A man who shed over 100lb has shared what he believes to be the “biggest mistake people make when trying to lose fat”.
TikTok user Yonis, who has documented his weight loss journey from 118kg to 72kg on social media, outlined a typical seven-day cycle of dieting and highlighted one of the earliest hurdles dieters may encounter.
According to Yonis, individuals often get excited by rapid weight loss initially but become disheartened if they see a weight gain on the seventh day. His post has since garnered more than 110,000 likes and hundreds of comments thanking him for shedding light on the pitfalls of daily weigh-ins.
Yonis labelled this as “one of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to lose fat.”
He shared his experiences with his followers, advising them not to be discouraged by slow progress during the first week of a diet. After the third day of a diet, it may seem like weight is “dropping fast”, but Yonis warns that this is only temporary.
Day five can trigger a damaging thought process for those just embarking on their weight loss journey, with Yonis captioning this moment: “I will be done with this fat loss sooner than I thought.”
Despite everything going according to plan, weight loss will plateau and appear to revert back to the starting point by the end of the week. However, Yonis explains that this is due to the body’s adaptation to healthier eating and diet plans.
TikTok was awash with confusion when users spotted changes in their scales that didn’t add up. One perplexed user posted, “I was 176 4 days ago and now I’m 179, I’ve been in my calorie deficit and been going to the gym consistently, am I doing something wrong?” while another sought clarification from the fitness guru.
In response, Yonis explained: “Yes, weight fluctuation is pretty common and that’s why people make false assumptions that fat loss is not working or you need to make changes.”
His video further noted: “Consistency and patience are the keys to successful and sustainable fat loss.” Hitting a weight-loss plateau can happen early on in a diet and might occur at various stages of the journey.
The Mayo Clinic states that the initial rapid weight loss many experience at the start is often due to the body turning to glycogen stores for energy to compensate for reduced calories. Since glycogen holds water, using it up can result in a temporary drop in weight.