Do You Lose Weight When You Poop? - Healthline

Maybe your like

HealthlineSubscribe

Weight Management

Do You Lose Weight When You Poop?

Medically reviewed by Kelsey Trull, PA-C — Written by Sarah Walters — Updated on August 1, 2025

How much does it weigh?
Effective for weight loss?
Takeaway

Though you may feel lighter after a bowel movement, it doesn’t reduce body fat. To lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you consume by exercising and eating smaller, healthier meals.

Pooping is simple: When you do it, you’re getting rid of food that was in your body.

Is that why we feel lighter after doing our business?

Are we actually losing weight?

It turns out, yes.

How much does poop weigh?

The weight of your poop varies. It depends on several factors:

body size
eating habits
how much water you drink
bowel movement regularity

People with a higher body mass or people who have less-regular bowel movements, have heavier poops. If you eat or drink more, you’ll likely also poop more.

Though we only lose a little bit of weight when we poop, we may feel slimmer finally pooping after being constipated or after a large meal. This is because pooping reduces gas and bloating. This generally helps you feel more comfortable.

Poop is made mostly of water, but also contains:

dead and living bacteria
protein
undigested food (fiber)
waste material
salt
fat

The longer poop stays in the intestines, the drier and heavier it will become. While most people poop once a day, it’s considered normal to poop as frequently as three times a day or as little as once every three days.

Having very frequent, loose, watery stools is considered diarrhea. Diarrhea is usually caused by bacterial infections or stress and lasts several days. It can become dangerous when it lasts for weeks or more because it encourages water loss in the body.

People with diarrhea can lose a lot of weight if they’ve been sick for a while, but they’re losing mostly water weight.

Is pooping an effective weight loss strategy?

We do lose a bit of weight when we poop, but it’s minimal. It also isn’t the kind of weight loss that really affects our health: body fat loss.

The fat that builds up around the waist is the most dangerous type of body fat. This fat is called visceral fat. It doesn’t lie beneath the skin like most fat on the body, called subcutaneous fat.

Instead, visceral fat is stored deep inside the abdominal cavity around the internal organs.

Visceral fat is associated with many serious health problems, from metabolic problems to increased risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes. It’s also associated with breast cancer and gallbladder disease in women.

To lose body fat, you need to focus on burning more calories than you consume. You can do this through diet and exercise — not your bowel habits.

If you’re overweight or obese and want to shed pounds, start by adding exercise to your daily routine. Try to exercise moderately for 30 minutes a day, but start with smaller time chunks if this feels too much. Activities could include walking, swimming, biking, jogging, or lifting weights.

Getting enough exercise is also an important factor in keeping your bowel habits regular. You might see that you poop more often when you start an exercise routine.

Takeaway

While you might feel lighter after pooping, you’re not actually losing much weight. What’s more, when you lose weight while pooping, you’re not losing the weight that really matters.

To lose disease-causing body fat, you need to burn more calories than you consume. You can do this by exercising more and eating less.

Replacing the processed foods in your diet with high fiber foods can help you achieve your weight loss goals and reduce your risk of obesity-related disease.

How we reviewed this article:

SourcesHistoryHealthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations. We only use quality, credible sources to ensure content accuracy and integrity. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

Abdominal fat and what to do about it. (2024).https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/abdominal-fat-and-what-to-do-about-it
Diarrhea. (2025).https://medlineplus.gov/diarrhea.html
How often does the average person poop? (n.d.).http://www.umass.edu/mycenter/documents/bb/poop.pdf

Share this article

Medically reviewed by Kelsey Trull, PA-C — Written by Sarah Walters — Updated on August 1, 2025

Do You Lose Weight When You Poop? - Healthline

Health Conditions

Condition Spotlight

Wellness Topics

Product Reviews

Featured Programs

Featured

Lessons

Newsletters

Lifestyle Quizzes

Health News

This Just In

Top Reads

Video Series

Find Your Bezzy Community

Follow us on social media

Weight Management

How much does poop weigh?

Is pooping an effective weight loss strategy?

Takeaway

How we reviewed this article:

Read this next

Does Diarrhea Cause Weight Loss? - Verywell Health

Why Does Diarrhea Make You Lose Weight? - Quora

Do You Lose Weight When You Poop? - Medical News Today

Diarrhea And Weight Loss (Unintentional) - MedicineNet

Diarrhea, Fatigue, And Weight Loss… Oh My!

What Cause Of Persistent Diarrhea And Weight Loss?

Diarrhoea And Weight Loss: What You Need To Know - HealthifyMe

How Much Weight Can You Lose From Diarrhea - How To Discuss

When You Have Diarrhea: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia

Diarrhea Linked Significantly To Weight Gain - News

Do You Lose Weight When You Have Diarrhea

7 Scary Things That Can Happen When You Lose Weight Too Quickly

This Is How 8 Different Weight-Loss Plans Will Impact Your Poop

12 Weird Side Effects Of Weight Loss - Men's Health

Contact