Discussion
I'm guessing everyone's metabolism is different but on average how long does it take to digest and "pass" food? I've recently changed my diet and am losing about 400gms in weight a week, however I had a gorge over the weekend with my mean weight increasing by nearly a kilo. By this morning I'm back to where I was this time last week, so how much was just food not passing through and how much would be actual body weight?
Can't answer your specific question, but I've lost a couple of stone this year by just exercising and eating a bit more sensibly.
I went on a 2 night cruise a couple of weeks ago, ate very well but not crazy, didn't drink alcohol, but had a fair few full-fat fizzy drinks.
Weighed myself when I got back, had "put on" 12 lbs lmao.
Lost all 12 lbs in 3 days afterwards!
There is no way that I put on 12 lbs of fat in that short period, so the body must be able to hold a hell of a lot of water and food!!
I went on a 2 night cruise a couple of weeks ago, ate very well but not crazy, didn't drink alcohol, but had a fair few full-fat fizzy drinks.
Weighed myself when I got back, had "put on" 12 lbs lmao.
Lost all 12 lbs in 3 days afterwards!
There is no way that I put on 12 lbs of fat in that short period, so the body must be able to hold a hell of a lot of water and food!!
everyones different but for me it's anywhere from 12-24hours before it's out the other end. there are many things that make your weight flucuate. Water retention from salty foods, DOMS/muscle soreness can make your body hold onto water as it's repairing muscle, alcohol and more. It's not unusual for me to be 4-5lbs heavier for 1-2days after a heavy night out, but that then settles.
It is water, waste products and glycogen stored in the muscles and liver, a big chap can vary by a good few pounds.
I am trying to lose weight, down by 15 pounds or so, need to see it as a permanent change, I just dont eat that kind of stuff any more, cakes, biscuits, sweets etc, except for the odd treat, preferably when at the goal weight, will take a while as not doing starvation.
My issue was "But I always have x", i.e. can of soup, two rounds of toast, I just have the soup now and sometimes it is good to be hungry, its about breaking habits not your metabolism, I have a thyroid issue which is treated with thyroxine but that isnt the reason I put on weight, it is I ate and drank too much and didnt have enough activity.
myfitnesspal is fantastic for tracking food, weight stuff out and get a feel for what a portion is, tempting to say I had cereal, 1 portion is 130 calories, plus milk it is about 200, but in actual fact you had the equivalent of three portions when you weigh it out, so three times the calories, only needs to be 50 or so calories over on average each day to put half a stone on in a year.
You realise it isnt all about calories but it is a good general guide to know how much you are eating, you realise you cant have Mars bars and coke all the time to stick to 2000 calories, you can but you will feel crap all the time from the sugar rush and crash cycle so you have to make up what you eat from lean meat, veg, nuts etc, just eating less crap than normal is just a recipe for misery and failure, cut it out and replace it, burn as much as you can through activity.
It will come off quicker than it went on, but still will take a while, if you are two stone or so overweight like me, there no magic bullet, it is hard work but the rewards are there, when it comes off dotn get cocky and when it doesnt, dont get despondent, stick with it, if you have a bad day, cheat or blow out, get right back on it the following day.
I am trying to lose weight, down by 15 pounds or so, need to see it as a permanent change, I just dont eat that kind of stuff any more, cakes, biscuits, sweets etc, except for the odd treat, preferably when at the goal weight, will take a while as not doing starvation.
My issue was "But I always have x", i.e. can of soup, two rounds of toast, I just have the soup now and sometimes it is good to be hungry, its about breaking habits not your metabolism, I have a thyroid issue which is treated with thyroxine but that isnt the reason I put on weight, it is I ate and drank too much and didnt have enough activity.
myfitnesspal is fantastic for tracking food, weight stuff out and get a feel for what a portion is, tempting to say I had cereal, 1 portion is 130 calories, plus milk it is about 200, but in actual fact you had the equivalent of three portions when you weigh it out, so three times the calories, only needs to be 50 or so calories over on average each day to put half a stone on in a year.
