You're Right, It's Not Water Weight! Explanation Below....

I just read a great blog questioning the "water weight" theory and that we should celebrate every pound lost. I could not agree more! A pound lost is a pound lost! It is not water weight, though, but it is liquid-about 2-8 lbs of it...but it still represents VOLUME!!! (Yay!) Which is why we feel "bloated and bigger" when we eat off program.

The science behind the so-called "water weight" is this:

It's not "water weight" it is called "glycogen". Glycogen is a liquid form of stored energy, in the form of carbohydrate. It is stored in the muscle, and it is what we use, for example, in prolonged (like overnight) periods of fasting. Our bodies prefer to burn Carbohydrates first, then protein and fat...so it keeps anywhere from 2-6-8 lbs (depending on your size, if you are a big guy or a little girl, etc) of "stored liquid glycogen" in our muscles. This amount fluctuates throughout the day, and overnight. When you wake up in the morning and eat carbs, your body combines those carbs with water and other things, and forms the glycogen again.

When you want to lose weight, you've got to get rid of the glycogen stores so that your body can begin to burn your fat reserves, which are located in your adipose tissues (fat cells hold fat). So, many diets are low in carbohydrates, so your body will burn off the glycogen reserves first, then begin to burn the fat. This is why in the first two or three days you will drop, well, usually 2-6 lbs. Most of it is, in fact, the glycogen reserves depleting so that you can get down to the business of burning fat. It is real weight, for sure, and real volume, and you will notice it in your clothing fitting looser, etc...and no it isn't "water".

After the glycogen reserves are depleted, your body enters a state of "ketosis" where you are burning fat for energy. This is where you get the headaches and the like, because your brain loves glucose, and it loves glycogen, and when you run low on that your body has to switch gears and start to create glucose molecules from your fat...called gluconeogenesis...but your brain wants it NOW and it takes a bit of time to get into the glucose-producing state. So, we get to experience headaches, dizzyness, light headedness and all the joys of the "first 3 days!".

Now. If we have been cruising along on our diets, and doing well, and losing fat, and then we eat something that is high in carbs.....ever wonder why you can have "a few drinks" or "some chips" or "one piece of cake" or a "few chocolate bars" and gain 2-3 lbs the next day? Thank your body's desire to replentish those glycogen stores. It takes the carbs from what you ate, combines them with water and other things, and quickly replentishes your glycogen reserves....

So you're not really gaining fat if you cheat once on something small. You are replentishing your glycogen reserves. If you continue to cheat, or eat off program, you will gain fat after your glycogen reserves have been filled again...but usually not from the one cheat. That's why it comes off so quickly (and you get headaches and the like all over again!) when you go back on program.

So that's it, Glycogen 101.