Dumb Question?

dawn_westbury

So I know the more weight you have to lose the faster it comes off at first. I’m assuming this is because your body has to work harder to just function the bigger you are .. as you slim down your heart etc isn’t having to work so hard on it own without exercise... No?

Nony_Mouse

Those big initial losses are more to do with water weight loss than fat loss, and that slows down after a bit.

You can lose faster the more weight you have to lose, because you can sustain a bigger deficit. But once water weight is taken out of the equation, two people with the same deficit should lose at much the same rate, regardless of weight.

Your body does have to work harder to function the bigger you are, but that is taken into account in your daily calorie requirements. IE me now doesn't get to eat as much to maintain my weight as me 15 kilos heavier did.

Make sense?

kommodevaran

Initial water weight loss is almost universal.

You can lose faster when you weigh more because your body burns more calories for everything it does. But also because there is more fat to take from. It's like a funnel - a large opening can pass a lot more than a small opening.

Then there is the difference between amount and percentage. At any point in your weighloss process, you can lose roughly the same percentage of your body weight in the same amount of time, about 1% per week. This means that a larger person can lose more/faster than a smaller person, and that they can lose at the same rate. Both answers are correct. Context is king.

Then there is the issue of habit change. Habits are what we are used to, and usually do, but also usually what we like to do. To start doing something we don't like, or don't know so much about, can be frightening. The more overweight you are, the bigger the amount of change is necessary to become normal weight.

DX2JX2

dawn_westbury wrote: »

So I know the more weight you have to lose the faster it comes off at first. I’m assuming this is because your body has to work harder to just function the bigger you are .. as you slim down your heart etc isn’t having to work so hard on it own without exercise... No?

Good responses thus far. Fast initial loss is usually driven by water weight for everybody but that said, people who start at a higher weight tend to have an easier time losing early on than those with less to lose.

You are correct that larger people need more calories to maintain their current weight and thus it's much easier for them to set and stick to a larger calorie deficit. Note that the extra calorie burn in heavier people isn't just the heart working harder - it's everything. It simply takes more effort to move around more mass, all else equal.

For example, a woman with a maintenance number of 3000 calories/day shouldn't have that hard a time sticking to a daily target of 2000 or below and thus should be able to lose 2 pounds or more a week. 2000 calories per day is still plenty of food and the woman is clearly not in danger of dropping below minimum safe calorie levels.

Contrast that with a woman with a maintenance level of 1700 calories per day. The maximum she should limit per day would be 500 calories so as not to drop below the minimum safe level of calories (1200). Her maximum safe loss rate would be 1 pound per week because she simply doesn't have a whole lot of calories to work with.

hesn92

The more you weigh the more calories your body burns, therefore the more calories you need to maintain your weight. So it's a lot easier to create a big huge deficit and lose 2-3 lbs a week...