muscle gaining will translate in to weight gaining. And we all assume that weight gain in general means fat gain.

YOU are MOSTLY made of WATER!

To be clear your body is mostly water (see picture above), and most of your day to day fluctuations in body weight are due to changes in water and have little or nothing to do with changes in fat mass or muscle mass.

It’s not unrealistic to have a 4-5 pound swing in bodyweight throughout the day due to changes in water content.

If you’re trying to lose 1 pound of fat in a week, you’ll never be able to measure your progess on the scale considering your goal of 1lbs lost is approximately 5 times less than your daily fluctuation (5lbs).

If you’re trying to measure fat loss then you must take a long view and use monthly measurements and pictures/mirror check vs  daily or weekly scale measurements.

Daily and weekly scale measurements are more consistent with your current body water and food content.

The dramatic weight loss many people experience at the beginning of any diet is usually due to a large drop in body water content. Interestingly bodybuilders will ‘drop water’ with diuretics at the end of their diet before a contest and routinely lose an additional 7-10 lbs of bodyweight the day before a show.

note:

* Muscles are full of water so there is some decrease in muscle volume/hydration but the protein content does not change. *

In both cases the dramatic changes in bodyweight are solely due to changes in water and have little or nothing to do with changes in fat mass or muscle mass per se

John

Posted by johnbarban in Fat Loss, Muscle Building, Weight Loss
Tags: body water, body weight, bodyfat, Muscle Building, muscle mass |10 Comments

10 Responses to “Bodyweight changes = body water changes”

  1. BadgerDave Says:
    April 8th, 2010 at 1:57 pm

    I am fascinated by how our bodies change throughout the day so I put a notebook in our bathroom to note my weight both “before” and “after” and also right when I wake up and go to bed. It seems pretty interesting so far, I’ll probably put it into an Excel spreadsheet to establish my weight range as well as chart the average or weekly average to try and smooth out the daily fluctuations and use that to measure my progress.

  2. Josh Eflin Says:
    April 8th, 2010 at 2:29 pm

    What then, is a good method for measuring changes if your goal is muscle gaining, which is an inherently slow process? measure weekly over a period of 3 months .. and look at the trends… and then in the mirror?

  3. johnbarban Says:
    April 8th, 2010 at 2:50 pm

    Josh,

    As far as I can tell it would have to be an aggregate of the following measurements:

    1. Circumference measurements of arms, chest, shoulders, legs, waist, forearms, calves
    2. Overall strength on all lifts
    3. Visual inspection in the mirror

    Body weight is almost completely useless for measuring muscle mass in any interval shorter than a year if at all (for anyone with more than 2-3 years of lifting under their belts). I’m approximately 5 pounds heavier today than I was about 10 years ago. I know I’ve got more muscle and I’m much stronger and leaner than I was then, but none of that is obvious from looking at the scale.

    JB

  4. johnbarban Says:
    April 8th, 2010 at 2:53 pm

    BadgerDave,

    Can I ask that you keep us updated on your data as you collect it.

    And I’m assuming that the ‘badger’ in your name is a call out to Wisconsin sports. When are they going to get over the hump in football in the Big 11? Is this year looking good for them? Michigan is a joke but Ohio State and Iowa seem to be a problem for them.

    JB

  5. Alex P. Says:
    April 8th, 2010 at 5:51 pm

    This is my biggest area of interest in health; hydration, and the overall body/water relationship. I’ve said here before that I am a big water drinker; I put down anywhere from 3 liters to a gallon a day. From experience I have found that your hydration levels can profoundly impact the way you look, your scale reading, and your training. (I actually should say, this is how it relates to me.)

    For example, I also tried the 5 day fast you wrote about last year, and because I was so thirsty from not getting water from other sources, I actually gained 3 pounds. At the end of a normal day, I can see a very noticeable difference in the mirror. So you can see that if I were trying to lose weight (a bad idea for me; I’m already a beanpole), trying to pin down a point of progress would be arduous and maddening. My measurements will change over a day, too. I’ve tested against this control with tightly counted (as accurately as can be) calorie counts, and got the same results.

