Another scientist explaining why dieting usually fails.

maillemaker

leptin resistance

Exactly.

It's amazing how many of you folks have blown off these professors as quacks. Dr. Liebel is a professor at Columbia University Medical Center.

I strongly suggest you Dr. Liebel's lecture.

What the research is showing is that people who were once obese who lose fat to match the body composition of people who have the same body composition but were never obese have a 15-20% lower metabolism. And that this effect has been noted after 4-7 years of sustained weight loss.

Many people, if not most, who were or are obese when they lose weight they end up feeling cold and hungry because their metabolism has slowed down in an attempt to preserve fat mass.

And it is not related to the amount of calories you consume - it is related to your body fat mass lowering which results in lower leptin levels.

Your body senses this change in leptin which in turn activates several other hormonal changes, not all of them well understood, that causes your body to fight to preserve body fat.

And this is why most people fail at losing weight. Most people cannot sustain the willpower required to fight the hunger and cold forever.

Now you can post cute pictures about quitters and all that until the cows come home, that's the reality of the situation. The first step in fixing a problem is identifying the problem. I personally was very excited by Dr. Liebel's research.

ShannonMpls

Sounds like PURE GOLD to me.

If you like the sound of his writing then check out his "Weighty Matters" blog.

He is a leading authority on obesity and has previous book was a manual to other clinicians on how to approach treating obese patients.

He advocates kindness, positive messages and skills over suffering, willpower and negativity.

We need more people like him, not less.

I lost all of my weight - and I maintain it - using advice from Dr. Freedhoff: Live the healthiest life you can enjoy. Some of his blog entries are brilliant. I'm eager to read this book. His patients are very lucky to have an advocate and counselor like him.

waldo56

leptin resistance

Exactly.

It's amazing how many of you folks have blown off these professors as quacks. Dr. Liebel is a professor at Columbia University Medical Center.

I strongly suggest you Dr. Liebel's lecture.

What the research is showing is that people who were once obese who lose fat to match the body composition of people who have the same body composition but were never obese have a 15-20% lower metabolism. And that this effect has been noted after 4-7 years of sustained weight loss.

Many people, if not most, who were or are obese when they lose weight they end up feeling cold and hungry because their metabolism has slowed down in an attempt to preserve fat mass.

And it is not related to the amount of calories you consume - it is related to your body fat mass lowering which results in lower leptin levels.

Your body senses this change in leptin which in turn activates several other hormonal changes, not all of them well understood, that causes your body to fight to preserve body fat.

And this is why most people fail at losing weight. Most people cannot sustain the willpower required to fight the hunger and cold forever.

Now you can post cute pictures about quitters and all that until the cows come home, that's the reality of the situation. The first step in fixing a problem is identifying the problem. I personally was very excited by Dr. Liebel's research.

Yes, this is pretty well established.

What is also well established, that this researcher seems utterly oblivious to, is that the opposite is also true. Cutting/losing weight causes your metabolism to fall. Bulking/gaining causes your metabolism to rise.

The simple fix to a tanked metabolic setpoint brought on by losing weight for too long is to reverse that and spend a long time gaining weight with a small but real surplus (as in the scale going up). If you strength train, a lot of the gain will be to muscle mass. If you try to maintain a small calorie surplus you have to keep raising your cals over time as you body continuously pushes your metabolism upward.

Hence all the jokes that the Dr. doesn't lift.

Wtn_Gurl

well, thats really discouraging.

if i believed it.

Or even if it were true, i may as well give up and just lay in bed all die and become a 900 pound person.

I will not listen to this alleged doctor's gloom and doom - i'm going to be part of the percentage of people that try to lose weight.

I will accomplish this by continuing to eat like I am, and lose weight as a benefit, and then when i hit my goal i will see if that alleged Dr was right or wrong.

when i lose the weight, I just have to keep on eating the way I am now, just not start to pick up my old fat foods and regain the weight. I did that by eating too much fattening food too much of the time.

likitisplit

leptin resistance

Exactly.

It's amazing how many of you folks have blown off these professors as quacks. Dr. Liebel is a professor at Columbia University Medical Center.

I strongly suggest you Dr. Liebel's lecture.

What the research is showing is that people who were once obese who lose fat to match the body composition of people who have the same body composition but were never obese have a 15-20% lower metabolism. And that this effect has been noted after 4-7 years of sustained weight loss.

Many people, if not most, who were or are obese when they lose weight they end up feeling cold and hungry because their metabolism has slowed down in an attempt to preserve fat mass.

