Hypothetical Question: Who would be healthier?

Nedra19455

Let's say that there are two women, identical in height, age, medical history....in every way (this is a hypothetical question). They both weigh 200 lbs and go to the doctor, who advises them to lose 25 lbs.

One woman shrugs this off and does nothing. A year later when she returns to the doctor, she has consistently maintained her 200 lbs weight.

The other woman takes the advice to heart. She carefully tracks her calories, limits her caloric intake and in 20 weeks she reached the 175 lb goal that the doctor recommended. Then she stops her tracking. Over the course of the next 32 weeks, she slowly gains back the 25 lbs that she had lost -- plus another pound. She goes back to the doctor on the same day as her identical counterpart, but weighs 201 lbs.

Who is healthier? Who has the lower risk for health problems in the future? Does anyone have any information on whether short-term weight loss has an impact (positive? negative?) on a person's health?

LessCookiess

Since they have identical medical history shouldn't they be the same? As you mentioned even they have the same height and age. The only person who can determine the persons actual health is the person themselves or if they spoke with the doctor and received information about who is more "healthy".

janjunie

I would assume the woman who lost the weight then regained, because even for a short time, she was at a healthy/healthier weight. Hypothetically.

Nedra19455

xchocolategirl wrote: »

Since they have identical medical history shouldn't they be the same? As you mentioned even they have the same height and age. The only person who can determine the persons actual health is the person themselves or if they spoke with the doctor and received information about who is more "healthy".

What I meant was that at the start of the story they have the same medical history. The question is who would be healthier a year later -- the one who maintained the 200 lbs? or the one who lost 25 lbs and then regained 26 lbs over the course of a year?

Mini_Medic

I think you'd have to specify that the same two women started and ended with the same body fat percentage. Because in doing so if woman A maintained just a random 30% body fat, and woman B went from 30% down to 25% then back up to 30% at the end then yes they'd be the same health wise because they both ended up at the same place. But the scale weight can be the exact same and woman B could've lost body fat and then gained muscle and been the same exact weight but a much better body composition looking leaner than woman A and being healthier despite having the same scale weight.

But I think your question is more if everything was the same at the end and they were identical except for the loss and regain vs maintain then in theory yes they should be the same health wise.

KateTii

I think an easier way to begin to view this would be to stretch out the timeline.
If the weight loss/gain was over, say 10 years - i'd say it would definitely have an effect.

Now looking back at the condensed timeline.
Out of the 52 weeks, woman B could theoretically be same weight, or heavier, than woman A for a very short amount of time. Even if we say that 4 weeks was at the same weight or heavier, that's still 48 weeks of potential to minimise health risks and improve general health.

TL:DR - I'd say woman B.

TimothyFish

Do they exercise or not?

livingleanlivingclean

I'd say the one that maintained...

The one who lost/gained stressed her body more.

There's still too many variables - what are their diets like? Do they eat nutritious food, just too much? Or have poor diets? Do they exercise? What is their bf%?

Seffell

Assuming identical initial consultations.
If the woman that lost weight didn't strength train then she would have lost both muscle and fat. Then whan she quickly regained the weight, it would be mostly fat. So she would have increased her fat% with respect to the other woman. (Also losing and gaining stressed unnecessarily her body for some time)

So woman A is healthier.

middlehaitch

gebeziseva wrote: »

Assuming identical initial consultations.
If the woman that lost weight didn't strength train then she would have lost both muscle and fat. Then whan she quickly regained the weight, it would be mostly fat. So she would have increased her fat% with respect to the other woman. (Also losing and gaining stressed unnecessarily her body for some time)

So woman A is healthier.

This was my take also. Woman B could also have lowered her BMR, slightly, through the loss of muscle while in a deficit.

Cheers, h.

HeliumIsNoble

Woman A, because woman B has very clearly just yo-yo dieted, which carries health risks. She may have been slimmer briefly, but she is now the same as woman A with added health history of yo-yo'ing.

LKArgh

With such a small amount of weight actually lost and regained, in such a brief period, I doubt it would matter. Now, if the question was one woman going e.g. from obese to normal weight over the period of several years, then again back to obese, then it would be actually more interesting I think. And in this scenario, I would say the second woman, since for a significant period, she would be lower weight and probably with a healthier lifestyle. But a few weeks, I doubt it would matter in the big picture.

TimothyFish

HeliumIsNoble wrote: »

Woman A, because woman B has very clearly just yo-yo dieted, which carries health risks. She may have been slimmer briefly, but she is now the same as woman A with added health history of yo-yo'ing.

Yo-yo dieting isn't losing it once and then regaining it. Yo-yo dieting involves a repeated cycle of losing and regaining. There is a significant difference. With yo-yo dieting you are continually either eating too much or you are eating too little. This puts your body under continual stress.

Getting back to the original question: It seems to me that the woman who lost and regained is likely to be the healthier of the two because even a few pounds of weight lose can reduce blood pressure, so we can expect that she had lower blood pressure for a short time, which would be better for her heart. But if exercise is involved then there would be no question. If the woman who lost weight increased her exercise to lose weight then she would have been the healthier after losing weight and may even retain some of those health benefits at the end of the 52 weeks. If she continued to exercise even after she quit tracking her calories, she will most definitely be the healthier of the two because exercise yields great health benefits even for people who are overweight and weight loss in and of itself yields much less in the way of health benefits.