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Why is regaining weight so common????

2

Replies

  • Posts: 9,562 Member
    Your calories for maintenance are lower than you think that they would be. It is math.
    http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1105816
    One year after initial weight reduction, levels of the circulating mediators of appetite that encourage weight regain after diet-induced weight loss do not revert to the levels recorded before weight loss. Long-term strategies to counteract this change may be needed to prevent obesity relapse. (Funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number,

    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/magazine/tara-parker-pope-fat-trap.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
    A full year after significant weight loss, these men and women remained in what could be described as a biologically altered state.
    . . . . “What we see here is a coordinated defense mechanism with multiple components all directed toward making us put on weight,” Proietto says. “This, I think, explains the high failure rate in obesity treatment.”
  • Posts: 109 Member
    The only thing I hate more than being hungry is being cold. So, yeah, no thanks!

    Yep tht's me, i'd rather starve!

  • Posts: 49,126 Member
    rjrobert wrote: »
    There working on a new treatment for cancer that tiny nanobots (I know, Science Fiction sounding) attach themselves to cancer sells and then a proton pulse cannon shoots the nanobots signature thus killing the cancer cell.

    If this ends up working, not only would it be the miracle so many are looking for in Cancer research, I also wonder if they could reprogram them to attach to fat cells and blast them this bringing the number of fat cells in your body back down?
    You're born with the amount of fat cells you'll have for life. Fat cells increase when obesity is present.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    9285851.png

  • Posts: 48 Member
    Aviva92 wrote: »
    maybe, but if your maintenance decreases, your appetite should also decrease. the reason in that link seemed to be a better reason to me.

    You don't find that your hunger decreases after sticking with calorie restriction for a while? It seems like I acclimate after 10-14 days.
  • Posts: 1,673 Member
    Because food tastes good, that's why.
  • Posts: 10,330 Member
    Most woman don't strength train and cardio is not good for long term fat loss. That leads to muscle loss and as we age we loose muscle mass as well. This results in a slower metabolism. Also we burn less calories doing the same cardio we did at a heavier weight then when we weigh less. I'm gaining weight now but that's on purpose because i want more muscle mass.

    While it's true muscle mass generally decreases with weight loss, but it isn't true that cardio isn't good for long term fat loss. It's been proven over and over that maintaining an exercise regime (regardless of the type) is one of the best maintenance tactics. According to the National Weight Control Registry, a database of people who have successfully maintained the loss of at least 30 pounds for at least a year, the most common form of exercise is walking.
  • Posts: 18,842 Member
    Aviva92 wrote: »
    I don't know if any of this is true, but if it is, my 5 mile walks in the single digit temperatures to and from work is more fantastic for staying thin than I thought.

    If fat cells are truly mostly formed as a kid, then it would explain why it was really easy for me to keep the weight off. I was a skinny kid. I did not become hungry to eat more and regain it after losing. My appetite completely adjusted to eating less. I was never obese though, just bordering on overweight at my highest.

    The bummer part is the research has also shown your body can grow more fat cells besides just filling up the existing ones to max, which then are never gotten rid of, and always available for use.

    Not sure I've seen any research on that fact with leptin feedback loop that could explain a harder time for some regaining. Beyond not prepared with fact your body likely burns less than it would have otherwise, depending on how fast you got to goal weight.
  • Posts: 1,280 Member
    If you always do what you always did... You will always get what you always got....
  • Posts: 6,993 Member
    Because most people who regain their weight have not changed the way they eat as a habit. They persist in thinking about being on a diet vs not, cheating, good vs bad, etc.
  • Posts: 756 Member
    I hate the cold (unless its snowing), I would rather stay the size I am that take a cold shower 3 odd times a week !
  • Posts: 1,155 Member
    Aviva92 wrote: »
    I don't know if any of this is true, but if it is, my 5 mile walks in the single digit temperatures to and from work is more fantastic for staying thin than I thought.

    I haven't missed one of my 3am lunch break walks either. My thought is it's more to keeping moving than to the whole cold thing.
  • Posts: 2,333 Member
    bmanlatour wrote: »

    You don't find that your hunger decreases after sticking with calorie restriction for a while? It seems like I acclimate after 10-14 days.

    oh, absolutely. my highest weight was 5 lbs away from overweigh, but I was never obese. now in maintenance and actually having to make sure to even eat enough to not lose more weight. I find it easy to not get anywhere close to overweight again because my appetite is less now. I just wasn't sure if this was true of everyone or if there was something to the link in the o.p. for people who have been obese. If everyone is like me and there are no lingering hunger pangs pushing them to be back to overweight/obese I don't even know why so many people get stuck regaining weight. The self control involved is not huge for me once the appetite isn't there.
  • Posts: 966 Member
    I think regains are common because people don't plan for what they will do after they hit their goal. Some go back to eating the way they always did pre-calorie deficit. It can be hard to know what to do. Especially if their diet was very restrictive!
  • Posts: 846 Member
    Because I get very hungry in the normal weight range. And I did when I was young, too, before I had to lose more than 20 pounds of vanity chub now and then. I remember demolishing massive amounts of food every time I let myself. Whole pizzas, three or four double cheeseburgers, gallons of soda, shipping containers of fries. I was always afflicted with a sweet tooth, which is why I had to lose weight in my teens and twenties from time to time, but once I started dieting my appetite exploded.

