How Much Weight Loss to Lose a Pant Size

While having normal BMI (body mass index) is a good way for healthy living, you may invest your weight loss plan to become more attractive and better in appearance. Having a new pant size is probably one of weight loss results you’re looking for. So to lose your pant size, how much weight loss you need?

The answer varies

It seems your weight scale is everything to lose your pant size. But it could be harder than you expect, because sometimes the waist size could be slower than other parts of the body (bra size, for example) to shrink. The good news, the belly fats usually melt away first.

How much weight loss and how fast to see a change in pant size can vary from person to person (depending on several factors). The body structure, especially the height, is one of those factors. A taller person is more likely to have larger frame of the body — including larger waist — than a shorter person. This suggests, the taller you are the larger waist you have.

Furthermore, the starting size you were before will have a role. For instance, the effect of weight loss on the pant size is more noticeable for petite people.

A few pounds of weight loss could be quite significant enough to reduce the waist scale if your starting weight falls into the normal range on BMI (between 18.5 and 25). Obese people can lose up to 15-20 pounds in a single day, but this is usually not noticeable enough on a larger frame – so they need more pounds of weight loss to make it more noticeable.

How fast to notice weight loss results?

To lose weight, you have to have more calories to burn than what you get in. While this theory is quite simple, it’s not always easy to do. Whatever it is, you might be curious how long it takes to see your weight loss results.

First off, your diet type definitely has a big role. Some types of diet (e.g. South Beach diet, Atkins diet, or other popular programs) involve a jump start with intensively food restriction, so you will notice weight loss sooner.

The amounts of your physical activity matter, too. Restricting what you eat carries a significant impact on what you feel. Carbohydrate restriction, for example, is a good way to have quick water loss, making you feel and look ‘slimmer’. But it’s also important to remember that water loss is temporary, which is different than fat loss. So your diet should be friendly enough to carry on and must be part of a comprehensive program (include it with regular exercise) for sustained weight loss to eventually occur.

When you do everything properly, you will notice changes on the scale first. This is especially true if you use a high tech scale which is able to pick up fractions of a pound of weight loss — even small changes in your overall body weight can be clearly enough to notice!

Then you are likely to find changes in your clothing, especially for tighter clothing. You may feel your clothes hang a little bit looser, though the actual size of your body won’t change right away.

If you continue your weight loss program – you’ll have more pounds of weight loss, resulting in a real reduction in the clothing size. Lastly, there will be changes to parts of your body.

So, how much weight loss to lose a pant size?

This is one of frequently asked questions when it comes to expecting changes from weigh loss diet. But unfortunately, there is no exact formula to answer the question. Because again, this varies between individuals!

Weight loss will result in changes to each body part, including the waist size. To see a noticeable change in your pant size, you need to have about 1 or 2 inches reduction in your waist size – and also the size of your hip decreases by the same amount!

Although the pant size is not easy to shrink for everyone, this is relatively easier than reducing thighs. Typically, people need to lose more pounds of weight to notice thinner thighs. And of course, changes of your body will be occurring throughout your entire weight loss process.

Sample timeline

Changes to your waist size are more likely to occur sooner if your weight loss diet is part of comprehensive program, as mentioned earlier. So combine it with an exercise program to burn calories more effectively.

Here is sample timeline of changes that may occur when you follow a moderate exercise program along with a healthy reduced-calorie diet.

Week-1:

You will start to notice changes in the scale in this first week. Though these changes are not significant (major changes in your body have not occurred yet), you may start to feel better.

Week-2:

Then you’re likely to have more noticeable changes in the way your body appears. You may feel that exercise is relatively easier to do than before, and your tight clothing will begin to feel loose.

Week-3:

This week could be crucial momentum for the journey of your weight loss process. If you consistently continue your weight loss program, you will start to get used to your new habits (healthy diet and regular exercise). Eventually you begin to feel that your plan is going successful.

Week-4:

Depending on how much pounds of weight loss you drop out, your body is probably ready enough to try a different clothing size (including a new pant size).

This sample timeline varies between individuals, because there are many factors that affect how fast we see weight loss results!

