OK, we know you’ve wondered if pooping can actually shed pounds—it’s a fair thought, since you do often feel less bloated and lighter letting it out. Yet, can you actually lose weight? As in drop a few pounds from one poop? We’d like to hope so, right?

We were curious, too, so we asked experts if pooping can lead to weight loss. Here’s what they have to say about it.

Yes, You Do Lose a Little Bit of Weight

You can lose weight from pooping, but it’s very, very slight. “Most stool weighs about 100 grams or 0.25 pounds. This can vary based on a person’s size and bathroom frequency. That said, poop is made up of about 75% water, so going to the bathroom gives off a little bit of water weight,” says Natalie Rizzo, MS, RD. But it’s not like you’re going to fit in clothes the next size down.

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If you were to weigh yourself before and after pooping, the weight change on the scale would reflect the weight of the stool, which also contains protein, undigested fat, bacteria, and undigested food residues.

Of course (and unfortunately), this doesn’t mean you’ve lost weight. Well, at least not the weight that really matters to most of us—as in the type that means you’ve lost body fat.

“Your true weight is based on your body stores, and only decreases when your energy intake is less than the energy you’re burning,” says Charlotte Martin, MS, RDN, CSOWM, CPT. Meaning, of course, your weight changes when you eat differently and you exercise more. So the weight loss from pooping is incredibly temporary.

Weight Loss Can Vary Based on the Person

What’s more, poop can vary in how much it weighs based on how often you poop and on what each poop is like. “Some people only go to the bathroom every few days, and this can cause your stool to weigh more,” Rizzo says, for example. The weight of your poop also depends on your body size and your food and water intake. “For example, those who eat less fiber tend to have less heavy poops,” adds Martin.

What Can Pooping Help With?

Pooping isn’t a legitimate weight loss approach, but it is a necessary, important, and normal bodily function that can make us feel a little lighter immediately after doing it (here's how to tell it it's healthy). “This lighter and trimmer feeling is more about the de-bloating than loss of actual body mass,” says Martin.

Having a bowel movement can help relieve bloat by not only ridding some of that solid mass (aka poop) in your GI tract but also allowing trapped gas to escape. “When your stool is backed up in the large intestine, it can cause that uncomfortable bloated feeling. Plus, intestinal gas gets trapped behind it, only adding to the bloat,” says Martin.

Tips For Being Regular

If you go more than your pal, or vice versa, don’t freak out. “Frequency can vary from person to person. Some people go twice a day and some people go every other day. As long as what is normal for you stays the same most days, then that’s perfectly fine,” says Rizzo.

Staying hydrated (“drink enough every day so your urine is pale yellow,” says Rizzo) and exercising both help you stay regular. And it’s essential to eat fiber-rich foods like legumes, fruits, veggies and whole grains, says Rizzo. Start with these incredibly easy ways to get more fiber—that also happen to really taste good (time to let go of the idea that high-fiber foods taste like cardboard).

You should be getting 30 grams of fiber a day, and it’s easier than you think. Use this plan to get it all in throughout the day, while eating normal, good foods—even from your favorite fast casual spots.