Printable View
I have re-introduced creatine into my diet half way through my cut, I haven't supped it for about 6 months.
This week my weight loss has stopped. I assume its water retention from the re-introduction of creatine. I have been taking 10g a day.
I know i've lost as my belt in a full notch on 2 weeks
Any one else have similar? What seems to be average in terms of weight gain due to water retention in the first week or so??
Just trying to get an idea of my nett loss this week
are you worried about fat gain or just weight gain? you may gain some weight as more creatine is introduced into your body, 10g is more than enough...are you loading or something? I'd just stick with 5g/day....really only a composition test could determine if you've lost fat [i]this[/i] week. Really wouldn't worry about it though.
[QUOTE=wlknier;462407831]are you worried about fat gain or just weight gain? you may gain some weight as more creatine is introduced into your body, 10g is more than enough...are you loading or something? I'd just stick with 5g/day....really only a composition test could determine if you've lost fat [i]this[/i] week. Really wouldn't worry about it though.[/QUOTE]
No dude i'm not worried about having gained fat, i know i've lost fat but it's been offset by the gain in water weight due to the creatine.
I just wondered what had been the experience of others in terms of their water weight gain in the first couple of weeks of taking creatine?.
I.e if i've lost 2lbs of fat but i've gained 2lbs of water then i'm happy as nett i've lost 2lb of fat.....
which is why i said only a composition test could really determine this
if you've maintained a caloric deficit throughout the time on creatine and you've maintained weight, you could probably safely assume you've lost some fat, gained some water weight as a result...its only been a few days though, see if the scale doesn't start moving again in a week and taper back on the creatine intake
So is it safe to say i would probably have had a degree of water retention of say in the region of 2lbs?
[QUOTE=liebherrman;462414171]So is it safe to say i would probably have had a degree of water retention of say in the region of 2lbs?[/QUOTE]
As long as you have loads of creatine saturating your muscle - you will have a few more lbs of water going into your muscles... it depends on how much muscle you got to begin with + how much creatine supplement you are taking and it is a variable.
Why are you worried about water weight? You a wrestler?
[QUOTE=ackranome;462414491]As long as you have loads of creatine saturating your muscle - you will have a few more lbs of water going into your muscles... it depends on how much muscle you got to begin with + how much creatine supplement you are taking and it is a variable.
Why are you worried about water weight? You a wrestler?[/QUOTE]
No not worried.
I started a completely new routine/diet this week. It's very strict. I'm just freakin
My lbm is around 160lbs
[QUOTE=liebherrman;462415651]No not worried.
I started a completely new routine/diet this week. It's very strict. I'm just freakin
My lbm is around 160lbs[/QUOTE]
Well keep in mind - if your goal is losing fat versus losing weight - water is not fat but it will add to your weight. I personally never put much into "weight" as much as I do on how I look/feel. Some body builders would register as "obese" if they weighed themselves using that generic BMI test.
I am not sure how you do your calculations on your body fat to lean muscle - but the only real way to know exactly what you are is to do a hydrostatic test. There are threads all over the place that talk about how to get good "estimates" on what your body fat is by looking at size, girth, height, weight ect - but none compare to a hydrostatic test.
If anything creatine usually ends up making your muscles look bigger - veiny - bulgey.
[QUOTE=ackranome;462416901]Well keep in mind - if your goal is losing fat versus losing weight - water is not fat but it will add to your weight. I personally never put much into "weight" as much as I do on how I look/feel. Some body builders would register as "obese" if they weighed themselves using that generic BMI test.
I am not sure how you do your calculations on your body fat to lean muscle - but the only real way to know exactly what you are is to do a hydrostatic test. There are threads all over the place that talk about how to get good "estimates" on what your body fat is by looking at size, girth, height, weight ect - but none compare to a hydrostatic test.
If anything creatine usually ends up making your muscles look bigger - veiny - bulgey.[/QUOTE]
Yep, I get ya but no one has answered question yet.
How much weight do you gain in first week/2 weeks of taking creatine? and how much of that do you attribute to water retention/water weight.???
Stop worrying about the scale number so much. Yes, you will gain water weight that according to the scale shows you didn't lose any fat. You could do some different testing to determine this but honestly its not worth your time. You have been losing fat, if you know you are doing things right then just keep on doing them. In a week or two(pulled this time frame out my ass btw) the scale will start going down again but you have been losing fat the whole time.
