Lost 2 kg in week one - is it real fat?
That big first-week drop is real weight, but most of it is water and glycogen (stored sugar), not fat. Your body holds about 500 g of glycogen, and each gram stores 3-4 g of water - so 1.5-2 kg can leave fast when you cut back. Real fat loss is closer to 0.5-1 kg a week, and that is the part that lasts.
Week one ends and the scale is down 2 kg. You feel amazing - and a little worried it is too good to be true. You are half right. The drop is real, but what it is made of will surprise you.
The first 2 kg I lost in week one is all fat.
mostly falseMostly false. Early loss is mostly water and glycogen - your stored sugar. Your body holds about 500 g of glycogen, and each gram stores 3-4 g of water with it. That is roughly 1.5-2 kg of water-and-sugar that leaves quickly when you eat less. Real fat comes off much slower.
Now that the loss has slowed down, my plan has stopped working.
falseFalse. The slowdown is just the water running out. After week one, what you lose is mostly real fat, and that moves at about 0.5-1 kg a week. To lose 1 kg of fat you need about 7700 kcal of deficit - that takes time, and that is a good thing. The slow part is the real part.
Keep your head right after week one
- Expect the scale to slow after the first week - that is water finishing, not failure.
- Aim for about 0.5-1 kg a week of real fat loss. Slow loss stays off.
- Track your waist or how clothes fit - they show fat loss even when the scale stalls.
- Weigh once a week, same morning, not every day. Daily jumps are mostly water.
The bottom line
The first 2 kg is mostly water and glycogen leaving - a real drop, but not mostly fat. The slower 0.5-1 kg a week that follows is the real fat loss, and that is the part that lasts. Don't feel cheated when it slows - that is when the true work begins.