Weight reduction is a frequent aim, whether you want to lose weight for a specific event or just better your health.
You may want to know what a healthy weight loss rate is in order to establish reasonable expectations.
This article discusses the elements that influence how long it takes to lose weight.
How Weight Loss Happens
Weight loss happens when you consume fewer calories per day than you burn.
Weight gain, on the other hand, occurs when you continually consume more calories than you burn.
Any calorie-containing meal or beverage counts toward your total calorie consumption.
However, the quantity of calories you burn each day, also known as energy or calorie expenditure, is a little more difficult.
Calorie expenditure is made up of three primary components:
The metabolic rate during rest (RMR). This is the number of calories your body need to function normally, such as breathing and pumping blood.
Food's thermogenic impact (TEF). This refers to the calories expended in the digestion, absorption, and metabolization of food.
Activity's thermodynamic influence (TEA). These are the calories you burn when exercising. Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT), which accounts for calories needed for activities such as yard maintenance and fidgeting, is also included in TEA.
You maintain your body weight if the amount of calories you consume equals the number of calories you burn.
If you want to lose weight, you must generate a negative calorie balance by ingesting fewer calories than you burn or by increasing your activity level.
Males lost 16% more weight than women on an 800-calorie diet, with a relative weight reduction of 11.8% in men and 10.3% in women.
However, while males lost weight faster than women, the study did not look at gender variations in the capacity to maintain weight reduction.
Age
Changes in body composition are one of the many physical changes that occur with age - fat content increases and muscle mass decreases.
This alteration, together with other reasons like as your primary organs' reduced calorie demands, adds to a lower RMR.
Persons over the age of 70 may have RMRs that are 20-25% lower than those of younger adults.
Weight reduction may become more difficult when RMR declines with age.
Point of departure
Your starting body mass and composition may also influence how quickly you lose weight.
It's critical to realize that differing absolute weight reductions (in pounds) might equate to the same relative (%) weight loss in different people. Finally, losing weight is a complicated procedure.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Body Weight Planner is a helpful tool for determining how much weight you can lose depending on your starting weight, age, gender, and how many calories you consume and burn.
Although a bigger person can lose twice as much weight, a lighter person can lose an equivalent percentage of their body weight (10/250 = 4% vs 5/125 = 4%).
For example, a 300-pound (136-kg) individual may drop 10 pounds (4.5 kg) after cutting 1,000 calories from their daily diet and increasing physical activity for two weeks.
Calorie deficiency
To reduce weight, you must produce a negative calorie balance. The magnitude of your calorie deficit influences how quickly you lose weight.
Ingesting 500 fewer calories per day for 8 weeks, for example, is likely to result in higher weight reduction than consuming 200 fewer calories per day.
However, avoid creating an excessive calorie deficit.
This is not only unsustainable, but it also puts you in danger of vitamin shortages. Furthermore, it may increase your chances of losing weight as muscle mass rather than fat mass.
Sleep
Sleep is an often-overlooked yet critical component of weight loss.
Chronic sleep deprivation might stymie weight reduction and the rate at which you shed pounds.
One night of sleep deprivation has been found to enhance your craving for high-calorie, nutrient-deficient meals like cookies, cakes, sugary beverages, and chips.
In one 2-week trial, individuals on a calorie-restricted diet were randomly assigned to sleep 5.5 or 8.5 hours each night.
Those who slept for 5.5 hours each night shed 55% less body fat and 60% more lean body mass than those who slept for 8.5 hours.
As a result, persistent sleep deprivation has been related to type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and several malignancies.
Other considerations
Other factors that might influence your weight loss rate include:
Medications. Many drugs, including antidepressants and various antipsychotics, can either stimulate or inhibit weight reduction.
Medical problems. Illnesses such as depression and hypothyroidism, a disease in which your thyroid gland produces insufficient metabolism-regulating chemicals, can both hinder and stimulate weight loss.
Genes and family history There is a well-established genetic component related to overweight or obese persons, and it may influence weight reduction.
Dieting on a whim. Due to a decline in RMR, this pattern of losing and regaining weight might make weight loss more difficult with each try.
Weight reduction diet that works
With so many weight reduction programs on the market, all promising remarkable and rapid results, it can be difficult to determine which one is best.
Despite the fact that designers and supporters believe their regimens are better than others, there is no one greatest weight reduction diet.
Low-carb diets, such as keto, may help you lose weight faster at first, but studies show no meaningful changes in long-term weight reduction.
What is most important is your capacity to maintain a healthy, low-calorie eating plan.
However, many people find it difficult to stick to an extremely low-calorie diet for lengthy periods of time, which is why most diets fail.
To improve your chances of success, cut your calorie consumption just moderately, personalize your diet based on your preferences and health, or work with a qualified dietitian.
To optimize fat reduction and avoid or minimize muscle loss, combine nutrition with exercise, including both aerobic and resistance training.
You may improve weight reduction and general health by avoiding overly processed meals and embracing more nutritious, whole foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, healthy fats, and proteins.
Weight loss at a safe pace
While most individuals desire rapid weight reduction, it is critical that you do not lose too much weight too rapidly.
Rapid weight loss increases your chances of developing gallstones, dehydration, and starvation.
Other negative consequences of fast weight reduction include the following:
headaches
irritability
fatigue
constipation
hair thinning
irregular menstruation
muscle wasting
Though weight loss may occur more quickly at the beginning of a program, doctors recommend a weekly weight reduction of 1-3 pounds (0.45-1.36 kg) or roughly 1% of your body weight.
Also, keep in mind that losing weight is not a straight line. You may lose more in some weeks than others, or you may drop none at all.
So, if your weight reduction slows or plateaus for a few days, don't become disheartened.
Keeping a food journal and weighing yourself on a regular basis may help you remain on track.
According to research, persons who use self-monitoring tactics, such as tracking their nutritional intake and weight, are more likely to lose weight and keep it off than those who do not.
In conclusion
When you eat fewer calories than you burn, you lose weight.
Gender, age, beginning weight, sleep, and the degree of your calorie deficit are all factors that influence your weight loss pace.
Aiming for a weekly weight loss of 1-3 pounds (0.45-1.36 kg) is a healthy and sustainable strategy to achieve your goals.