In addition, the weight scale of your body is not everything to look better and attractive. As long as your body weight is normal (BMI is around 18.5 to 24.9), this should be enough. If you already have a petite body, don’t drop the scale too far since being underweight could be counterproductive!

Also, your body weight may increase slightly after your entire weight loss process, even though if you still consistently stick with healthy-balanced diet and regular exercise. Your muscle weight gain is to blame.

While exercise is important to burn calories effectively and improve your overall health, it will result in muscle weight gain which eventually also affects your body weight on the scale. But this is something good to hear. Unlike weight gain caused by excess fat accumulation, improved muscle mass is required to improve your body shape. This is a good way to healthfully make the body look tighter and more attractive.

Last but not least, changing your appearance is not the only one to prioritize. Although the appeal of looking attractive is hard to resist, your overall health should be your first major goal. Normal waist size is important to reduce the risk of some health conditions (such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, or even some types of cancer).

4 Basic things to lose pant size effectively

You may find that there are overwhelming information to lose pant size on internet. While this is good for your reference, you might also get confused where to start.

Here are 4 keys to gradually lose the waist size and keep it off in long term.

Get enough physical activities (exercise)!

You need to trim your visceral fat, the body fat stored /found in the abdominal cavity, to loose and control the pant size. One of the best ideas is with vigorous exercise, especially if you’re looking for time-saving solution. And make sure to do it regularly!

There are many choices of exercise to keep your visceral fat off. For example, get walking which is brisk enough to make you breathe harder (faster heart rate) and work up a sweat. Do this simple workout at least 30 minutes for 5 days a week.

If you’re ready to increase the intensity of your workout, why not! This is a good idea to do your exercise more efficiently in half the time with the same results. Whatever you choice, walking or jogging, step up your pace. With this way, 20-25 minutes for 4 days a week should be enough.

The key is to keep your body active as much as possible! If your body is not ready for jogging — vigorous exercises on a treadmill, an elliptical machine, or stationary bikers could be your good alternatives. Even moderate activates (e.g. Zumba, garden, rake leaves, or playing with kids) also help.

Diet: your dietary fiber can help a lot!

There is no magic formula when it comes to loosing and controlling the waist size. But with comprehensive strategy, you’re likely to shrink it easily and keep your weight off in long term. And no matter any diet you choose, getting adequate fiber is a must.

Fiber is so beneficial to suppress your appetite and make you feel full longer throughout the day.  According to one study, eating 10 grams or more of soluble fiber a day could be helpful enough to build up less belly fat over time – even if you keep everything else the same.

For example, switch to breads high in fiber without any significant changes in your diet! Other ideas; just include 1/2 to 1 cup of pinto beans, 1 cup of green peas, or 2-3 small apples in your diet every day. With more fiber, you may be able to better to maintain your pant size.

But increase your fiber intake gradually. A sudden increase, when your body is not ready enough, may cause a few discomforts such as abdominal bloating and diarrhea!

Stress is often inevitable, but it’s manageable

Stress affects anyone, and sometimes there is almost no way to avoid it. The good news, actually it’s manageable and the way of how you manage it is the key.

Some best things to cope with stress include mediating, relaxing with your lovely ones (family /friends), exercising for stress relief, and (if necessary) getting counseling. See more comprehensive guide to handle stress in this section!

Sleep well

Having enough sleep (both in quality and quantity) is one of the most important pillars for healthy living. It also plays a role to keep your metabolic rate work well.

On the other hand, sleep deprivation will seriously threat your weight control. One study showed lack of sleep might have a role to cause more build-ups of visceral fat.

For best result, 6-7 hours of good quality sleep are recommended. Here are a few indicators of ‘good quality’ sleep:

1. It’s normal to wake up after falling asleep on bed, but it should be no more than once per night. If you wake up more than one per night, this decreases the quality and quantity of your sleep.
2. You sleep more time while in your bed. This should be at least 85 % or more of the total time.
3. You should fall asleep quickly when you’re lying down, 30 minutes or less. Unfortunately some people can take longer, more than 30 minutes, to fall asleep.