The science behind gaining it all back

taramaureen

I'm not surprised. It's been known for a while now that many people who lose significant ammounts of weight end up gaining it all back and then some.

This is why I feel slow and steady wins the race. Over a course of 2 years I lost 80lbs and even with pregnancy and surgeries have been able to keep 60 of it off for almost 3 years now. I made small lifestyle changes, steady increases in exercises, and had reasonable goals. I always somewhat just shake my head when people lose tons of weight in short ammounts of times and consider it a "diet" instead of a lifestyle. They'll probably gain it back and wonder why, it's sad.

IvoryParchment

It suddenly occurred to me -- so many people here will complain about plateau-ing, and others will jump in and advise them to up their calories. They will give testimonials about how well that worked for them.

It doesn't make any sense from a calorie consumption point of view -- starvation mode should make you lose more slowly, but not stop losing altogether, and eating more is eating more. And it hasn't been my experience either. When I plateau, I keep to the same calorie limit and eventually start losing again.

But I wonder: Of those of you who find eating more helps break you out of a plateau, what KIND of calories are you increasing? Just protein and carbs, or fat? And is it vegetable fats or animal fats? Mammalian (beef, pork, lamb, dairy products) or poultry and fish?

Maybe actually consuming leptin from animal sources is part of the reason that works?

Russellb97

Having one day of calorie surplus is NOT going to make you fat. It's impossible.

Say you burned 2,500 in one day with all of your activities and then you ate your surplus at 3,000 calories.

With this you have now had an anabolic day, your body will actually store energy instead of burn energy. This will break that pattern of fat being burned and tell your brain/body that "hey, I'm not starving" BOOM, leptin, metabolism up!

Now as far as fat goes, chances are most if not all of those 500 extra calories were simply stored back in your liver and muscles as glycogen. Most people now agree that glycogen is stored first and when the stores are full the remaining is converted to triglycerides and stored in fat tissue.

There is some weight gain, because more glycogen equals more water weight. More glycogen also equals better workouts. No one should be afraid of spiking. The only negative is the water weight on the scale, and to me that's irrelevant anyway.

paprad

Leptin rises in as a little as 12 hours of overfeeding when it's preceded by calorie restriction.
It's a simple solution and pretty fun, one day a week eat a calorie surplus.

That's exactly what I thought was missing in the article - how come all the research didn't talk about cheat days to bring back the leptin levels

MaximalLife

1) Starve fat people on 500-800 cals/day so they lose weight including lots of muscle
2) Wait until they get fat again by eating as much as they feel like of whatever they feel like, since they're given poor guidance on weight maintenance
3) Profit!

How about studying healthy smart people who moderate their diet and activity levels? Damn, there's not much profit in that.

You nailed it.
This is the very reason for much of what goes on in our world from health and fitness to medicine to energy policy.

Follow the money!

Russellb97

Leptin rises in as a little as 12 hours of overfeeding when it's preceded by calorie restriction.
It's a simple solution and pretty fun, one day a week eat a calorie surplus.

That's exactly what I thought was missing in the article - how come all the research didn't talk about cheat days to bring back the leptin levels

I know!

Leptin seems to react very quickly and easily to calorie/energy balance. These articles make it seem so doom and gloom and that is just NOT the case.

Listen, if you want to increase your leptin levels today eat a small surplus of calories. I use the formula 2X(BMR)

This won't work for those who are leptin resistant which is eerily similar to those that have diabetes and are insulin resistant, but for most of us this is exactly what our brain wants us to do.
One "bad day" isn't going to hurt you. losing weight isn't a sprint, it's a very long marathon. Sometimes we take a step back to go several steps forward.

Russellb97

1) Starve fat people on 500-800 cals/day so they lose weight including lots of muscle
2) Wait until they get fat again by eating as much as they feel like of whatever they feel like, since they're given poor guidance on weight maintenance
3) Profit!

How about studying healthy smart people who moderate their diet and activity levels? Damn, there's not much profit in that.

