Reality TV shows make it look so easy: Overweight people who have never exercised a day in their life joined a show and lose 20 lbs. in a week. On the other hand, you only have 20 lbs. to lose and you've been trying for two months with no luck. The reason might be that you're too small.
Water Weight
Much of the initial weight lost during a diet is water weight. Because most diets make you cut down on simple carbs, salt and over-processed foods, you're not longer retaining so much water. If you're exercising, you will also be sweating some of that water weight away. The more overweight you are, the more water you're retaining and the faster the initial pounds will come off. This faster weight loss usually happens in the first week or two of your weight-loss plan.
Calorie Burn
Another reason you lose weight faster when you're overweight is that you burn more calories. Because you're heavy, your body requires more energy to move around. For example, a 130-lb. person burns 413 roller skating for one hour. However, a 205-lb. person will burn 651 calories.
Calorie Cut
To lose 1 lb. you need to cut down 3,500 calories through your diet, exercise or a combination of both. However, the American College of Sports Medicine recommends that women don't eat fewer than 1,200 calories per day and men 1,800 calories. If you're a woman currently eating 1,500 calories, you can cut only 300 calories per day from your diet. This means it will take you more than 11 days to lose 1 lb. However, if you're very overweight, you might be eating 3,000 calories or more per day. In that case, you could easily shave 1,500 calories off your daily total. At that rate, you could be losing 2 to 3 lbs. per week.
Factors
There are other factors that might speed up your weight loss. If you're overweight because you drink a lot of soda, just cutting that out of your diet will cause a huge difference. A person who only has 10 lbs. to lose is not likely to be eating five hamburgers a day. However, a person who weighs 250 lbs. might be. Once those excesses are eliminated, the weight will come off rather quickly.
References
- NBC News; How Does "Loser" Cast Drop So Much Weight?; Gael Fashingbauer Cooper and Andy Dehnart; November 2005
- "Time"; Jillian Michaels: Secrets of The Biggest Loser; Catherine Sharick; May 2009
- NetWellness; How Do the People on TV Lose so Much so Fast?; Shirley A. Kindrick, Ph.D.; May 2008
- Reality Blurred; Biggest Loser's Rapid Weight Loss Demoralizes Fat People, Increases Risks; Andy Dehnart; October 2007
- NutriStrategy: Calories Burned During Exercise, Activities, Sports and Work
- American College of Sports Medicine: Metabolism Is Modifiable with the Right Lifestyle Changes
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