How many pounds to lose an inch off Belly Thighs, or Hips?
For most people, it may require up to 4 weeks to lose about 8 pounds, which translates to about an inch off the belly, thighs, and hips. This is often true because most of your initial weight loss is water weight.
Some may even need to drop more considerable weight in the first few weeks.
Studies show that a pound of fat is equivalent to a pound of muscle. Training can help you to replace a pound of flesh with a pound of muscle.
Don’t forget that the weighing scale may still show that you have the same weight. However, an accurate measure of your waist, thigh, or belly circumference will tell you the real story.
Muscles are smoother and leaner than fat. So, your circumference will show that you have grown leaner, while the weighing scale still maintains the same measurement.
How Much Weight Loss to Gain an Inch?
It is not entirely easy to measure weight loss success. You will have to lose 8 pounds of fat to gain an inch. We will enlighten you more about this in the remaining part of this write-up.
Determining Body Weight and Size
You will require a weighing scale to know your body weight. This will only tell you your body weight. Aside from measuring your body weight, you may also want to check how much your waistline has reduced when you lose weight.
Some experts believe that the readouts from scales are not so reliable, suggesting that it is better to depend on the waistline measurement to get a true picture of how much eight you have lost.
While the weighing scale gives you the results in pounds/kg, the waistline measurement using a tape rule gives results in inches, centimeters, etc.
Be that as it may, the latter still gives a more reliable result as regards weight loss determination.
Before you can record an inch loss in your body weight, you must have lost a particular kg of body weight.
The weighing scale measures weight loss, while the measuring tape gives results for fat loss. We will show you how the two of them relate in the remaining part of this write-up.
Fat loss vs. weight loss
As we have mentioned above, using the measuring tape talks more about fat loss, while the weighing scale talks about weight loss.
The measuring tape measures the body circumference and it gives undeniable evidence of your weight loss journey. The two methods distinguish between fat loss and weight loss.
Weight loss talks about a decrease in your body weight. Components of the body that contributes to weight are body water, fat, and muscle.
So, the reading given by the weighing scale is a measure of all these components. As you lose any of these components, your body weight will also reduce. On the other hand, fat loss indicates body fat reduction.
Your weight circumference shows evidence of fat loss more than what the weighing scale can offer since muscle and fat have their own weights, both only differing in size.
You can find evidence of this when you do a regular workout without overlooking a healthy diet simultaneously.
Workout helps you to convert your fat to muscles. You won’t be able to get such a result when you use a weighing scale, but only by measuring your waist circumference.
What Waist Circumference is Healthy?
If you are fat, it can be tempting to continue working on burning the fat and desire to grow lean. While this is a good idea, you should know there are times that weight loss may become harmful.
There are times you need to call it to quit with your weight loss effort.
Your weight loss rate should not be more than 2 pounds per week your body can be negatively affected if you increase the rapidity of your weight loss rate.
The weight loss result will also not be sustainable.
If you are a man, your waist circumference should not be up to 40 inches. For a woman, the waist circumference should be less than 35 inches. And don’t forget to get rid of lower belly sagging to look more healthy and beautiful.
If it is more than that, it is high time you got in touch with a doctor or a weight loss expert.
The only tool you need for determining your waist circumference is a tape measure. The steps below can guide you on how to measure your waist circumference.
- Begin from the top of your hip bone, with the measuring tape running around your body. Make sure the measuring tape is at the same level as your belly button.
- Do not make the measuring tape too tight too, but make sure it is straight at the front and back. You should never hold your breath when using the measuring tape.
- After wrapping the measuring tape around your waist as described above, check the reading on the tape to know your waist circumference.
How to Lose Weight quickly
As we have mentioned above, losing weight too fast can harm your body. You should not lose more than about 2 pounds per week if you want to maintain a healthy weight.
You will need to lose about 8 pounds of fat in order to gain one inch of waist circumference as we have mentioned earlier.
Most of the body mass lost during workouts is water weight.
It is expected that you will lose more weight in the first week of your workout activities. This is because of the lot of water weight you are losing.
If you persist, you will get into a calorie deficit, making your body release stored glycogen; glycogen is a form of carbohydrate stored in the liver and muscle.
Glycogen storage is together with water, which means that your body will lose a lot of water when your body converts the stored glycogen for energy.
The rapid loss of water will also cause a rapid loss of weight in your first week of workout. Things begin to slow down in the second week of weight loss because there is no rapid water loss again.
Conclusion
As we have mentioned earlier, the weight loss rate should not be more than 2 pounds per week. For you to gain one inch of waist circumference, you need to lose about 8 pounds of fat.
If the normal weight loss rate is 2 pounds per week, then you can lose 8 pounds in four weeks, enabling you to gain one inch of waist circumference in four weeks.
You can make this possible by reaching 3500 calories deficiency per week, translating to 500 calories daily.
For you to lose 2 pounds per week, you will need to burn up to 1000 calories daily, translating to 7000 calories weekly.
This post was written by Dr. Adeniyi Adesanya, a qualified & passionate medical doctor who loves to educate people about healthy living and lifestyle. Adeniyi is the owner and publisher of the Human Health Hub website.