And it is not related to the amount of calories you consume - it is related to your body fat mass lowering which results in lower leptin levels.

Your body senses this change in leptin which in turn activates several other hormonal changes, not all of them well understood, that causes your body to fight to preserve body fat.

And this is why most people fail at losing weight. Most people cannot sustain the willpower required to fight the hunger and cold forever.

Now you can post cute pictures about quitters and all that until the cows come home, that's the reality of the situation. The first step in fixing a problem is identifying the problem. I personally was very excited by Dr. Liebel's research.

I have been obese. Twice. If you eat at a sustainable deficit, you will neither be cold nor hungry all the time. If you are cold/hungry all the time, you are either eating too few calories, or you have another medical problem compounding your obesity.

ahamm002

What the research is showing is that people who were once obese who lose fat to match the body composition of people who have the same body composition but were never obese have a 15-20% lower metabolism. And that this effect has been noted after 4-7 years of sustained weight loss.

And how many of those people were performing heavy resistance training 3+ times per week to preserve/build muscle mass? I've maintained over 30 pounds of weight loss for years now, and I definitely do not feel hungry all the time. And I've probably lost more like 40 pounds of fat since I've gained a lot of muscle. Of course if I kept a bunch of great tasting junk food on the kitchen counter I'd probably always have an urge to eat it. But that's not because of hunger.

When it comes to body composition (e.g., weight loss), there are many so-called "well respected scientists" out there who have been nothing but jokes for awhile, and apparently still haven't caught up.

LiftAllThePizzas

leptin resistance

Exactly.

It's amazing how many of you folks have blown off these professors as quacks. Dr. Liebel is a professor at Columbia University Medical Center.

I strongly suggest you Dr. Liebel's lecture.

What the research is showing is that people who were once obese who lose fat to match the body composition of people who have the same body composition but were never obese have a 15-20% lower metabolism. And that this effect has been noted after 4-7 years of sustained weight loss.

Many people, if not most, who were or are obese when they lose weight they end up feeling cold and hungry because their metabolism has slowed down in an attempt to preserve fat mass.

And it is not related to the amount of calories you consume - it is related to your body fat mass lowering which results in lower leptin levels.

Your body senses this change in leptin which in turn activates several other hormonal changes, not all of them well understood, that causes your body to fight to preserve body fat.

And this is why most people fail at losing weight. Most people cannot sustain the willpower required to fight the hunger and cold forever.

Now you can post cute pictures about quitters and all that until the cows come home, that's the reality of the situation. The first step in fixing a problem is identifying the problem. I personally was very excited by Dr. Liebel's research.

What is the relationship between muscle lost while dieting and all of the above?

in_the_stars

Well, i've lost a lot of muscle due to a car accident. Reason? yes, not an excuse. broken shoulder twice in one year, clavicle too. I don't give up. Not an excuse, the reason.

likitisplit

http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/57/3/534.full

"Leptin may yet yield an obesity treatment; in the meantime, perhaps I should go for a run."

ComradeTovarich

leptin resistance

Exactly.

It's amazing how many of you folks have blown off these professors as quacks. Dr. Liebel is a professor at Columbia University Medical Center.

I strongly suggest you Dr. Liebel's lecture.

What the research is showing is that people who were once obese who lose fat to match the body composition of people who have the same body composition but were never obese have a 15-20% lower metabolism. And that this effect has been noted after 4-7 years of sustained weight loss.

Many people, if not most, who were or are obese when they lose weight they end up feeling cold and hungry because their metabolism has slowed down in an attempt to preserve fat mass.

And it is not related to the amount of calories you consume - it is related to your body fat mass lowering which results in lower leptin levels.

Your body senses this change in leptin which in turn activates several other hormonal changes, not all of them well understood, that causes your body to fight to preserve body fat.

And this is why most people fail at losing weight. Most people cannot sustain the willpower required to fight the hunger and cold forever.

Now you can post cute pictures about quitters and all that until the cows come home, that's the reality of the situation. The first step in fixing a problem is identifying the problem. I personally was very excited by Dr. Liebel's research.

uconnwinsnc

Now it is your turn to decide if you want to take advice from someone who obviously doesn't lift.

SoreTodayStrongTomorrow222

I see you lost your willpower again and are back on the excuse train. :ohwell:

Looks that way ^^^

in_the_stars

craftywitch - "Then your "set point" resets."

How does it do that?

MelodyandBarbells

leptin resistance

Exactly.

