What happened here with exercise?

Okay, I hurt my legs doing squats last friday, extremly badly....I was showing off.  So I gave myself until yesterday, Tuesday, a break from all gym related activities, both weight lifting, and cardio.

 Tuesday, I hopped on the scale and I am 2.5 lbs lighter, without doing anything different as far as exercise.  Today, after starting back, I am another lb. lighter according to the scale.

 

Now I'm saying what happened because ever since september, I have been working out and exercising religiously, I'm talking about till the sweat pours off of me, and sometimes, my weight will stay the same for two weeks or more before I loose 1 or 2 lbs (I have lost 25 lbs so far)

 

How come when I stopped exercising (which I have no plans to abandon, because I feel better in my late twenties than I did as a teenager) I dropped 3 lbs in such a short span of time?

Water weighs 8.35lbs per gallon.

1/2 Gallon 4.17lbs

Quart 2.8lbs 

muscle weighs more than fat, you may of lost the muscle you were gaining by exercising

Original Post by jmc1221:

muscle weighs more than fat, you may of lost the muscle you were gaining by exercising

 

Yeah, I don't think she lost muscle in 4 days - at least not two and a half pounds of it - it isn't that fleeting.

The body is a funny thing - could easily be water. some people who don't exercise regularly will find that they are a little heavier the day after exercise. stands to reason that it could be the inverse for people who exercise regularly. why? don't know, but there is so much that goes into the number that we see on the scale, beyond fat and muscle.

and plenty of people say that when they are in a plateau, they take a break from exercise, and suddenly drop to a new weight. i think it is more a factor of changing things up than any particular reason.

Aaaahhhhhh so, not exercising for this breif period of time has made me a little lighter so that my muscles are not retaining as much water.....that makes sense.

 

Well I guess I'll be gaining those two lbs, back, because I'm back at it gung ho, and feel better today than I have in the last 4 or so days!

 

Thanks for the replies guys!

"muscle weighs more than fat, you may of lost the muscle you were gaining by exercising"

Sorry jmc1221 - 1lb of musle is equal to 1lb of fat. 1lb is 1lb. Granted, muscle is a lot leaner and burns calories vs. fat - just sits there.

And I agree w/ amethystgirl - it is probably water weight.