Many consumers are intrigued by claims that their usage of a weight loss product or service would result in significant weight loss within the first few days or weeks. The rapid weight reduction someone experiences may make it seem that they are finally on the right track, and that they will be able to adhere to their weight loss plan and achieve their weight loss goals.
Despite the early success, many dieters who use fast-acting fat-burning supplements eventually give up since their fat-loss rate slows to a crawl after the initial period of rapid progress. While it would be ideal if the first weight loss experienced on the diet plan was solely due to fat loss, this is not the case.
To tell the truth, losing weight is simple, but losing fat is more difficult. In addition, it’s probably fair to argue that many diet advocates are cognizant of this reality but choose not to share it with dieters.
Indeed, this is the current state of affairs. Since water is an essential component of every living cell in the human body, much of the initial weight loss experienced at the beginning stages of any weight loss programme is due to water loss from bodily tissues. Truth be told, fat-free mass is 75-75% water, but body fat is only 10-40% water.
Because of the drastic drop in caloric intake that occurs at the outset of utilising any weight loss product, and especially ones especially created to “allegedly” assist rapid fat reduction, the body is compelled to release and burn its stored glycogen for energy fuel. Since 75% of glycogen is water and 25% is glucose, most of the metabolic by-product of glucose is water.
Because of this, the majority of the weight lost quickly at first is water and muscle rather than fat. The normal rate of weight loss is roughly 4.5 grammes per gramme of glycogen expended. The loss of weight is readily apparent on the scale when this happens since water is so dense.
When glycogen levels are severely low, the body switches to using fat as an energy source. Although losing 1 gramme of glycogen requires burning 500 calories, losing 1 gramme of fat requires burning 1,000 calories since each gramme of fat has nearly double the calorie value of 1 gramme of glycogen.
Given that fat contains only around 10–40% water, the bathroom scale tends to move much more slowly as the body shifts into the fat burning phase of a weight reduction programme as opposed to when glycogen was being used for energy at the beginning of the diet.
In light of the foregoing, it is disappointing to see that certain weight loss regimens resort to the use of diuretics to fake a reduction in body weight. Both pharmaceutical diuretics and natural diuretic plants work by stimulating the kidneys into producing more urine. The dieter runs the danger of dehydration in addition to the loss of bodily water that may be seen in the bathroom.
The initial immediate effect on bodyweight that is most likely to be experienced is nearly the same whether following a traditional diet, a fad diet, or taking a diet pill: water loss. However, this impact can be greatly amplified by high-protein or severely calorie-restricted diets.
In fact, the normal progression of weight loss entails a rapid drop in weight caused by the loss of water from bodily tissues, followed by a marked slowing in fat loss when the body shifts to burning its fat stores to fulfil its energy needs. A healthy rate of fat loss after the initial quick phase of a weight loss tips is somewhere between 1 and 2 pounds per week, or somewhat higher depending on the individual’s build.
So now you know what you’re up against when a diet plan or other fat reduction regimen promises to help you lose as much as 10–30 pounds of body weight in a doubtful amount of time, like 1 week. You won’t be able to burn fat if you keep drinking so much water.
Understanding how much weight dieters can anticipate to lose in the first week of a diet plan helps them keep their focus and expectations realistic.
Dieters who take the time to educate themselves on the finer points of weight loss, such as the idea of body water loss mentioned above, are in a much stronger position to achieve their fat loss goals. This makes it possible to craft a fat-loss strategy that prepares the dieter for the scenarios and other minor setbacks that will test his or her determination without causing undue discouragement.
A healthy and sustainable simply weight loss program should therefore prioritise fat loss over scale weight loss. Incorporating a calorie-controlled diet and regular physical exercise are two examples of lasting lifestyle changes that can help someone lose weight and keep it off in the long term.