As someone else said, how much water you retain is up to your body. And unlike someone else said, there is no reason to cut back on creatine for fat loss. Just take the recommended dosage. Really it could only have a positive affect on your fat loss as you can work with more intensity.
[QUOTE=liebherrman;462419511] how much of that do you attribute to water retention/water weight.???[/QUOTE]
IF you are cutting then over 100 percent(since you are losing fat + gaining weight)
[QUOTE=budershank;462420131]IF you are cutting then over 100 percent(since you are losing fat + gaining weight)[/QUOTE]
Cool.. Thanks dude. I've done alot of searches on the forum with differing answers for same question. Some guys have gained 5-8 lbs in their first week of creatine supps others much less but alot agree there is weight gain due to bloating. I'm just trying to get an idea of where the average might be. but you are right i am not watching the scales but at the same time it is an accurate measure of the effectiveniss of the programme
Same exact thing happened to me, and I was stuck at 249 for 2-3 weeks. Just have patience and if nothing changes for too long, drop the calories.
This is kind of an old thread, but it's the top google result so I will try to answer it based on my personal experience. I was 267 and 30% BF (no fat jokes please) and started loading creatine for five days (10g) on a very strict diet (800-1k deficit). I gained about 2 lbs (or 1.4% BW). At the same time, I dropped about .6% of my body fat
269 - 267 = 2
267*.006 = 1.6
5 days at a 1k deficit should have yielded 1.43 lbs lost, so it's definitely in the ballpark.
There is always going to be some error in these numbers, but if you're a geek like me, a value of "don't worry about it" doesn't fit into your spreadsheet. BTW that's a huge pet peeve of mine. Somebody asks a question, and somebody else responds with "don't worry about it" or "go google it" (this one sucks the most when it's the top google result).
I'm still loading so I can't assume this is a final number for me. I will update the thread when I stabilize.
I remember the first time I saw weight loss after I stopped creatine. I was like, "I'm still losing weight after I stopped working out. Awesome!"
It's going to vary widely by the individual, but 5-10 pounds of water weight gain during the loading phase of creatine isn't uncommon.
Some gain more, some gain less. It's too hard to give you an exact number, but the majority I've seen have fallen into that range.
Also, the type of creatine you take and how much will impact that as well.
If you're not someone who can deal well with changes on the scale, I'd advise not taking it, as using creatine during a cut can stall the scale weight for many weeks due to changes in the body.
As of the first of the year i started, and by started i mean attempted, eating 4k cal a day
Ive been successful maybe 6 out of the 14 days. I also started creatine, ive gained about 10 lbs, and havent been as good about water as i should. But i hope that helps.
I started creatine at 5 grams a day and gained 0 weight..... have taken for 2 weeks now no fluctuations at all ....
It's hard to separate out things, but creatine seems to cause me 1.5-2kgs gain if I load on it.
[QUOTE=liebherrman;462407181]I have re-introduced creatine into my diet half way through my cut, I haven't supped it for about 6 months.
This week my weight loss has stopped. I assume its water retention from the re-introduction of creatine. I have been taking 10g a day.
I know i've lost as my belt in a full notch on 2 weeks
Any one else have similar? What seems to be average in terms of weight gain due to water retention in the first week or so??
Just trying to get an idea of my nett loss this week[/QUOTE]
Hey bro. In my experience I would take a little less than 10 grams. although you do weigh more than me, maybe try 7.5? I take Muscletech's Creacore and I have not found any water weight gain or water retention. I've constantly lost weight on the scale during my cut while in creatine. I think it's manageable that you continue to go down on the scale while in creatine. My suggestion would be lowering your intake a bit to see what happens even if it is just for a week or two to test it out.
I'm taking kre-alkalyn powder which on the bottle says to take two one gram scoops in the morning and two pre workout or in the evening. I heap the scoops though because I'm tall I figure. Idk if this is real creatine or what, but the guy at the store says its what he uses.
Im interested to know because Im trying to bulk without getting fat and I haven't pinned down my target calories exactly, I've just been recording my weight every day and adjusting based on that. So I kinda need to know how much weight gain to attribute to the creatine/water weight so I know that I can hold my calories steady for a while.
Right now I aim for 3000-3400 on non-gym days and 3300-3800 on gym days. My weight has tilted upwards since I started taking the creatine, a bit too fast, but again, Idk if it's just the creatine.