Researchers claiming it's impossible to keep weight off

Watching this with interest...

I lost 90lbs by doing it slowly, it was a lifestyle change that I was going to stick to blah blah blah. I kept it off for a year. Then I got a trapped nerve in my back which meant I had to give up running. Then I changed jobs and am more sedentary. Suddenly 25lbs has piled back on and I am knocking at the door of overweight again. So I'm back to lose it, hoping that I don't take my eye off the ball again. But for me, maintenance was just as hard as losing it in the first place, but without the highs of seeing the scale drop.

This is what kills me every time. I know that weight maintenance = portion control but I have a hard time caring about what I'm putting in my body when I'm not actively engaged in something.

(Joining this thread for later reading and replying.)

I would say that is an opinion piece written by a journalist not a scientific paper. Just because a journalist talks about what certain scientists think personally doesn't make that science.

Scientists are people, they have opinions too. Not everything that exits a scientists mouth is science.

The article isn't written by a journalist. It says "For psychologist Traci Mann, who has spent 20 years running an eating lab at the University of Minnesota..."

I would say that is an opinion piece written by a journalist not a scientific paper. Just because a journalist talks about what certain scientists think personally doesn't make that science.

Scientists are people, they have opinions too. Not everything that exits a scientists mouth is science.

The article isn't written by a journalist. It says "For psychologist Traci Mann, who has spent 20 years running an eating lab at the University of Minnesota..."

The byline for the article is Kelly Crowe at CBC news.

That quote is a lead in to an OPINION expressed by a psychologist who studies eating behavior.

http://www.weightymatters.ca/2014/06/more-on-almost-impossible-feat-of.html

What I'm getting at is that I think what makes maintaining weight loss seem "almost impossible" are the goal posts society has generally set to measure success. No doubt, if the goal set is losing every last ounce of weight that some stupid chart says you're supposed to lose then the descriptor "almost impossible" may well be fair. On the other hand, if the goal is to cultivate the healthiest life that you can honestly enjoy, subtotal losses, often with significant concomitant health improvements, are definitely within your reach.

This is one of the most infuriating pieces of garbage I've read in a long time.


"Long-term weight loss happens to only the smallest minority of people."

It doesn't 'happen to' people. People make choices and these choices affect our health.


"...if we check back after five or 10 years, there's a good chance they will have put the weight back on. Only about five per cent of people who try to lose weight ultimately succeed, according to the research... Those kinds of stories really keep the myth alive..."

Myth: (n.) a widely held but false belief or idea.

It's not a false belief or idea that weight loss is possible. In fact, the idea that it is IMpossible is false, and downright insulting to the human race and our grand achievements. We have put people on the moon, but it's impossible for an individual to change his/her lifestyle? Laughable.


"You should still eat right, you should still exercise, doing healthy stuff is still healthy... It just doesn't make you thin."

Yes it does. Moreover 'thin' is a generally incomplete goal-- FIT and MOBILE are better ones. And training and nutrition can indeed lead to fitness and mobility for anyone.


"...we are held hostage to our biology, which is adapted to gain weight..."

No, we aren't. Biology is 1/3 the explanation for any human behavior, with psychology and sociology being the other 2/3. Any first-year psych student can explain this idea in detail. Perhaps these researchers should've consulted one.


I have my own theory as to why people in our society are unable to maintain healthy lifestyles: it's because we live in a culture that facilitates a pervasive refusal to take ACCOUNTABILITY, largely by throwing around excuses for self-destructive behavior and calling them science.

This is just want people *want* to hear to prevent them from even feeling like they have to try. Sad that they post this kind of stuff, and then the next segment probably promote some new diet syrup or some crap!

I've seen research based on this before, (however correct me if it's been disproved since) and it does have some scientific merit to it, not that I'm making excuses for anyone but it is technically harder for a previously overweight person to maintain at a healthy weight than someone who's never been overweight because someone who was previously overweight will have more fat cels.

When we gain weight and fat cels reach full capacity our body creates more fat cels to store more fat, however when we lose weight these cels don't disappear they just shrink, but because the fat storage cels are still present it is easier for a previously overweight person to put on weight if they have a bad couple of weeks because the cels are already in place so the body is more efficient in storing fat.

So basically as long as you can maintain a healthy lifestyle after weight loss you'll be fine, but you have the potential for faster weight gain with any long period of return to bad habits. xxx But please correct me if I'm wrong x