Super-diets with huge calorie deficits: lifelong effects

kusterer

I am 67. When I was in my 20s, I went on several long political protest fasts ("hunger strikes"). I then lived overseas and periodically lost huge amounts of weight due to hepatitis, dysentary and the like. I hadn't been overweight, but not too long after that, I started gaining weight. Then I tried several ultimate diets and each time got down to base weight only to shoot back up again later.

There is a theory, which I absolutely believe, that your body evolved to interpret rapid weight loss as famine. Every time you go through a famine, your body physiologically adjusts to do two things:

1) Put the fat back on faster to prepare better for the next famine, to help you survive.
2) Do a better job of hanging onto the fat during the next famine, to help you survive.

To me this is the best argument against large calorie deficits, extreme exercise, and fast weight loss. It is not sustainable. Your body will eventually make you stop. YOU WILL REBOUND. The next time you try to lose weight, your body will do a better job of resisting, and it will be harder to lose.

For reasons like this, my nutritionist at the Mayo Clinic told me that to avoid rebound, they suggest that every time you lose another 10% of your body weight, you stop losing and maintain that weight for 2-3 months, before attempting to lose the next 10%

Natihilator

For reasons like this, my nutritionist at the Mayo Clinic told me that to avoid rebound, they suggest that every time you lose another 10% of your body weight, you stop losing and maintain that weight for 2-3 months, before attempting to lose the next 10%

Interesting, I seemed to do exactly that, but it wasn't completely voluntary. I lost around 10% of my body weight from when I started on MFP last January until July, and then I fell off the calorie counting wagon and stopped watching what I ate from September to early November. During that time my weight stayed constant, give or take a few pounds, and I was surprised that I didn't gain 10-15lbs like most people who 'fall off the wagon' seem to do. I am down another 10lbs. from November 1st, and after 10 more pounds I will take another break from eating at a deficit, but this time I will track to get an idea of how much I can eat to maintain my current weight, probably at the end of March. I am 26, and have about 85lbs total to lose, coming up to the halfway mark now.

Sometimes it is frustrating being a slow loser, when reading the success stories of people who have lost their weight in under a year's time, but I always have sustainability in the back of my mind when it comes to my eating habits and weight loss. If I feel too restricted or like what I am doing isn't realistic for the rest of my life, I will alter my habits so I don't feel like I need to rebel against my current diet (and I mean diet as in, the regular foods I eat, for anyone ready to jump on me with 'DIETS DON'T WORK!'). Even if that means upping my calories and losing more slowly at a smaller deficit. Whatever it takes to get this weight gone forever

kusterer

Thanks and I wish you well. I have 100 lbs to lose, 50 of them I have lost several times before. Like the smoker who says, "Quitting is easy. I've done it 100 times already." My goal now is that each pound fades slowly into the distance, never to be seen again.

aliciab307

That makes a lot of sense. I was on a vlcd for 5 months and then switched to calorie counting still at a deficit just not so huge. I only have 15-25 lbs to go. Should I have done a diet break a while ago or now? I havent really lost much since coming off the vlcd. I gained 4 lbs upping my calories then lost 2 and just have been fluctuating between a 2,3 lbs from where i started from.

kusterer

Aliciab307, I don't really know, partly because I don't know how many pounds you lost to get to place you are now, which from my perspective (Wish I was only 15-25 lbs close to goal.) seems close to where you want to be. But I believe that even if you reach goal this way, you will find it hard to stay there. This is my belief I am saying here, not scientific fact. I am not a nutritionist or a weight-loss doctor. But I am pretty sure that Mayo would say take a break and work on maintaining weight for a couple of months before making the final push towards your ultimate goal.