Do You Lose Weight When You Poop? And Do You Poop More When Losing Weight? | Livestrong.com (2023)

FAQs

Is it true the more you poop the more weight you lose? ›

A person may lose a very small amount of weight when they have a bowel movement. How much weight this is differs for every individual, but in general, it is not significant. As the body passes stool, it also releases gas. This can reduce bloating and make a person feel as though they have lost a little weight.

You can lose weight from pooping, but it's very, very slight. “Most stool weighs about 100 grams or 0.25 pounds. This can vary based on a person's size and bathroom frequency. That said, poop is made up of about 75% water, so going to the bathroom gives off a little bit of water weight,” says Natalie Rizzo, MS, RD.

Pooping Frequency & Your Metabolism

In general, yes, the faster your metabolism, the more you poop. Those with a slower metabolism may not visit the bathroom twice a day. They may only go once a day or once every other day (or even more infrequently).

For the average human of a height from 5 - 5 1/2 feet (1.5 - 1.7 meters), the colon can hold approximately 20-25 pounds (9.5 - 11.3 kilograms) of fecal matter. Typically, a one-foot length of colon can accumulate approximately 5 or more pounds and a 5-foot tall person has roughly a 4- to 5-foot colon.

The correct answer is that fat is converted to carbon dioxide and water. You exhale the carbon dioxide and the water mixes into your circulation until it's lost as urine or sweat. If you lose 10 pounds of fat, precisely 8.4 pounds comes out through your lungs and the remaining 1.6 pounds turns into water.

The triglycerides release fat as carbon dioxide and water atoms during fat metabolism or oxidation. In other words, fat leaves the body as carbon dioxide when you exhale. The fat which becomes water mixes into your circulation until it's lost as urine, tears, sweat and other bodily fluids.

Infrequent bowel movements may be related to inadequate calorie intake. This isn't surprising, since consuming very little food will result in less waste in your digestive tract.

“Your weight won't be consistent if you weigh yourself on Friday and Monday,” she says. “Many people have a different routine on the weekends. They might eat out more, drink alcohol or snack more. Compare that to Friday, if you've been eating consistently for five days, and you'll see a big difference.”

The average 24-hour urine loss is about 1.8-4.4 pounds because water is heavy. By contrast, it's virtually impossible to burn off a pound of fat in a day.

Does your metabolism speed up when you lose weight? ›

Your metabolism is the process by which your body converts what you eat and drink into energy. The more muscle mass you have, the faster your metabolism. But, when you lose weight and muscle mass, your metabolism slows down and so does your weight loss.

Even though your stomach might appear bigger when you're bloated, bloating doesn't necessarily mean you've gained actual weight (in terms of body mass). “Pooping can reduce bloating and help you fit more comfortably in your clothes so you feel smaller overall,” says Dulan.

Your Colon Is Never Empty

Many people believe they have emptied out their colons after multiple episodes of diarrhea or that they can keep their colons empty by avoiding food. However, since stool is made up in large part of bacteria, fecal matter is continuously being formed.

Instead of nutrients fueling your body, some of them, including fat, can be passed in your stools. If you have a condition that makes it difficult to digest fat, you may also develop fatty stools or fecal fat.

Mostly, losing weight is an internal process. You will first lose hard fat that surrounds your organs like liver, kidneys and then you will start to lose soft fat like waistline and thigh fat. The fat loss from around the organs makes you leaner and stronger.

And while you will most likely lose weight, it might also change the way your sweat smells. When you burn fat, your body produces a chemical that can make your sweat smell either like nail polish remover or slightly fruity.

Your urine will be lighter in color. This is because when your body burns fat, it releases water and glycogen into your urine. These substances make your urine more diluted and less concentrated.

The first stage of weight loss is when you tend to lose the most weight and begin to notice changes in your appearance and how your clothes fit. It usually happens within the first 4–6 weeks ( 1 ).

Are 1,500 calories a day enough? ›

According to the 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, most adult females require between 1,600 and 2,000 calories, and adult males between 2,000 and 2,400 calories, per day. Consequently, most people will lose weight following a 1,500- to 1,800-calorie diet.

One of the main reasons that undereating can lead to weight gain is because consuming too few calories can cause your resting metabolic rate to slow down. This means you may burn fewer calories throughout the day.

Calorie needs are highly individualized and depend on many factors, including body size, age, and activity levels. A 1,200-calorie diet is inappropriate for most adults, including smaller women.

You should step on the scale first thing in the morning. That's when you'll get your most accurate weight because your body has had the overnight hours to digest and process whatever you ate and drank the day before. And you should try to turn that step into a regular part of your routine.

Muscle is denser than fat, and as it is more compact within your body, as you gain muscle mass, you end up looking thinner, no matter your physical weight. So, if you've been doing a lot of strength training lately, it's likely this is the reason that you're looking fantastic but not dropping those numbers.

