How is it that weight loss program marketers can legally claim things like “Lose up to 12lbs in two weeks?”
You’ve heard it before - “It’s water weight.”
Yet how many times have you hopped on the scale at the end of the first week of a diet and felt incredibly awesome and skinny and totally sexy when you see a significant drop on the scale?
How do you feel the second and third week when the rate of loss slows? How are you feeling after 8 weeks when you’ve been doing everything right and see a measly 1/2 lb loss for your Herculean efforts?
Despite how great it feels when weight seemingly melts off the first few weeks, these huge drops on the scale set off a chain of events that lead to loss of motivation and eventual “diet” failure. Huge weight losses followed by the typical 1-2lb a week average really does mess with dieter’s heads.
Not only do my clients experience this but I’ve started (and stopped!) many a diet in my time. Every single time I see that number drop by huge amounts my brain tells me, “Sure maybe it’s water but hey it COULD be fat ya know!!”
In fact, I weighed myself this morning and I was down 2.5lbs. Over night! Was it fat that I lost? Uhm, nope. Yet, even though I know better, I still get excited when I see that scale number drop!
We are told, over and over by weight loss product marketers, “Lose (some ridiculous number - FAST!). We’ve been programmed to believe that these large numbers we are losing rather quickly is fat.
How many advertisements have you seen that say, “Lose 10lbs of water in two weeks?” Zippo. Why?
Because we know water isn’t fat and we don’t want to pay for water loss. If we wanted to lose water we could just pick up a diuretic at the pharmacy, pop a few pills and abracadabra we’re 5lbs lighter.
However, what we really want is fat loss. Depending on our (or their) mood, some of us would trade our first born for fat loss! Most of us know that we can push scale numbers around by simply increasing our water intake and/or lowering our sodium intake. Who wants to pay for water weight fluctuations? Women get enough of that every 28 days give or take! Water weight fluctuation is the very LAST thing we want!
We’re also told that these huge drops on the scale could be the result of decreased carbohydrate consumption - especially if we’ve reduced our intake even a little. I’m on a low carb rotation diet right now, hence my recent low scale number. IT’S WATER - OK maybe a tiny bit of fat as well. Hopefully!
I set out trying to prove the math of how carbs make us retain water - which they do to a point - a rather small number in relation to the “lose up to 12lb” claim that inspired this article.
Every gram of carbohydrate stored in lean body mass (muscle) is attached to 2.7 grams of water. That’s a total of about 2lbs of water retained in muscle tissue. When we cut back on carbs some of that water is released. Somewhere up to 2 whole pounds! 2lbs? Whoop-dee-doo!
There will be some amount of carbs floating around in your blood and stored in cells but that number is still relatively small in terms of total body weight. On average we carry around about 2-4lbs of carbohydrate related water. That’s not all that much in relation to the 12lb claim. Most of us see scale numbers jump around by similar amounts no matter what we eat or don’t eat! I’ve seen my weight increase 5lbs over night for no apparent reason!
Knowing only the basics of physiology, biochemistry and metabolic function, I was stymied when trying to figure out the math. HOW are they claiming these numbers? Where are these numbers coming from?
Sure, the 12lb claim could be an out and out lie but those numbers ARE seen by some people. So, I had to do some research.
Here’s how this works…….above and beyond, “You’ve lost water weight.”
First we need to look at what the body does with water. Well, actually our bodies do a whole lot with water. For our purposes we are concerned with primarily two things:
1. Water is required to keep the sodium concentration of our blood at a certain percentage. If you eat a salty meal your serum (blood) sodium concentration rises.
When the serum sodium levels rise your body will retain water in order to reduce the sodium concentration. Said another way, you will retain water in order to keep the ratio of sodium to water constant. The more sodium you consume the more water your body will retain.
2. Water is created when we metabolize (burn) macro nutrients.
Carbs create 55g metabolic water
Protein creates 100g water
Fat creates 107g water
Even when we aren’t dieting we are burning macro nutrients and creating metabolic water. More water in = more water out!
What happens when we go on a “diet” or simply change the types of foods we eat?
Depending on what you were eating prior you will most likely be creating an increased amount of metabolic water. The more water we create, the more our body will release!
The diet being reviewed in this video is very likely a reduced carb, increased protein plan. Protein creates more metabolic water than do carbohydrates. If you are burning more protein (because you have less carbs to burn!) you are creating more water!