You nailed it.
This is the very reason for much of what goes on in our world from health and fitness to medicine to energy policy.

Follow the money!

What is really sad is people who lose weight at "diet centers" typically return to those same centers after they gained the weight back because, "Hey, it worked before"

paprad

Article by Gary Taubes and host of others, sent to NYT in response to the Fat Trap

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/magazine/reply-all-fat-trap.html?_r=1

durangocal

Very informative read! Thanks for posting...

airlily

The 20% higher levels of the "hunger hormone" explains why, when I began to try and up my calories back to 1800, I felt like I was starving and needed to eat more. Good to know. When I hit my goal, I might go to Kaiser and get a nutritionist to help me maintain my lost weight. Thank you! Glad to know it wasn't ALL me.

Momkat65

danikat11

A Body in motion, stays in motion. So the more we exercise , the more our bodies will want too. As long as we control what we eat and keep active we will all be fine. Of course the more you lose the more you have to exercise to keep it off. It's because you are healthier now and it takes a lot more to burn the calories because of you metabolism.

A 300 pound person is definitely going to get more out of a 30 minute cardio work out than a 200 pound person would. It's because they weigh more and are working harder to do the same thing this 200 pound person would. Why do you think on the biggest Loser, everyone wants the bigger person on their team? Because he will lose the most weight for their team. Because he is the most unhealthy. He will get more out of the work out than anyone and win for their team.

Don't be scared or afraid. Maybe instead take up a dance class or a martial arts class and make your exercise more fun when you reach your goals. Try things you never done before because of your weight like rock climbing, swimming, long distance hiking.

Elizabeth_C34

We are still without excuse though.

All of these factors can be easily overcome with continued willpower, hard work and discipline.

Absolutely agree with this. Life is just not fair for everyone, and we have to live with what our bodies can do and how they work. Every one is different.

No reason why we all can't live an amazing life with amazing health.

funkycamper

Interesting article but I agree with Russell and the idea of spiking, losing weight slowly, etc., and that, if you do so, it will not be hard to maintain that weight loss. I also think there is no reason to be depressed about having to be so hyper-vigilant for the rest of your life the way the couple profiled in the article have to. Here's why:

(Note: I do watch my carbs due to metabolic issues I have with them but I know this is individual and doesn't effect all people so, while I do mention that, I don't consider it a must for those of you who aren't similarly effected. At one point, I did do Atkins but I also quickly moved up Atkins carb ladder to a more sustainable range, for me, of 80-100 grams/carb day. YMMV and you may be able to eat much more than that. I hope with continued exercise and muscle-building, I'll also be able to eat more as well and I believe I am already seeing that change happen slowly.)

Anyway....please bear with the long story. Especially for those of you who are depressed about the article, I think you might find value in reading this.

Over the course 1998-2001, I lost about 30# without even trying. Went from my high of 237 to 205/210 (varied just a tad). It was not intentional but just because I was working a very stressful job, moving more, eating healthier. I wasn't consciously trying to diet but I was learning that lower-carb was better for my severe hypoglycemia and, thus, eating more vegetables and less grains. That's really the only change I made. I didn't eliminate grains and, for goodness sake, sometimes a pizza or a doughnut or a few slices of fresh-baked bread or cookies definitely made their way into my tummy. Yummmm. I think I was just naturally doing some of what Russell called spike days. In other words, slow weight loss without huge calorie deficits.

In 2002, we got an active dog and I lost another 10# or so just by getting out and walking the dog daily. Just short walks for the most part although we did occasionally do longer 1-2 hour walks when time and nice weather permitted. I had no change in my eating habits but dropped another 10# putting me in the 195-200# range. Again, slow weight loss without huge calorie deficits, now combined with a bit of activity.