If you're losing inches but maintaining your weight and you regularly strength train, you may actually be losing fat and gaining muscle. The process of gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time is called body recomposition. Most scales don't differentiate between the amounts of body fat and muscle you have.

When your body uses fat for fuel, the byproducts of fat metabolism are often excreted through urine.

"The biggest thing people do that slows their metabolism down is eating too few calories," said Fiore. 1200 calories per day is roughly the amount you need to perform basic functions, she suggested, and when a person eats fewer than that, the metabolism slows down to conserve energy.

What times are best to eat to lose weight? ›

That's according to research published today in JAMA Internal Medicine that found that early time-restricted eating for a period of 8 hours between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. led to more effective weight loss, blood pressure control, and mood improvement in adults with obesity when compared with a group who ate in an eating ...

While you can't really “trick” your metabolism, you may help prevent your metabolism from slowing. Long-term calorie restriction, which is common in many weight loss diets, has been shown to decrease your resting metabolic rate (RMR) through a process called adaptive thermogenesis.

Water can be really helpful for weight loss. It is 100% calorie-free, helps you burn more calories and may even suppress your appetite if consumed before meals. The benefits are even greater when you replace sugary beverages with water. It is a very easy way to cut back on sugar and calories.

Healthful weight loss diets usually include lots of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. These are all high in fiber. Including more fiber in the diet can increase stool weight and encourage more regular bowel movements. Because of this, a person following a weight loss diet may have bowel movements more often.

"Pooping technically burns calories, just like any other essential daily functions like breathing and eating," Agyeman says. The amount of weight you lose when you poop "has nothing to do with losing fat or getting leaner," Glassman adds.

As your body metabolizes fat, fatty acid molecules are released into the bloodstream and travel to the heart, lungs, and muscles, which break them apart and use the energy stored in their chemical bonds. The pounds you shed are essentially the byproducts of that process.

According to colon cleanse providers (colonic hygienists), an adult can have between 5 and 20 pounds of residual stool in their large intestine (colon), leading to health problems such as excess weight gain, fatigue, and brain fog. But scientific evidence doesn't support this myth.

Healthy Poop Should Sink in the Toilet

Floating stools are often an indication of high fat content, which can be a sign of malabsorption, a condition in which you can't absorb enough fat and other nutrients from the food you're ingesting, reports Mount Sinai.

Interesting facts: The average person's colon can often hold 8 to 25 lbs of accumulated fecal matter. In 1914, 57 of the world's leading physicians met at a health conference where they concluded that every organ of the body is affected by reabsorbed poisons from the colon which result in many forms of illness.

How much extra weight does poop add? ›

How much your poop weighs. To find out how much our stool adds to the scale, researchers (serious poop researchers do exist, folks) collected samples from people living in 12 different countries to get a comprehensive overview. They discovered that poop weighs between 2.5oz and 1lb, on average.

The triglycerides release fat as carbon dioxide and water atoms during fat metabolism or oxidation. In other words, fat leaves the body as carbon dioxide when you exhale. The fat which becomes water mixes into your circulation until it's lost as urine, tears, sweat and other bodily fluids.

Our body constantly burns calories in order to perform essential daily functions. This includes breathing, eating, regulating body temperature, and performing sedentary activities such as reading. During a bowel movement, your body continues to burn calories as you sit on the toilet.

As you sleep, your body burns calories, causing you to lose between 1 to 4 pounds of your weight overnight; this weight loss can be regarded as temporary weight loss because you need to consume fewer calories than you burn to avoid weight gain.

Some people with diarrhoea may unintentionally lose 1 or 2 pounds if it extends up to 3 days. According to research, diarrhoea is a common digestive problem that leads to weight loss due to poor absorption of nutrients.

You should step on the scale first thing in the morning. That's when you'll get your most accurate weight because your body has had the overnight hours to digest and process whatever you ate and drank the day before.

Technically, yes. Our body constantly burns calories in order to perform essential daily functions. This includes breathing, eating, regulating body temperature, and performing sedentary activities such as reading. During a bowel movement, your body continues to burn calories as you sit on the toilet.

Though going to bed hungry can help with sleep and weight loss, lack of access to food can actually increase your risk of obesity, asthma, and other health problems.

Burns calories

Consuming cold water before bed can also help your body to burn more calories during the night while you sleep! Water is a natural calorie burner and drinking cold water before bed causes your body to have to work twice as hard to warm the water up while you are resting, thus burning more calories.

Does burning fat cause diarrhea? ›

People then report that after losing enough fat, the cells will gradually increase their water to fat ratio until they are all water. Then, the body will release the water from the cells through urine or diarrhea.

According to many experts, losing 1–2 pounds (0.45–0.9 kg) per week is a healthy and safe rate (1, 2, 3 ). Losing more than that is considered too fast and could put you at risk of many health problems, including muscle loss, gallstones, nutritional deficiencies and a drop in metabolism ( 4 , 6 , 7 , 8 ).

Chronic diarrhea can be accompanied by weight loss, malnutrition, abdominal pain or other symptoms of the underling illness.