What does weight loss actually mean?

Weight loss occurs when we eat less than we expend (including all of our body’s ways to use energy, exercise bring a relatively small part). Most diets will result in weight loss if followed strictly for 6 weeks. One of the biggest issues lies in if it's sustainable. If we are pushing our body to a lower body weight or starving it and slowing our metabolism, it will fight to protect itself.

When we lose weight due to dieting (ie putting ourselves into a caloric deficit), our body taps into glucose storage and breaks down glycogen to give us energy.

Our body is trying to keep us alive and with ample amounts of energy. It’s going to break down stored energy to get what it can from it, letting go of water along the way. This leads to water loss and weight loss, which is called “water weight.”

Depleted glycogen also leads to loss of the water that is stored.

This is why we may see a large weight loss at the beginning of a diet and it’s called “water weight.” Rapid weight loss isn't fat loss, it's water loss. It is also not true sustainable weight loss as it comes back on as soon as normal eating resumes, but sadly it can be enough to tempt a person into thinking the diet works and will work long term.

As we lose weight while dieting or restricting, we will also lose muscle. If we are undereating, whether in total calories or carbohydrates, our body will dip to our protein and break that down for energy through gluconeogenesis. So weight loss on a diet is loss of water and muscle. Not so fun to think about especially when you’re likely miserable on the diet anyway.

So what do we do? Am I telling you to never lose weight because it’s pointless?

Not really. As you likely know by now, I do not stand by diets and do not promote weight loss, instead I encourage healthy behaviors, nutrition education, and creating sustainable habits to empower YOU to live your best life. Please reach out for more information if you’d like to work on-one-one.