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
- Resting metabolic rate (RMR). This is the number of calories your body needs to maintain normal bodily functions, such as breathing and pumping blood.
- Thermic effect of food (TEF). This refers to the calories used to digest, absorb, and metabolize food.
- 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.
Malvika Tiwari, |