I Lost weight: How did it depart?

D

Dinosaur

Rational Skeptic
Valued Senior Member
In the past 6 months or so, I have lost about 10 KG or 10,000 grams due to no longer eating junk food at my local bridge club.

I wonder how much of the loss is due to various processes. I think the following is an exahautive list (Add to it if you can think of others):
  • Urination: This seems to be an important process for weight loss.

  • Respiration: This also seems important. Note that it occurs 24/7, so that a minor loss with each exhalation could add up.

  • Defecation; This seems to have little long term effect.

  • Perspiration. It think that this mechanism has little long term effect. I imagine that you replace the water & chemicals lost due to perpiration.

  • Loss of skin particles, finger/toe nails, & hair. These processes also seem to be temporary & have no long term effect on body weight.
I have done some searching of the web & have found little on this subject.

It is my guess that unrination & respiration account for at least 95 percent (if not more) of the long term weight loss. I do not have the foggiest idea of the percentages due to these two processes.

Does anyone have some thoughts on the above?
 
The main weight loss will be fat, changed back into sugar and used as energy.
I could do with losing 10 kg myself.

If you have lost weight unexpectedly, it can sometimes be a sign of illness.
 
Dino,

I would recommend you having checked your self out for diabetes etc. If though you were trying to loose weight and were successful ... then its fine.

Rick
 
The following is not really an answer to my question:
The main weight loss will be fat, changed back into sugar and used as energy
Click to expand...
If there is weight loss, some material substances must exit from your body. The question is via what door?

The above assumes that we are not dealing with liposuction, amputation of limbs, & other drastic processes.
 
the majority of the bodies used waste products exit through the kideneys, but some does leave through the skin and lungs.

For instance sweat contains urea and uric acid which are both waste products anyway. The biggest loss by volume is still usage however. As glucose (which ALL energy stores are broken down to in the body) gets used up by the body to produce ATP its waste products are water and CO2. Its a misnoma that O2 becomes CO2 in the body, it doesnt. O2 become water as hydrogen atoms bind to it in the prossess of making ATP
 
Asguard has given a fuller answer, but simply put, the fat is turned back into sugar, and the sugar is converted to co2 and water with the release of energy. c02 goes out through the lungs and water mainly through the bladder.
Does this answer your question?
 
Asguard & Captain: Thnax: You two have reinforced my belief that the major weight loss is via the kidneys & the lungs.

Does anyone have a clue about the percentage due to each of these processes ?

Since you breathe 24/7, I was wondering if CO[sub]2[/sub] might comprise a significant part of the weight loss.
 
Dinosaur said:
Asguard & Captain: Thnax: You two have reinforced my belief that the major weight loss is via the kidneys & the lungs.

Does anyone have a clue about the percentage due to each of these processes ?

Since you breathe 24/7, I was wondering if CO[sub]2[/sub] might comprise a significant part of the weight loss.
Click to expand...

This is a great question, and I hate EVER to refer to Oprah, but I happened to catch an episode where this very question was asked. If my memory serves, I do believe that its disposed of through the lungs, believe it or not. If you think about it: the fat is converted to sugars and the sugars are "burned" (it's a similar result, just much slower) and exhaled as CO[sub]2[/sub]. Other non-aerobic substances are flushed through urination or passed out your rear end.

What the percentage is, I do not know.

~String
 
The formula for sugar is (CH2O)n
In the case of glucose, n = 6, for example.

If you take the calorific value of glucose and divide it into the number of calories you use up in a day, you should be able to work out the weight of sugar used.

I think that the percentage weight of water and Carbon dioxide can then be worked out simply using atomic weights. If it's more complicated than this, someone will tell us.

The excreted water and co2 will actually weigh more than the sugar used because extra oxygen is needed to burn the sugar, and taken from the breath.

Yes, it is a good question.
You don't think of breathing your weight away.
 
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CK its not that symple sadly:p, It depends on wether you have a concistant O2 surplie and what sort of exercise your doing
if you are ONLY doing aerobic exercise then it goes straight through kerbs cycle ect
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_respiration

however if you do ANaerobic exercise you will find that (i would GUESS not 100% sure) more is lost through they kidneys because this method of ATP generation is highly ineficent and most of the glucose is wasted

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaerobic_respiration
 
I provide nice simple answers, and then you spoil it with accuracy.:p
Yes, the inefficiency of the process would require more sugar than a perfect system would require.

Anaerobic burning is the most expensive in ratio of sugar used over energy produced.
Does anyone know if this is important in aerobic exercise, or is that a different use of the term?


btw
I know someone who used to have a lapel badge that read:
"I've lost weight. Ask me how"

When you asked him how, he mentioned nothing about the Krebs cycle, but tried to sell you little bars of vitaminised chocolate.
These were very tasty, and would have made a nice snack after a proper meal,
but were unfortunately supposed to be eaten instead of a meal.


ie How do I lose weight?
Starve yourself, you fat B******!
 
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Dinosaur said:
The following is not really an answer to my question:If there is weight loss, some material substances must exit from your body. The question is via what door?

The above assumes that we are not dealing with liposuction, amputation of limbs, & other drastic processes.
Click to expand...

Exhalation of carbon dioxide and water.
Respiration turns carbohydrates, which are hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen, into carbon dioxide and water.


And I bet asguard already got to this before me.
 
sorrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyy:p

next time i will wait for you to answer oh great one:p

actually after my major assignment for A&P being on oxygen use in the cells its just something i know straight off the top of my head:p
 
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