Interesting NY Times Mag. article - "The Fat Trap"...

Azdak

I'm wondering if the more efficient muscles that are burning fewer calories compared to folks always at your current size, is because they have been working out to get to that point.

May also have something to do with those extreme calorie deficits causing body to slow down.

Now I wonder if that means the muscle can't do as much work, compared to a person always at your current size after weight loss?

I believe it has more to do with what is called the thermic effect of food. I don't have the research article here at home, but it is more due to the increased efficiency of processing food. The research is not the most positive in that it suggest that, if you lose a significant amount of weight, you are always at greater risk of regaining compared to someone who had never gained the weight. And the effect seemed long-lasting.

This is why maintaining vigorous exercise, lifting weights, and maintaining a pattern of increased casual activity are crucial to long-term success.

shakybabe

it just shows crash diets don't work.. why do they reduce it so much to 500-550cals? .. of course they're gonna pile on weight when they go back to eating 'normally'.. I doubt they stayed on the optifast and 2 cups of veg!

Hass anyone done a study of just cutting your calories by a smaller amount and how long the weight stayed off?

heybales

I believe it has more to do with what is called the thermic effect of food. I don't have the research article here at home, but it is more due to the increased efficiency of processing food. The research is not the most positive in that it suggest that, if you lose a significant amount of weight, you are always at greater risk of regaining compared to someone who had never gained the weight. And the effect seemed long-lasting.

This is why maintaining vigorous exercise, lifting weights, and maintaining a pattern of increased casual activity are crucial to long-term success.

Actually the article quoted one of the studies where they did muscle biopsy and found the muscle just burned less calories, I'd suppose for equal amounts of work.
That was compared to someone already at a certain weight, and someone loosing down to that same weight.

So those trying to loose are at a disadvantage then compared to those that seem to have no problem.

Now, then again, is that one of the physical differences in the first place that made it easier for one to gain weight, and one to maintain weight. No change, just different genetically? I don't see that was considered. Unless I missed comment about their muscle used to burn more at higher weight and then lost the ability.

bcampbell54

Confirms what I always suspevted - the real work begins after achieving my "goal weight."
I'm prepared for it, I think.

Shock_Wave

Also remember to take in consideration that people that have lost weight down to a normal weight for some ones class would have made in their body more fat cells than some one who is normally that weight. This will certainly make it easier for some one who was over weight that lost the weight to put back on the weight. Simply put, the more fat cells you have the easier it is to re gain the weight. You can shrink those extra fat cells but you can never get rid of them completely unless you get lipo suction and physically remove them.

Shock_Wave

Deleted

Azdak

I believe it has more to do with what is called the thermic effect of food. I don't have the research article here at home, but it is more due to the increased efficiency of processing food. The research is not the most positive in that it suggest that, if you lose a significant amount of weight, you are always at greater risk of regaining compared to someone who had never gained the weight. And the effect seemed long-lasting.

This is why maintaining vigorous exercise, lifting weights, and maintaining a pattern of increased casual activity are crucial to long-term success.

Actually the article quoted one of the studies where they did muscle biopsy and found the muscle just burned less calories, I'd suppose for equal amounts of work.
That was compared to someone already at a certain weight, and someone loosing down to that same weight.

So those trying to loose are at a disadvantage then compared to those that seem to have no problem.

Now, then again, is that one of the physical differences in the first place that made it easier for one to gain weight, and one to maintain weight. No change, just different genetically? I don't see that was considered. Unless I missed comment about their muscle used to burn more at higher weight and then lost the ability.

I think that losing weight itself accounts for many of these changes.

I had not read the article when I posted the original comment. I have now, so I am (belatedly) up to speed.

Here is a link if anyone is interested to the study I mentioned previously:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18842775