You realise it isnt all about calories but it is a good general guide to know how much you are eating, you realise you cant have Mars bars and coke all the time to stick to 2000 calories, you can but you will feel crap all the time from the sugar rush and crash cycle so you have to make up what you eat from lean meat, veg, nuts etc, just eating less crap than normal is just a recipe for misery and failure, cut it out and replace it, burn as much as you can through activity.
It will come off quicker than it went on, but still will take a while, if you are two stone or so overweight like me, there no magic bullet, it is hard work but the rewards are there, when it comes off dotn get cocky and when it doesnt, dont get despondent, stick with it, if you have a bad day, cheat or blow out, get right back on it the following day.
J4CKO said:
It is water, waste products and glycogen stored in the muscles and liver, a big chap can vary by a good few pounds.
This. On Friday morning, I was 72kg. I had a long weekend visiting family, including a beer festival and a Halloween party. On Wednesday I was 74kg. Today I'm 73kg. I should be back to where I was by the weekend. Just water, the same rapid loss you get in the first week of a diet.
popeyewhite said:
Actually if you're not ill we're all pretty similar. We eat, convert food to energy and go to the loo!
exactly. the idea that people have faster or slower metabolisms is nonsense, especially where weight is concerned. i.e. a person whos fat saying they can't lose weight because they have a slow metabolism.but that's an entire topic in itself.
Resting metabolic rate (and energy consumption during exercise) varies between even medically "normal" individuals according to a number of factors (size, body composition, age, etc), and there is now some evidence that the efficiency of digestion differs according to gut flora. Which is why some people get fat on the same diet and exercise that other people stay thin on or on which they used to stay thin. And then you have various metabolic disorders. None of which mean that a person can't lose weight, merely that the measures necessary may be stricter for some than others.
Foliage said:
Except wait gain/loss can lag by as much as 2 weeks.
Let us know.
Interesting, I've got 10 days of healthy living before the next indulgence. I'm not doing anything radical, cutting right down on refined sugar and carbs, focussing on veg and fish with the odd treat. Running about 12 miles a week as well. Let us know.
Foliage said:
truck71 said:
Sounds like the weekend excess hasn't done any damage and water retention was the cause- makes sense.
Except wait gain/loss can lag by as much as 2 weeks.Let us know.
I think there are so many factors at work it is so difficult to tell what causes what, I dropped three pounds one night after a takeaway, a few beers and a couple of over full tumblers of Whisky. Thing is, even a fairly good blowout, 6 pints and a curry followed by a couple of shorts may be 2500 calories, even if that were entirely additional to your normal days food it wouldnt put a pound of fat on and most of us generally dont have a 5000 calorie day, I tend to save myself if I know I am having a big meal and then skip a meal the following day, that meal may cause a 3 pound gain on the scales though as you are full of rice and holding on to water because of the salt, plus beer bloats you.
Its all an average over time, i.e. your current weight, if you eat the right stuff and exercise, maintain a calories deficit, you will lose weight, it isnt possible to lose vast amounts in a few days without it being fluid and whatever fat is lost goes with a portion of muscle as well if you starve yourself.
I am aiming to get down to 200 to 210 pounds, 14 st 4 to 15 stone before I go on holiday next July, 233 today so somewhere between 23 and 33 pounds to go, aiming on a pound a week, it it comes off quicker then thats great but if it doesn't then, there is no panic, take 45 years to get here ! well, 46 tomorrow, going for a Thai meal so might go up a pound or two.
Being lighter is a joy, only 15 pounds but it makes life easier, pants fit, stairs are easier, more energy, god knows what people at 30 stone feel like, must be so hard to do anything.
I find that after the weekend, in the past anyway, I would feel my pants were tight Monday morning, then over the week it would subside as the water went, plus I ate less, then I would repeat, however I may have gained a few ounces of actual fat, do that every week, over a year this ratcheting effect means you have put a stone on.
So, inadvertent weight gain over a year, a small calorie surplus, only need to be 1000 or less over a week which is an extra Big Mac Meal, easy to do, so if you are rigorous, it is fairly easy to get rid of a pound a week so losing it should be quicker because you are controlling and monitoring it.
truck71 said:
Foliage said:
Except wait gain/loss can lag by as much as 2 weeks.