It's amazing how many of you folks have blown off these professors as quacks. Dr. Liebel is a professor at Columbia University Medical Center.

I strongly suggest you Dr. Liebel's lecture.

What the research is showing is that people who were once obese who lose fat to match the body composition of people who have the same body composition but were never obese have a 15-20% lower metabolism. And that this effect has been noted after 4-7 years of sustained weight loss.

Many people, if not most, who were or are obese when they lose weight they end up feeling cold and hungry because their metabolism has slowed down in an attempt to preserve fat mass.

And it is not related to the amount of calories you consume - it is related to your body fat mass lowering which results in lower leptin levels.

Your body senses this change in leptin which in turn activates several other hormonal changes, not all of them well understood, that causes your body to fight to preserve body fat.

And this is why most people fail at losing weight. Most people cannot sustain the willpower required to fight the hunger and cold forever.

Now you can post cute pictures about quitters and all that until the cows come home, that's the reality of the situation. The first step in fixing a problem is identifying the problem. I personally was very excited by Dr. Liebel's research.

Cold - put on a jacket
Hungry - eat

What's the problem?

I like the earlier post wondering why your target is set to eat so little (if it is indeed set that way). A 1-2 lb deficit per week would still have you eating quite a bit of food if you're able to put some advance planning into it. I know I'm focusing on the one case but when we think of the big picture view you've heard it before - short of any medical issues, calories in / calories out :ohwell:

ndj1979

Dr. Sandra Aamodt referencing Dr. Liebel who I mentioned earlier explaining why for most people dieting fails. In fact, for most people dieting results in weight gain.

http://www.ted.com/talks/sandra_aamodt_why_dieting_doesn_t_usually_work.html

Dr. Aamodt suggests that our set points for storing body fat may be adjustable upwards but possibly are not adjustable downwards.

Our bodies are programmed to protect fat stores. When you lose weight and you have been obese it triggers a reduction in metabolism that appears may be permanent. Once you descend below your set point for body fat you will be hungry and you will have a slower metabolism. Obesity thus results in possibly permanent body chemistry changes requiring dieters to fight hunger forever, which most people cannot sustain.

Dr. Liebel's lecture: http://videocast.nih.gov/summary.asp?live=2993&bhcp=1

This is a depressing reaffirmation of what I and many people have experienced over their lives. It reinforces the need for medical science to come up with mechanisms to alter this set point or at least negate hunger.

The good news is like Dr. Liebal, Dr. Aamodt shows that even if you are overweight or even obese making 2 out of 4 lifestyle changes (diet, exercise, smoking, drinking) can bring your risk of death in line with healthy people.

Of course most of us aren't just looking to be healthy we are looking to be attractive and able to be physically active.

I was never "obese" but I was pretty hefty ..220# pound 25% + body fat at my highest…7 years later I am about 175 and 12% body fat ..so I disagree with the premise. ..you can lose weight, keep it off, and meet your weight loss goals..

Wtn_Gurl

I think someone can have the motivation to go on a diet for a month. Then they miss their old yummy food that made them fat (eating too much of a good thing), and also seeing a TV commercial for some yummy food can make a person really crave it. Like when i see my fave pizza commercial, wow, im usually headed over to the place. Actually Red Lobster commercials do it for me really a lot.. that was before i went on my diet.

anyhoo, i think also that if you have 100 pounds to lose and you go for 2 pounds a week, that sense of time may feel like its forever.. so a person has to develop patience, perseverence, optimism (like when you do all you can and gain a pound that week).

the dieter has to have a picture of what they want when they lose the weight.. some are realistic, some not realistic, like I will never have a perfect bikini body even when i lose all my weight. but i know i will be able to walk WAY better,, and be able to be active finally without my knees killing me like now.

I think people start to eat again the food that got them fat, thinkikng, Just this once, or I deserve a reward, and then cant stop. and then if someone does this long enough, they think heck with it, especially if they start gaining again. so why bother going thru all that... its more painful for them to deny themselves and be disciplined, than for them to go for the long haul. eating some fattening cake is temporarily more pleasurable than going with out it.

yeah i know, some of you think everything in moderation, but whatever change people need to make to make the diet last, that they need to do it. maybe someone needs to do exercise more often, or whatever. so if that thing is too painful, etc.. takes too much time and effort, if the person doesn't meet the challenge, they will fall off the wagon.

then thers the people on "My 600 Pound Life" that really have a problem and some dont even try even when they know they are going to soon die from weighing 600 pounds, like Dominique Lenoise the other day on TV. Watch it, it might inspire you to not go there.