Weight loss

For health benefits or simply aesthetic values weight loss is a goal for many.

But it could be a daunting  task for people who are unaware of what it takes to lose weight. In this article we will explain the factors that affect weight loss  in a simple manner.

Weight loss occurs when you consistently consume fewer calories than you burn each day.

That means one needs to be in a calorie deficit in order to lose weight.

Calorie expenditure includes

1. Resting metabolic rate (RMR). This is the number of calories your body needs to maintain normal bodily functions, such as breathing and pumping blood.
2. Thermic effect of food (TEF). This refers to the calories used to digest, absorb, and metabolize food.
3. Thermic effect of activity (TEA). These are the calories you use during exercise. TEA can also include non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT), which accounts for the calories used for activities like yard work and fidgeting.

Factors affecting weight-loss –

• Gender
  • an 8-week study including over 2,000 participants on an 800-calorie diet found that men lost 16% more weight than women, with relative weight loss of 11.8% in men and 10.3% in women
  • This shows that women tend to have a greater fat-to-muscle ratio than men.
  • That shows it is easier for men to lose fat than women. Also, a woman needs more fat in the body compared to a man.
• Age
  • With each the person’s fat increases and the muscle mass decreases which leads to change in body composition
  • With each the persons resting metabolic rate decreases as the demand for calorie declines.
  • The decrease in RMRmakes it harder to lose weight
• Sleep
  • It is one of the most ignored yet most important part of weight loss
  • The lack of sleep brings hormone imbalances in the body which makes a person more hungry and the person experiences less  satiety .
  • Lack of sleep also makes recovery harder and the person is not able to push himself in physical exercises. Proper sleep is very important for a healthy weight loss.
• Medications
  • Many medications, such as antidepressants and other antipsychotics, can promote weight gain or hinder weight loss .
• Starting point
  • This means starting weight of a person affects how much loss of weight will happen over a course of period
  • The person with more fat will lose more fat at a rapid pace and as the person will lose fat the trajectory of fat loss will also decline.
• Past of dieting
  • The person with a past in dieting where they have had loss and regained weight can become increasingly difficult due to decrease in RMR.

I hope that you learn something new and don’t forget to love your body. The weight is all the best for your weight loss journey.