WHY YOU LOST WEIGHT FASTER WHEN YOU WEIGHED MORE

If you are currently on a weight loss journey and suddenly realizing a drop in your weight loss numbers as you progress, this may just be the reason why! I was going through an Instagram user’s account recently and the person stated that they had lost 10kg-15kg in about six weeks. That’s an impressive number for me as it would take me much longer to lose that amount. Now if you are ignorant of the following facts, these figures may leave you feeling unaccomplished. Here is why that friend who weighs over 50kg more than you do seems to be losing weight faster than you, yet you are both on the same weight loss program!

It is normal for an overweight person to assume that he/she has a lower metabolism than a skinny/skinnier person and as a result would lose less weight while carrying out the same physical activity. The truth however is that a person who weighs 150kg would lose weight faster than one who weighs 70kg. This doesn’t seem logical as one would think that the less you weigh, the more fit you are and the more fit you are, the faster you would lose weight (hope I am making sense!) It is for this reason that in weight loss competitions, such as “the biggest loser”, a weight-loss percentage is used to track progress rather than simply counting the lost pounds. 

It takes more energy to fuel an overweight body, so, the more you weigh, the more muscle your body needs to carry you around. An overweight person burns more calories while exercising than a leaner person. This is because it takes more work to cover the same amount of distance in the same amount of time than someone smaller. Therefore, a heavier person can burn more calories than a lighter person doing the same exercise.

Furthermore, you have a higher Basal Metabolism when heavier. Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), is the number of calories you burn maintaining the operations of your body over the course of the day while at rest. Even while inactive/sleeping your body burns calories running your body (e.g. running your brain, repairing and replacing cells and tissues, etc.) A bigger body requires higher maintenance costs. Thus, the more you weigh the more calories you burn, even when in rest mode.

Lastly, an overweight person most likely has bad eating habits and has overtime, gotten used to consuming excess calories. When such a person makes a slight change to his/her diet, they could see a significant drop in weight as a result of such change. A leaner person on the other hand with a less high-calorie diet would have to be careful to eliminate high-calorie foods from his/her diet as this could lead to weight gain. 

Therefore, if your started your weight loss journey at 150kg, you most likely would drop a significant amount of weight in your early days, but then as you get leaner, your numbers would start reducing. 

On a lighter note one can also say that it is much harder for one to maintain a lean physique than an overweight person to lose weight.