20/11/2023
What REALLY happens in your first weeks weight loss - And what really drives your weight loss.
How do some people lose huge amounts of weight in their first week? Why does that weight loss slow down? Why didn't I lose the same weight this time than I first did when I did the same as last time? And many more questions are asked on a regular basis! Read on for some answers - some of which you might not want to hear!
Now I'm not going to be very scientific here - just plain speaking. It is really important to understand at the start that your weight on any given day / time consists among other things of ....
1. Your basic body structure, skeleton, organs, muscles etc
2. Body fat
3. Food and drinks that you have recently consumed. (what is in you rather than on you)
We all (slimmers that is) want to lose body fat as that allows for weight loss and changes in body shape / size. In plain terms that only happens by burning off more calories than we consume. And roughly 3500 calories = 1lb of body fat. Everyone has what is called a Basal Metabolic Rate which is the number of calories they expend just by existing before doing any exercise or activity. This BMR is influenced by gender, age, weight and height (Yep - if you've noticed that it's harder to slim as you grow older there is an element of that in play!) It can be enough to make a significant difference but not an enormous one. For example a 6ft Male aged 25 weighing 16 stone will have a BMR of approx 2234 calories per day whereas the same male at aged 45 is 2058 calories. A 5ft 2 female also weighing 16 stone would have a BMR of 1889 calories aged 25 and 1684 calories aged 55. These basic figures I plan to explore more in future blog posts but what is relevant to your weight loss on any week is the fact that 3500 calories to lose a lb of weight is a couple of days worth of calories expended for an average female. 3500 calories for a 1lb weekly weight loss is 500 calories of a deficit per day, 750 calories per day for 1.5lbs of weight loss, 1000 calories per day for 2lbs of weight loss and so on. Yes you can burn some calories off with excercise (another future post!) but you may not burn off as many as you think you would and ultimately weight loss of 1-1.5lbs per week is realistic and achievable.
So those first weeks when we can see or experience much bigger losses than this are mainly coming from item 3 above - Food and drinks that you have recently consumed. Higher calorie food takes longer to process through your body. Think of it as a funnel - you pour liquid into a funnel and it begins to flow slowly out the exit, pour too much liquid in and your funnel overflows, pour less liquid into the funnel and widen the exit a bit and the funnel has much less liquid in it. Your body is this funnel. Eating healthier / getting better value for your calories is the equivalent of pouring less liquid into this funnel. Exercising is the equivalent of widening the exit. In both situations the funnel empties out and there is less weight / volume in it.
What does all this mean?
Well first off it doesn't mean that your weight loss that week isn't real weight loss - you 100% are walking around x amount of lbs lighter than you were before starting! If you have spent the previous months or years with a full funnel as such you're genuinely lighter.
Realistically depending on how drastic your habits are changing will determine how much you could potentially lose in first weeks. Coming from a very unhealthy start means plenty of weight in that funnel which will work itself through whereas already eating relatively healthily (all be it still gaining weight) will mean less to work through and lower weight loss.
In fact two quite bizarre things can occur here. If you have previously being trying to starve yourself thin by very restricted calories intake you can start eating healthier and PUT ON weight because that funnel now has some food in it whereas it was empty before. (This will be temporary / a once off of course) And if your habits were very bad you could make some changes, changes enough for that funnel to empty a bit versus normal, but not enough to empty it all. In fact they could still be consuming more calories than they need and ultimately be putting on weight at a slower rate than before, but a loss will show on the scales at first before slower weight gain returns. This is where people can fall into a trap - the changes made appear to work really well, they do similar the following week and then see slowed down or no losses appear. Much disappointment and frustration can occur and people can give up.
In summary, the weight we lose on our first week is heavily influenced by how drastic our lifestyle changes are and is extremely difficult to maintain on a long term basis. This is where we need to manage expectations. Celebrate that loss of course!! Celebrate more the changes that were made to contribute to it, and be ready to make some more to build on your success. Don't get hung up on comparisons with other people and your own previous journeys. This is your Slim Path.
I'd love to hear your comments and thoughts and give the post a share if you think any of your friends could benefit from having a read :)
