Your experiences would be useful here

Hi guys, noting some of your responses it seems you guys have some experience with dieting and weight loss. Alas with me I have always been on an upward curve.

I have noticed over the last 2-3 days that I have started to drop weight quite suddenly. Over 5lb in the last 5 days. I have been very sensible with what I eat and have not changed anything I normally do. I keep myself very well hydrated but do a lot of cardio (over 25mi/week). I feel great but am concerned because of the suddeness and my want to not lose muscle mass. Has anyone else had this experience and can tell me that the process will sort itself out over time.

I have had weeks where I lost more and weeks where I lost less.  Sometimes we hold water weight for different reasons, salty foods, building muscle (for us girls it's a monthly experience) and when you body releases that water it can cause a larger drop in weight.

As more time goes by you will know if it is temporary or something to be more concerned about.  Are you a strick calorie counter?  Are you sure you're eating enough for all the exercise you do so that you don't lose too fast?

As a general rule, I believe a person's weight naturally fluctuates between 4 pounds. (This is a personal philosophy :-)

As mentioned above, women have times when we hold more water but other factors can change things as well -- sodium and carbs are a few. I have seen myself hold onto water weight for 4-5 days and i have seen retention of up to 8 pounds. I would stick with an average of the weights you see.

Do you eat consistent amounts/types of foods? Idk if you pay attention to the ratios of food you eat but simply moving from 60% to 40% carbs can cause a few pound drop in water weight.

I would keep an eye on it and try to figure out the source. A scale that measures water weight could put your mind at ease as well.

good point about the scale measuring water weight!!

Do you know of one you would recommend? That seems it would help a lot, also if it were able to measure body fat. Sometimes when I don't lose and i've been exercising and eating well, it can be very disheartening and make me question my whole approach. This kind of scale would help.

I'm eating a balanced diet now, logging everything and upping my exercise. I had a BMR test which told me my system was a little sluggish. Good to know so I can stop comparing myself to others.