When you reduce calories AND add in exercise ( even MORE macro nutrient burn) you will be creating even more metabolic water!
Now we need to look at sodium. On average we retain 3lbs of sodium related water. A Tulane University study conducted over a 19 year period on 14,000 participants found that overweight people retain and are more sensitive to the effects of sodium on blood pressure.
Simply put, the more overweight you are the more likely it is that you are retaining more than the typical 3lbs of sodium related water. You could be retaining up to 7lbs of water simply due to sodium. This also explains why generally speaking, the more weight someone has to lose, the higher their initial rate of weight loss. They simply have more water to lose!
What do most diet programs consist of food wise? Less processed and more whole foods. Guess what?………..
Processed foods are where we typically find the the highest levels of sodium! If you eat like most people, you are probably consuming something around 4500mg (or more) of sodium a day. The RDA is 2400mg. Go on a diet and you are likely to reduce your sodium intake by at least 30% if not more.
So, when we diet we’ve got increased metabolic water and decreased sodium intake. Add this to the fact that most people also drink more water while dieting and you get an influx of water which our body must release. Our bodies require a consistent sodium concentration. If our water level gets too high the body will release it!
So, here’s the math of how these marketers can claim weight loss rates inconsistent with what our bodies are actually able to do (in terms of pure fat loss - physiologically speaking) -
Water loss from reduced carbs: 2 - 4lbs
Water loss from reduced sodium: 3 - 7lbs
Fat loss: 1-2lbs
Add in potential water weight loss related to the menstrual cycle and the unavoidable loss of muscle whenever we reduce calories and (at the high end) you get numbers exceeding the 12lbs in two weeks claim!
And that my friends is how they can claim these sorts of incredible weight losses - making you believe that it is fat loss simply by failing to mention that the majority of the loss is water.
What happens when your sodium/water consumption and production adjusts to your new habits?
Well, first of all, you stop losing water weight - so you don’t see the huge number drops on the scale.
You will begin to hold on to some water again - the typical 3lbs.
What happens after 3 months of doing everything right and you decide to treat yourself with a healthy but perhaps high carbohydrate/sodium dinner out for your birthday? You gain weight!
And of course because you assume all that weight you lost was fat, you naturally assume all that weight you gained back was fat! You become discouraged because after all who wants to go the entire rest of their life without being able to have dinner out once and a while without gaining 5lbs? Nobody!
So, sooner or later, if you are smart, given the information (err uhm brainwashing) you’ve been provided, somewhere around 90% of you will eventually quit your diet and go back to your old eating habits - because you’ve also been brainwashed to believe that “diets don’t work” AND that 90% of people gain the weight back anyway - so why bother?! Diets don’t work, do they?
Ah but thankfully there’s a plethora of weight loss products you can buy that require no dieting, no exercise, blah blah blah!
Are you still not convinced that your 7lb loss your first week on South Beach wasn’t mostly water?
Let’s look at a real life person eating real life food.
Our “test” subject (me) is a 40 year old 5′5″ female who’s BMI is 29 - that’s the high end of “overweight”….nearing ”obese”.
So, she is 29lbs over her top “healthy” weight according to the “healthy weight charts”.
This is what I would typically eat when I wanted to if not lose, simply stop gaining weight - and didn’t want to engage in a formal diet plan or actually count calories! I mean after all, “calories don’t count”…or that’s what Weight Watchers led me to believe. (PS calories DO count - Weight Watchers just counts for you!)
So basically, this is what I would eat when I was trying to eat “healthy”. I quote that because there’s not a fruit or veggie anywhere. I eat more veggies now before lunch than I used to in an entire week…or more!!
Breakfast: Dunkin Donuts Sesame Bagel w/lowfat cream cheese
2 - 20 oz Dunkin Donuts Medium regular coffee w/ 3oz milk & 2 Equal (yes I’m a junky!)