In 2006, I seriously hurt my back. Doctors wanted to fuse my entire lower spine. Well, forget that. The idea of not being able to ever move properly again did not thrill me. My chiropractor insisted that my back would heal itself naturally if I could hold out for about a year. That was a painful year and I moved little. When I did move it was slowly and carefully to keep the pain down and I could only take little baby-steps in a stooped over posture. But I was in pain even when sitting or lying down. No position was pain-free. For another year after that, I slowly learned to walk normally again as so many of my tendons had shortened during this time. I had to relearn to stand up straight and it took quite awhile to work on lengthening my gait so I could walk normally again. I had relatively little activity that second year as well as it was a painful and difficult process.

During those two years, I was miserable (obviously!) and ate a lot of things I shouldn't. There were times that I would down an entire big bag of potato chips in a day or two. Or eat most of an entire bag of Oreos. I did not monitor my eating at all. I figured if I was going to be like I was crippled, I might as well enjoy food because that was about all I had to enjoy.

And during that time, I gained about 5# putting in the 200-205# range. That's it. Now, I didn't eat like that every day or I'm sure I would have gained more. But I was certainly not monitoring my calories nor was I exercising at all. Not at all. Just walking to the car was a lot of movement during that time.

After I was able to start moving more again, I started walking the dog again but was unable to do anything more because I had lost so much mobility in my back. While I did occasionally try to do a bit more stretching and exercises my chiropractor gave me to strengthen my back, I only did maybe three 10-minute sessions of this a week. I slowly got back into eating a healthier again but wasn't monitoring intake. Really just watching my carbs again. And I dropped down to 192# and stayed there from about 2008 until last August.

What changed in August? My back is finally in good enough shape to really workout intensely again and, since I never want to be crippled up with another back injury again, I'm working hard to get fit in all ways, especially core strength, but in all other ways as well as I want to live an active life, not a miserable one without movement and activity. So, here I am, with 20# more off and vastly improved fitness and will keep charging ahead to meet my goals.

But the point of this whole story is this: I think my experience points out the fact that slower weight loss did not mess up my body to the point where I had to watch every calorie, avoid overeating every single day, and exercise like crazy to maintain my weight loss. As others have pointed out, the folks in the article ate very low calorie (500-800 day). I didn't. So I also didn't lose the LBM that these folks lost. Heck, I lost more muscle mass during my 2 years of back-injury induced inactivity than I did by losing weight.

Now that I'm exercising both intensely (using a lot of HIIT) and lifting heavy (well, for me, I'm still pretty weak but am building up to it), I still can gorge myself without losing. Just another short story and I'm done. Promise.

From Christmas to just this last week, I decided to take a bit of a break from following MFP's calorie recommendations. I firmly believe that having occasional breaks from dieting is a good thing for your body so it settles into its new weight and becomes used to it making it easier to release more weight when you start in again. I had a few personal things come up so was exercising a tad less and ate a bit more. This was capped off with a week at a seminar where I only had access to the food they provided and it was NOT healthy food, that's for sure. Most days we were in training for 12-13 hours each day so I got no workouts at all during that week and ate fried foods, desserts, and other junk. And I had also totally binged during the holidays. I gained a whole 2# over the course of the entire month of exercising less and eating more. It came off in just a few days of eating more healthy and re-upping my exercise routine.

If that article was spot-on, I surely would have gained a lot more than 2# during that time, wouldn't I? Really, I got a bit lazy and pigged out. I believe that losing my most recent loss of 20# over the course of 4 months was a key reason for not gaining more. I have set MFP to only lose 1#/week based on recommen

In essence, taking it off slowly, choosing less of a calorie deficit, zig-zagging my calories, having occasional spike days (although I never have as big of a spike as Russell recommends because even in my obese days, I just couldn't eat that much) and gaining fitness via exercise have all, I believe, combined to making my body not so easily put on the pounds when I splurge a lot. And that's a wonderful thing.