Let us know.
Interesting, I've got 10 days of healthy living before the next indulgence. I'm not doing anything radical, cutting right down on refined sugar and carbs, focussing on veg and fish with the odd treat. Running about 12 miles a week as well. Let us know.
I measured my weight every day for nearly a year while on 1650-1800 calories, some times id binge (10000 calories+ in a day), the trend was downwards but the actual weight fluctuated, stomach and gut contents, hydration, bloating have an effect. Their seemed to be no reason for some of the fluctuations or even the plateauing.
Just stick at the diet and it will go down, its not how heavy you are that matters its waist size, body shape and how you feel, your mass is sort of irrelevant. When you have to go down a hole on your belt or have a link taken out of your watch, you know your doing the right thing.
Just stick at the diet and it will go down, its not how heavy you are that matters its waist size, body shape and how you feel, your mass is sort of irrelevant. When you have to go down a hole on your belt or have a link taken out of your watch, you know your doing the right thing.
ambuletz said:
popeyewhite said:
Actually if you're not ill we're all pretty similar. We eat, convert food to energy and go to the loo!
exactly. the idea that people have faster or slower metabolisms is nonsense, especially where weight is concerned. i.e. a person whos fat saying they can't lose weight because they have a slow metabolism.but that's an entire topic in itself.
Blue Cat said:
Actually you are wrong, I have a very slow metabolism and if I want to lose weight I have to eat less than 1,000 calories a day. Anything above 2,000 and I put weight on.
Best way to think about resting metabolism is thinking about how much fuel a car would burn left at idle. You'd expect a big v8 to consume more than a small 3 cyl. Likewise you expect a rugby player to burn more than a ballet dancer. Corrected for height, weight, sex and age there is not much variation between people just as, per cc, cars at idle would burn about the same amount of fuel.There is no way you can have a grey area of 1000 calories between where you may gain or lose weight. There is probably a fairly narrow band which represents your balance point somewhere in the middle
As long as you log conscientiously on MFP you will work out where you balance point is. If you're a man it's probably closer to 2000. If it's anywhere near 1000 get your thyroid checked.
Even at 6 foot 78kg and 14% body fat, my break even point is an annoyingly low 2200 which is just about what a TDE calculator gives and how it has turned out when logging all my intake on MFP
To answer the OP - if you are trying to lose, your glycogen stores in muscle and liver are probably chronically depleted. For every gram of glycogen you store several grams of water.
The types of food we binge on tend to be sugary and salty.
Taken together you'll fill your glycogen stores and take on more salt - you'll hang on to more water.
When you get back on the wagon you'll correct.
Blue Cat said:
ambuletz said:
popeyewhite said:
Actually if you're not ill we're all pretty similar. We eat, convert food to energy and go to the loo!
exactly. the idea that people have faster or slower metabolisms is nonsense, especially where weight is concerned. i.e. a person whos fat saying they can't lose weight because they have a slow metabolism.but that's an entire topic in itself.
popeyewhite said:
Blue Cat said:
ambuletz said:
popeyewhite said:
Actually if you're not ill we're all pretty similar. We eat, convert food to energy and go to the loo!
exactly. the idea that people have faster or slower metabolisms is nonsense, especially where weight is concerned. i.e. a person whos fat saying they can't lose weight because they have a slow metabolism.but that's an entire topic in itself.
But as per usual this is just people looking for an excuse, eat less move more as always will always work unless they have a proper bonefide diagnosed medical condition then that will be managed with medication and wont matter.
That being said your diet can affect your metabolism, to many acidy or alkaline foods/drink can have a small but noticeable affect on it.
Foliage said:
Blue Cat said:
Actually you are wrong, I have a very slow metabolism and if I want to lose weight I have to eat less than 1,000 calories a day. Anything above 2,000 and I put weight on.
You're either eating more than you think or you need to see a doctor.No adult can maintain a normal weight on 1000 kcal/day unless there is something wrong.
Gassing Station | Health Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff