Fat Cells Physiology and the Whoosh
 

As you lose weight your fat cells shrink until they're at the critical level for the collapse decision. This process doesn't occur one cell at a time but by individual/multiple cells in cell groupings. Don't ask me to prove it or how I know...just take it on trust. Now your body doesn't like to undo it's work, i.e., making fat cells, just to turn around and have to make new ones as you go off diet and start storing fat again. It just knows you'll do that..hehe. So what your body does is start to fill the emptying fat cells with water. And they sit there and wait. Wait for you to come to get off whatever is causing you to lose fat...wait for you to binge ...wait for you to get off this WOE that's making you lose fat. Your body tries to wait you out. The tricky thing during this time..the body is so devious, hehe..is that even though you are on plan and eating the same you are not losing weight!!! The trick here is that you are not losing weight even though you are losing fat!!! This is because once your fat cells shrink to this critical level...the fat cells fill with water equal to the weight of the fat you're losing!! Thus no change in the scale. Very frustrating to the dieter, eh? Now the decision point comes!! If the dieter stays on program, and the fat cells are totally filled with water...eventually the dieter will get a whoosh as the body is finally convinced that you are not going to need these fat cells again and the material that makes up the fat cell is reabsorbed into the body and the water that filled the cells is flushed out of the body. On the other hand, if the dieter goes off program, the fat cells are refilled with fat and the dieter has to start all over. And...just to make it interesting...ya gotta love the body, hehe...once refilled with fat, the body will take even longer to make the decision to collapse the fat cells the next time!! Sort of like a child who constantly whines for something, knowing at what point the parent gave in last time and willing to go beyond that point to get his/her way this time, lol!!!

That's why we on the board usually respond to someone complaining of a stall with the question of guaging lost inches instead of pounds. Water filled cells take up less space than fat filled ones as water is heavier than fat. We advise sticking to program and waiting the body out.

I love this post Zules! :rheart: :)

Zules - I heard that once you have a fat cell, it never goes away and that is one of the reasons that people who have been fat have trouble keeping it off. I hope that is false!!! There is so much misinformation out there! Orchid

Orchid
That's usually the case because the cells empty to that decision point and most people don't last long enough for them to collapse. Then too, a lot of diets starve the body of protein and so the body stores fat while robbing the muscles of protein because the body thinks it is starving. That's why people can actually get fatter (bodyfat% wise) while losing weight.

Z-
Thanks so much for the post. It is such a good explanation- now the whole "whoosh" thing makes sense!

I noticed my first "whoosh" right after my TOM...maybe for some reason that's the trigger for my body to really close the fat cells and let go of the water.

great post

Update post.

I think that is when my whooshes happen too :D

This is an interesting post Zule. It does make a lot of sense. Thanks for posting it.

Upate post.

Just A Thought;
 

I heard that cells in general rejuvinate every 4 months or so. If that is true maybe the body would eventually eliminate the unused fat cells. Just a thought, I have no science to back that up but have believed it true. ((BLESSINGS)) Judy

Interesting
 

but I do have questions. I can't help it, LOL! I'm a scientist!

(a) I'm pretty sure that fat is actually less dense than water (think about chicken fat floating to the surface in soup, in the fridge, where it solidifies).

(b) where didja get this info from? density issues notwithstanding, I've wondered for a long LONG time about the "whoosh" issue, because it's a real thing that I've experienced my own personal self.

I got my information from a Juice Plus seminar that I attended. The company seemed to have some pretty impressive data to back up their claims. Anyway I figured why not. Whether or not they had their own agenda I couldn't tell you, but the fact I took away with me, was to treat myself as well as possible, and eat as good as possible so that my body has the best chance to repair itself and rejuvinate.But you have to take the fact that they are trying to sell you something and keep it in mind, and you don't know if they juggled the figures to suit themselves. It made sense to me anyhow that your cells would change and rejuvinate in 4 months given the right fuel. You can get a little info on juice plus by accessing www.juiceplus.com. Thats where I got my info, whether or not it is true I have no hard evidence. ((BLESSINGS)) Judy

Update post.