One last comment and then I'll shut up. My couple years of living like an invalid has really got me motivated to get in the best shape I can because there are amazing things I would like to do that require fitness. When we go places like Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, etc., I want to actually be able to hike in for miles without being exhausted by hills or distance. I'm planning on some bicycle touring. I want to go skiing again. I have a long-range goal of getting into good enough shape to summit Mt. Rainier. Your health is the most important thing you have. Believe me, I know and I had to learn it the hard way.

So, I figure it like this, I want to get fit and that is my main goal. To properly fuel my body for fitness, I need to eat healthy foods to nourish my muscles and other organs. And, by eating healthy foods, it's a lot easier to eat in a deficit without feeling deprived. And there is nothing wrong with splurging once in awhile during the process anyway because it's not a race so splurge and enjoy yourself within reason. If you do all of this, the weight and inches will come off.

Hope this helped somebody. If not, it helped me to write it because it reminds me of how important health is to me and keeps my mind set on the right goals and the right process to achieve those goals.

Daddio43

I too have read all of these posts/replies etc, and have a comment. Great article and yes the truth hurts sometimes. Slow and easy is the best way and only way, we are a society already wanting things immediatly hence the impatience. I'm so happy my wife found this site. What is wrong with being healthy, uhhh nothing. Using a tool to help you with maintaining a healthy lifestyle is important, once you get used to it you won't have to monitor it as close because you'll just know. You will not gain the weight back.

Not all skinny people are healthy, their insides could be in serious trouble because of their unhealthy lifestyle. We too often relate skinny at healthy and that is so not the case.

People complain about exercise because they go about it the wrong way. You don' t have to over exert yourself, pay attention to your age and targeted heart rate associated with this and you'll be amazed at how staying within your heart rate aerobic range helps shredd the fat and not the muscle. Use a heart rate caloric calculator which uses your age and weight. Stay within your targeted age range and build your aerobic foundation, your heart will love it and your body will show the difference. It's not boot camp. Be patient, don't expect miracles, be honest about what goes in that mouth of yours, and your body will respond appropriately.

My wife hit a wall and couldn't get below 132 pounds no matter what she tried. She worked out every day and hard but still nothing. Once she learned what she was actually putting in her body and just modified a few things she has already dropped 6 pounds in 6 weeks and going to hit her target of 125. Not much but a huge boost. I'm so proud of her plus we love the change. We work together to hit small targets and it also helps with our relationship.

Being healthy is a lifestyle and culture, not a burden. The body is a beautiful machine not matter what your type. Treat your body the right way and it will pay you back in huge dividends not just assiciated with weight.

Thank you MFP

chaitrex

Didn't we all kind of know this already?
I mean, we all know that our body gets a certain tolerance to different levels of exercise as we lose weight and get stronger. We might not have had these numbers, but hopefully we're all planning to keep working hard at this for the long haul.
Exercise and healthy eating isn't just about weight maintainence, it's about keeping your whole body healthy. What's the point of being smoking hot if you burn out in your 50's?

MissMaggie3

Yep, this reinforces the conclusions I'd reached myself. Take heart everybody, the silver lining is that we'll have the supportive friends we make here for years to come!

CallmeSbo

Thank you very much for posting this article. Im gonna print this study and paste it somewhere readily visible, so i have a constant reminder that i am not like other people that never tried to lose weight.

JaneP2011

Like!
When I was 140lbs I would run a 5k 5-6 times a week, drank no alcohol, tea or coffee. When I stopped doing those three things my weight drifted back to my 'usual' 160lbs, even though my total calore intake was still 'only' 1800 (still 200 calories below what is recommended for a female). So it was those three small things: a 200 calorie burn on the treadmill, and a reduction of a 100 calories a day from losing the milk in my tea and coffee that kept me in the bottom thrid of my BMI.

For me - 140lbs means a 1500 calorie net intake - for life!

askinnychitwood

For the past two years I have literally worked my butt off to lose 85 pounds! I failed to realize how much work it was going to take to keep it off! You would think that looking at before pictures would be enough. I have to be extremely conscience of my food choices, activity, and attitude every second of the day...because I worry about gaining it back! What a constant battle!?!?