Unintentional weightloss - stopping exercise or something more sinister ?

[Badback90]

Hi ladies - I hurt my back towards the end of last year and haven’t been able to exercise for about 3 months. Prior to my injury, I was exercising about 6 times a week - fairly intense spinning sessions & long distance running.

I got on the scales today and I’ve lost 6.5 pounds since my injury - as I’ve not been exercising I’ve eaten slightly less carbs (ie fruit and yogurt for breakfast instead of porridge) but nothing major and definitely had my fair share of Xmas chocs & cheese etc

Do you think it’s just loosing muscle that’s caused this weight loss or could it be something more serious ? I don’t think I look like I’ve lost weight.

I was only able to get a telephone appt with my GP who didn’t seem overly concerned about my back and just prescribed some pain killers (I hadn’t weighed myself at that point and he didn’t ask).

Difficult to say without other symptoms. Does your local leisure centre have a body mass weighing machine? If so, you could check to see what your muscle mass is now and are of it seems to be a lot less than an average athletic person

It sounds like you did a lot more exercise than the average person

I know a few people who have lost weight when they've stopped going to the gym. However, only you know your body and if you suspect something is up then pursue it. That would be the sensible thing to do.

I recall my mother fretting she must have cancer when she had unintentional unexplained weight loss. She promptly died of a heart attack instead. All that pointless worry...

If you otherwise feel well, no I wouldn't think anything of it. I gave up alcohol last year and started eating a lot more cake. I actually lost over a stone doing absolutely nothing else (and without trying to lose any weight). I am perfectly well - or as well as I was before I lost the stone. I wonder if without the intense exercise, your body has found a more natural equilibrium and you are perhaps eating less than you realise without all the calorie burning.