Some people lose weight faster than others

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  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    Even the study isn't claiming that people typically needed more than a 3500-calorie deficit to lose weight. For most people, it's less -- i.e. faster than expected -- and if it's a lot faster than expected it could be a sign of too much lean muscle mass being lost.

    But if it's much slower than expected, i.e. you're finding it takes you 4000 or 5000 calories to lose a pound, then you're probably eating more than you think you are.
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,598 Member
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    That's why it pays to work out! Keep more muscle, lose fat faster.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    segacs wrote: »
    Even the study isn't claiming that people typically needed more than a 3500-calorie deficit to lose weight. For most people, it's less -- i.e. faster than expected -- and if it's a lot faster than expected it could be a sign of too much lean muscle mass being lost.

    Yeah. People are taking the implication the wrong way.

    :drinker:
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    gothchiq wrote: »
    That's why it pays to work out! Keep more muscle, lose fat faster.

    Yes, that can help. There are other factors, e.g. genetics, or how much fat you have to lose, that will influence the amount of muscle being lost, too. But to the extent that it's within our control, progressive strength training has been shown to help.
  • Snow3y
    Snow3y Posts: 1,412 Member
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    Lol, before reading anything I'd just like to comment saying: Who would've guessed peoples metabolisms are different! :)
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    Snow3y wrote: »
    Lol, before reading anything I'd just like to comment saying: Who would've guessed peoples metabolisms are different! :)

    That's got nothing to do with metabolism though. A faster metabolism burns calories faster and a slower one burns calories slower, but it should still require the same number of calories to lose a pound of fat.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    Mr_Knight wrote: »
    segacs wrote: »
    Even the study isn't claiming that people typically needed more than a 3500-calorie deficit to lose weight. For most people, it's less -- i.e. faster than expected -- and if it's a lot faster than expected it could be a sign of too much lean muscle mass being lost.

    Yeah. People are taking the implication the wrong way.

    :drinker:


    Welcome to confirmation bias.
  • Arted1
    Arted1 Posts: 4 Member
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    I found this interesting. Thanks for sharing. :)
  • aliaslocke
    aliaslocke Posts: 19 Member
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    segacs wrote: »
    1lb of fat = ~3500 calories
    1lb of lean muscle = ~600 calories

    Almost everyone who loses weight loses some combination of fat and muscle. Most people try to lose as much fat as possible and as little muscle as possible. But depending on how much body fat you have to start with, how overweight you are, whether or not you strength train while losing weight, and other factors, you are going to lose some small amounts of muscle along with your fat.

    So, let's say, for example, that someone loses 100 pounds, of which 75% was fat and 25% was lean muscle. That person would have required a deficit of (3500x0.75)+(600x0.25)= 2775 calories to lose a pound.

    In another example, let's say this person loses 100 pounds and is lucky enough to lose 90% fat, 10% muscle. (Maybe a bit unrealistic, but hey.) In this example, they would've required a deficit of (3500x0.9)+(600x0.1) = 3210 calories to lose a pound.

    Most of us reverse-calculate our observed TDEE by assuming we're losing 100% body fat and no muscle. For almost all of us, this is wishful thinking. In reality, most of us have a true TDEE that's a bit lower than we think, because of the muscle mass included in our weight loss. That's why when we move to maintenance and try to find our maintenance calories, it's good to be conservative in our estimates.

    But yes, this could account for why most people in this study required fewer calories to lose a pound. Someone consuming nothing but Ensure and not exercising is probably going to lose a higher percentage of muscle and a lower percentage of fat, as compared to someone who eats a varied diet high in protein and strength trains during weight loss.

    Thank you for explaining this. It was very helpful and informative, I'm quite ignorant about weight loss and you communicated yourself very well.

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