Calories: 603
Carbohydrates: 86g
Sodium: 1108mg
Snack: Kashi Pumpkin Spice Granola Bar
Calories: 180
Carbohydrates: 26g
Sodium: 150mg
Lunch: Subway 6″ BMT with 2tsp mustard
1.8oz Bag of Baked Lays Potato Chips
Calories: 647
Carbohydrates: 88g
Sodium: 2040mg
Afternoon Snack: 4oz Fat Free Chocolate Pudding
English Muffin w/ 1tsp Smart Balance margarine
Calories: 236
Carbohydrates: 46g
Sodium: 548mg
Dinner: Chicken Parmigiana w/lowfat cheese (5.5 oz chicken before cooking)
3 oz Barilla Angel Hair Pasta - approx 1.5 cups
Calories: 655
Carbohydrates: 70g
Sodium: 531mg
Snack: 6 cups Lite Microwave Popcorn (about 1/2 large bag)
Calories: 120
Carbohydrates: 24g
Sodium: 240mg
Daily Total Calories: 2446
Carbohydrates: 343g - 56% of total calories
Sodium: 4644mg
You will note that on this menu there is no added salt - that is, I didn’t throw a bunch of salt on my food before I ate it. However, my sodium intake is through the roof - nearly double the RDA. Why? Processed food - mostly of the carbohydrate variety.
What happens when we reduce carbs and processed food?
Most processed foods are loaded with sodium. Most people eat far too many processed foods. Most carbs we eat are processed.
So, I’m consuming all this sodium which results in my body retaining extra fluid (water) in order to lessen the concentration of sodium.
Now, what happens when I try to lose weight? Well, the first thing I’d do is cut out the 510 calorie bagel and cream cheese!!
What will I replace that with? Let’s try, as this diet plan suggests, eggs. How about 2 extra large eggs, 8 0z of non-fat/low sugar yogurt, a slice of whole wheat toast and 1 tsp of Smart Balance low fat margarine. (I’m keeping the coffee. Coffee is soul food!)
That brings my sodium intake for breakfast from 1108mg to 479mg! And uhm, since we are talking about losing weight - calories go from 603 to 386!
I won’t bore you with the details but I can go through this menu and clear out at least half the sodium. (I can also eat 30-50% more food in terms of volume -AND stay in a caloric deficit. I’m good like that!)
The 6″ Subway alone has 1770mg sodium. And, keep in mind that this menu is probably tame in comparison to what most non-dieting, overweight people consume. Their processed food, sodium and calorie intake is very likely to be even higher!
Any nutritionally sound weight loss plan will have you lowering your processed food intake - unless it’s something like Nutrisystem where everything is processed!
Generally the most effective way to cut calories is to nix the processed food. You simply get more bang for your buck with real, whole, unprocessed foods. When we eat less processed food we consume less sodium AND fewer calories.
And what do we replace this sodium laden processed food with? Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein - most of which have a higher water content than the processed stuff! So we increase water consumption and metabolic water production while decreasing sodium.
Again, the body is programmed to keep the concentration at a certain level! It must rid itself of all the extra water! This is why we lose so much weight at the start of a “diet”! Your body MUST rid itself of the water in order to keep you alive! Yes, too much water is bad and can result in death - though that’s incredibly tough to do!
OK fine. You sorta kinda knew all of this maybe? Did you really? Do you really believe it?
Or are you going to start your next diet hoping to see huge number drops on the scale? What if you DON’T see a huge number drop? Then what?
Might I suggest a little Lifestyle and Weight Management Coaching? 
Weight loss, and really most anything we wish to accomplish in life, begins and ends in the mind. There is an acronym computer programmers use - GIGO. It stands for Garbage In, Garbage Out. In order to lose weight we first need to rid our minds of the garbage it’s been programmed with.
Lose 12lbs in 2 week claims are just more GARBAGE IN - which means you get garbage out…..thankfully…..for the people selling you weight loss products! How long would they be in business if this stuff actually worked long term and people actually kept the weight off? Not very long!
Weight loss is a $30 billion a year industry for a reason! 90% of people gain weight back for a reason and it’s NOT because diets don’t work. Diets absolutely DO work 100% of the time - provided:
A) The program isn’t garbage……
and…..
B) You follow the program consistently over time!
If you’ve lost weight on a diet and gained it back, to be sure, the program was “garbage”!
Long term successful weight loss is much more than simply weighing less! To be successful long term we MUST learn how to live a full, healthy, and happy lifestyle in our own skin, today, and every day…….despite what it looks like on the outside!
I have been there done that to the tune of 75lbs. Twice. Yes, my first program was garbage. If you would like expert advice, support, and assistance choosing the optimal plan for YOU and your lifestyle from someone who understands where you are and can show you how to get yourself to where you want to be, please visit http://www.capitalregionfitness.com.
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