    As I also noted, I see changes in the weight room. When I’m well hydrated, whether it be from food, water, or both, my numbers improve dramatically. It is beyond psychological. Like, over the course of 3 sets of a bench press at the same weight, I could get out 7 more reps, where the rep range previously was in the 4-6 range. That’s a lot of weight.

    With all this in mind, I’m asking, what’s the acceptable rate of change? Like you said, the water/body relationship is so dynamic, whether you’re trying to go up or down, it could take a long time to really know where you’re going. I know I drink a lot more than the average American, and in fact I’d posit that most of America is dehydrated to a certain extent, but surely you’d thing that there’s something else behind these results? I keep a tight handle on my weight, but when one day you drink a gallon, another 2 liters, and the rate at which your body eliminates water (which I also find to be dynamic for me), how is it even possible to know where you are? Not to be a drama llama, I’m just being a little more intense to try to get my point across better.

  6. johnbarban Says:
    April 8th, 2010 at 6:38 pm

    Alex,

    All good points and I agree with you. It’s very hard to know where you’re at as far as progress.

    I think the point that your comment brings up is an error in the way we all think of our bodies.

    Our bodies are a dynamic system not static. In other words the amount you weigh, the way you look and the measurements you have at this very moment are dynamic and subject to change based on various factors (water being the biggest).

    So there is no such thing as “how much I weigh”, there is only, how much I weigh right now after eating 2 meals today and having two drinks…or how much I weigh after a 24 hour fast and a workout…etc

    Because of the dynamic nature of our body composition it is very difficult to measure progress day to day. That is why I think the mirror and proportions are the gold standard.

    JB

  7. Aditya Says:
    April 9th, 2010 at 1:12 am

    Isnt the Mirror method a slower too? Because I am on a weight loss calorie intake and the mirror does nothing to me for say a weeks time! Will it be correct to say even the mirror method should be judged only over a period of time? I sometimes go by what the onlookers say. The guys whom I stay with, in the dorm, say I should not ask them about the weight loss as they say they see me everyday. Rather I go and ask someone whom I havent met in a long long time, and thats when I get the satisfactory replies saying, ‘Man you have lost weight’.

  8. Jordan Says:
    April 9th, 2010 at 12:17 pm

    I always do weigh ins under the same circumstances. I only get on the scale in the morning after I go #1 (I know Brad H. does that, too,) and I only get on the scale after lighter days. (Weighing after heavier days would be too much of a roller coaster, I imagine.) There will still be variations, I’m sure, but I think that doing it this same way helps a little. I’m also more likely to get better results after lighter days! lol.

    I would agree that the mirror/ photos are the most accurate, since they measure what’s really important: physique! But I agree with Aditya that they are better for the long-term. For someone who has a lot of weight to lose, a 5 or 10 pound loss probably won’t show up in the mirror. If I lose ten pounds, I wanna know about it! :-) There’s no question that the changes that one observes over the course of months and years are going to be the most real changes. No doubt about it. But I think that observing positive changes over a week or two- like losing 2 or 3 pounds on the scale- provides important motivation in the short term. Or not getting those losses can provide a good kick to the butt.

    I haven’t tried it yet, but I wonder if I only did a mirror or photo comparison once a month, would I feel like I’m flying blind for a month at a time? And will we really notice small changes over a month or two? So would it be more like flying blind for 3 or 4 months? I’ve lost ~25 pounds, but I don’t look that much different. I’m just a smaller version of myself 25 pounds ago. Although this may not be the case for people who don’t have as much as weight to lose.

    How clothes fit is another possibility as a long-term comparison. I have a shirt and a pair of pants that are much too small for me, and I may try them on once a month or so to observe them getting looser. That would be fun! Although I guess some water retention or eating too much may cause a temporary glitch there, as well. So I would do it the same way that I check my weight (in the morning, after a light day.)

  9. DClark Says:
    April 13th, 2010 at 10:10 am

    What is the best way to reduce your body water?

  10. Leonardo Says:
    May 29th, 2010 at 3:48 pm

    Hey John,

    When I’m on a fat loss streak, my body feels hot. It feels as though the dial on my body heat is set to warm constantly. Why is this?

    Thanks

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