You are in a steady deficit, eating the same and moving the same, and the scale sits flat for a week or more. Then in a day or two it drops three or four pounds, almost overnight. People call it a whoosh. It feels like you are losing nothing during the stall and then losing too fast during the drop, and it leaves a fair question. If you are in a calorie deficit, shouldn't the weight come off somewhat consistently?
Your body isn't linear
Fat loss, or anything to do with the body, is not linear. We have it in our head that it should come off in a straight line. Coming from an engineering standpoint, I battled with that one myself. It does not work that way.
The stall is water weight
If you are holding a lot of water weight, it is because of carbohydrates. Carbs store water. That is not a figure of speech. Physiology research shows every gram of glycogen your body stores from carbohydrates holds on to about three to four grams of water, so when your carbs shift, the water shifts with them, and the scale moves with the water long before it ever reflects fat. You are burning fat the whole way through the stall, but your body is holding water on top of it, and that water is what hides the loss on the scale. When your body finally lets that water go, you get the whoosh. This is also where cutting back on your carbs comes in. You still need your hydration, that is not the point, but the water swing is why people panic over a number that was never really about fat.
Are you being consistent?
Here is the question I would ask. Are you consistent in what you eat and drink every day? If there is a lot of diversity in your meals, higher carbs one day and less the next, then you are not being consistent, and how do you expect your body to do its work? There are different levers here, and one of them is your deficit. 500 calories is not a lot if you are really trying to lose fat.
What I found early on, with an engineering brain, was to change one variable at a time. What mattered to me then was nutrition, so I stripped it down and made it plain simple. A bowl of ground beef, some chicken thighs, the same amount every day. I did mostly protein and cut down on how often I ate, so I was in a bigger deficit. You do not have to go that far. The point is to eat the same boring foods every day, because the biggest changes in your body come from doing the simple, boring things.
When you start spicing it up, eating out, sitting in front of the TV with snacks at night, you are the problem, and your body understands that. If you want to prioritize fat loss, you have to eat boring and eat less. If you are still hungry, cut out more carbs. You will get fewer hunger signals, you will fill up on healthy fats and protein, and you will be more satiated than you are used to. Always drink your water, salted water, so you are giving yourself the electrolytes, and tap into your supplementation. There are so many levers to pull. Isolate the things that are in your control, and your body will do the rest.
Trend the number, don't fear it
Take your mind off the number and use the number to move yourself in a positive direction. Early on, when you are getting to know your body, you complain when you go up five pounds, but you do not complain when you come down three.
If you need to weigh yourself, and I did in the beginning, weigh yourself first thing in the morning in a fasted state, and then again at night. I wanted to find out how much I put on that day from eating and drinking, in total, and I trended that. Doing it twice a day worked for me until I understood that my weight is constantly moving up and down.
You're worried about the wrong thing
The rest is left up to your body healing and doing the right thing. All you can do is support it, and supporting it takes consistency, not freaking out over a whoosh and clamping down. You are worried about the wrong things. What you should worry about is dropping your visceral fat, getting healthier, and building more muscle to support you as you age. That is what you commit to and prioritize. Everything else is irrelevant.
The number on the scale should not drive your priority. Your priority is consistently moving in the right direction, step by step. There is no higher calling than taking care of your body and your mind.
~ Foster
By Foster
Questions people ask about this
Why does the scale stay flat for a week and then suddenly drop three pounds overnight?
Because fat loss is not linear, even though we expect it to be. You are burning fat the whole way through the stall, but your body is holding water on top of it and hiding the loss.
Carbohydrates store water, and every gram of stored carbohydrate holds onto about three to four grams of water. When your body finally lets that water go, usually after a good night of sleep or a day your carbs drop, you get the whoosh. It was never fat that appeared overnight. It was the fat you already lost, finally showing up.
Should I do anything to force the whoosh, or just wait it out?
The best thing you can do is stay consistent and stop reacting to the stall. Do not panic and slash your calories.
If anything is worth tightening, it is your consistency. Eat the same boring foods, drink your salted water for electrolytes, and let the trend do the talking. Weigh yourself and watch your weight bounce up and down over a couple of weeks, and you will see the stall was just water the whole time.
What should I actually be paying attention to instead of the daily number?
Dropping your visceral fat, getting healthier, and building the muscle that will carry you as you age. Those are the things that matter.
The number on the scale should not drive your priorities. It moves up and down every day with your food and water. Your priority is consistently moving in the right direction, step by step. There is no higher calling than taking care of your body and your mind.