Have you noticed that during the first few days of a new diet you lose weight like made, then it slows down to almost nothing? Well, the reason for this is that during the first few days of weight loss your body primarily loses what it has most - Water :'(
The water weight loss comes from a net loss of protein and carbohydrates especially during the first few weeks of a reduction in calories. On reducing calories the body needs to rely more on energy within the body and thus breaks down protein and carbohydrate for metabolism. When these nutrients are metabolised water is released. Fat stores do supply a little of the energy but at first a good proportion comes from protein and the limited stores of carbohydrates within the cells.
For weight loss the trick is to reduce losing water weight as much as possible so the body is forced to burn more body fat stores. To limit losing water weight many people will:
- consume small portions of high quality protein at each meal
- reduce food intake gradually and count calories
- anaerobic exercise (e.g. weightlifting, strenght training) can slow protein lost from muscle cells
- not crash diet or starve
- lose weight slowly no more than 2 pounds per week
Why you lose mostly water during the first few days of a diet
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