Everyone who has recently lost weight needs to read this

I don't buy it either......I was NOT a fat kid, teen, I only got fat from having babies.....

I think part of it had to do with the fact that the subjects were only eating between 500 and 550 calories a day and they dropped 30 pounds in 10 weeks. I did something very close to that....and yeah, I gained it back. I think if he had put them on a more respectable calorie intake per day and lengthened the time of the study, there might have been a different outcome. The study was a DIET....and we all know diets don't work.

Yeah, sorry, it's true. Lyle McDonald writes about it at his web site: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com

I've extracted a relevant quote from one of his articles below. Basically, when you diet down, you need less calories to maintain that weight than someone who has always weighed that amount. It's one of the sucky side effects of weight gain.

"Some research has found a similar effect in humans although the studies tend to be very mixed on this (I’ll address why in a later blog post): when you diet down a human being, often you see metabolic rate decreasing far more than you’d expect based on the loss of body weight alone. That is, based on the weight loss, say you expected metabolic rate to drop by 200 calories; but when you measure it it really drops by 300. That extra 100 calories is more than predicted and suggests that the body is ‘adapting’ to the weight loss in an attempt to not only slow further fat loss but also to get bodyweight/body fat back up when food becomes available again."

ETA: That doesn't mean you're doomed to regain the weight. It just means you have to be more vigilant than you otherwise would have.

I agree John.
I find it kinda funny that they describe the maintenance period so horrible because they 'have to spend an hour a day working out and have to watch every calorie.'



Duh?

I read that article when it came out and it actually inspired me to get serious about losing weight. What I took from it is that it IS doable, if you keep track of what you are eating both while you are losing AND when you get to the weight you want to be. I realized that I always regained weight in the past because I stopped paying attention. So, I bought a food scale and a people scale and joined MFP.

I realized from that article and others like it that I would have to eat several hundred calories less than someone who's always been at my goal weight in order to stay there, so I didn't set an unrealistically low goal weight -- I'd be happy with 5 pounds into the healthy weight zone.

I have also realized that weighing less (when you are starting out obese) is a positive even if you never make your goal. Being 202 is easier on my body than being 255. If I never get to 150, I'm still better off now. Even if I never lose another ounce, I am eating well and exercising regularly which is good for me in any case.

I think the real thing to take away from that article is that we should focus more (as a society) on making sure people don't become obese, rather than on helping them once they get there. I could go on and on about that topic, but that's for another day.

I do think that article is good to keep handy to forward to any annoying people who think losing weight is easy. It's not, but difficult and impossible aren't the same thing.

I don't buy it either......I was NOT a fat kid, teen, I only got fat from having babies.....

Me too, I was underweight until I got pregnant.

It is what it is. I know that for the rest of my life, if I want to keep the weight off (which i do), I will have to stay active and pay attention to calories in and out. Had I been doing it all along, I wouldn't have gotten fat in the first place, but I didn't and I did. LOL My bad! So..

Who wants to be one of those, "I was on weight watchers and lost 50 lbs but stopped and gained it all back" people, anyway? That article explains it perfectly. Truth is... being fat is negative. LOL Being healthy is positive. A fat person is going to stay fat unless they make significant life changes. That's how it works.

Not enough information. The study involved crash dieting. 800 calories a day and no exercise regime is not a normal diet and certainly not teaching any good maintenence habits.

I have not been experiencing the hunger pangs of dieting that others describe. I make sure I eat enough protein, dietary calcium (in the form of fat free yogurt and low fat milk) and fiber, I drink enough fluids, and vigilantly keep track of my calories. I have lost 16 pounds, 24 percent of my goal weight, 10 pounds in this month alone. It is all about portion and calorie control, alongside regular exercise. I never deny myself a dessert (I budget for it) and I have the occasional cheat meal. (only once or twice a month allowed a cheat meal) I don't care if I overshoot my goal on protein and fat as long as I remain under the calorie goal, but I am not low carbing either. I strive for moderation.

I am a celiac so fast food is already not an option for me, but even for gluten free it is easy to overeat calories and gain weight with replacement starches. I never realised how much I was overeating until I bought a food scale and realised what a proper portion looks like. It has made all the difference for me. I am also hypothyroid so I figure I have gotten somewhat of a metabolic boost from the medication. At any rate I haven't had any trouble shedding pounds. That 25 dollar food scale was the best weight loss purchase I ever made.

I think if I am ever going to be successful at keeping it off, it is going to be by developing good habits while losing the weight to start with.

I will be interested to see how the other study for slower weight loss turns out, as it happens they haven't actually finished it yet, Dr. Leibel is just offering his guess.

One question many researchers think about is whether losing weight more slowly would make it more sustainable than the fast weight loss often used in scientific studies. Leibel says the pace of weight loss is unlikely to make a difference, because the body’s warning system is based solely on how much fat a person loses, not how quickly he or she loses it. Even so, Proietto is now conducting a study using a slower weight-loss method and following dieters for three years instead of one.

Thanks for sharing!

ITT: Peer-reviewed biochemstry dismissed with a 'no I don't think that's true.'

LOL

Suit yourselves. It's my informed opinion that the article is correct. I lost weight, kept it off, and I'm still losing.

As a scientist, I will say that peer reviewed often means squat. The study that linked the measles vaccine to autism was shown to be BS pretty much, but it was published. Despite being retracted, the battle rages on. I'm not saying this article is BS, but you have to view everything with a grain of salt.