    Now I know why, because that's what studies show happens to us. If anyone who only has a few pounds to lose reads this, don't let it get worse, stomp down on the overeating and under-exercising now, and get that sweet tooth extracted, unless you want to risk a lifelong battle with your hunger.
  • Posts: 463 Member

    While it's true muscle mass generally decreases with weight loss, but it isn't true that cardio isn't good for long term fat loss. It's been proven over and over that maintaining an exercise regime (regardless of the type) is one of the best maintenance tactics. According to the National Weight Control Registry, a database of people who have successfully maintained the loss of at least 30 pounds for at least a year, the most common form of exercise is walking.

    Yeah, I know this is anecdotal, but I've turned back to running for maintenance. I've focused on improving as a runner and set some pretty aggressive-for-me long and short term goals. I've even reached out to a private running coach. While I get the importance of weight training and do some of it, i really think running is what's going to do it for me long-term. I know that in order to race my best i need to keep my weight down, so that's good motivation for me.

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  • Posts: 18,842 Member
    http://news.health.ufl.edu/2011/15154/multimedia/health-in-a-heartbeat/adults-can-grow-new-fat-cells-after-all-study-shows/

    http://www.thedoctorwillseeyounow.com/content/dieting/art3094.html

    Can't find the original study now.

    There were studies prior to the referenced 2008 one that seemed to say otherwise as to growing more, but that 2008 study seemed to be the turning point.

    Which has now turned back again.
  • Posts: 4,590 Member
    I think it's because people think their behavioral modifications are temporary and they return to their old habits, even if very slowly. You have to keep working out like a mad dog, and you have to keep tracking calories and nutrients for ever and ever amen as your lifestyle in order to keep the weight off. Not everybody wants to do that.... so they gain it back. Ain't nothing fair about it, I will say that. But it is what it is.
  • Posts: 5,446 Member
    edited February 2015
    ok well other than a permanently altered metabolism and the psychological strain of constantly monitoring food intake in a culture of abundance in late, time and soul destroying capitalism and resulting car-oriented cities,

    - injuries and illness
    - aging
    - childbirth
    - changes to work schedule/living/commuting arrangements that reduce amount of leisure time
    - like ^, irregularly disruptive life events (weddings/marriage, moving, travel) - all opportunities to slip back
  • Aviva92 wrote: »

    maybe, but if your maintenance decreases, your appetite should also decrease. the reason in that link seemed to be a better reason to me.

    So hold on, are you saying to stay at restricted calorie intake when you reach maintenance level instead of eating more calories to maintain?

  • Posts: 18,842 Member

    So hold on, are you saying to stay at restricted calorie intake when you reach maintenance level instead of eating more calories to maintain?

    Well, no.

    You eat more than what you ate while losing, you eat your deficit back.
    But you don't get to eat what was allowing you to maintain at heavier weight, if you want to maintain weight loss anyway.

    But the hunger should have gone down because maintenance on a smaller body would be less.

    Then again, if bigger body with no exercise is compared to smaller body with good workouts - which really burns more?
    Depends on amount of weight loss.
  • Posts: 9,562 Member
    tomatoey wrote: »
    ok well other than a permanently altered metabolism and the psychological strain of constantly monitoring food intake in a culture of abundance in late, time and soul destroying capitalism and resulting car-oriented cities,

    - injuries and illness
    - aging
    - childbirth
    - changes to work schedule/living/commuting arrangements that reduce amount of leisure time
    - like ^, irregularly disruptive life events (weddings/marriage, moving, travel) - all opportunities to slip back

    This made me giggle -- even though it is one the most depressing things I have seen in a while. Thanks. B)

  • Posts: 2,333 Member
    heybales wrote: »

    Well, no.

    You eat more than what you ate while losing, you eat your deficit back.
    But you don't get to eat what was allowing you to maintain at heavier weight, if you want to maintain weight loss anyway.

    But the hunger should have gone down because maintenance on a smaller body would be less.

    Then again, if bigger body with no exercise is compared to smaller body with good workouts - which really burns more?
    Depends on amount of weight loss.

    This
  • Posts: 5,760 Member
    belimawr wrote: »

    I haven't missed one of my 3am lunch break walks either. My thought is it's more to keeping moving than to the whole cold thing.

    I agree. I have a much easier time doing cardio during the cold months because I like to keep moving to stay warm. Once summer hits I really struggle with cardio because of the heat.
  • Posts: 47 Member
    stealthq wrote: »

    'Cause there's no way THAT could go horribly wrong. Can you imagine if there was an error with targeting location or shutting the things down?

    I think we've shifted genres from Sci-fi to horror.

    Maybe someone could just invent a machine like the one in Elysium that, rather than just cure cancer or a gaping hole in the face, rebuild a fat person at the molecular level so they are skinny. That way we could just eat whatever we want without consequences. ;)

  • Posts: 1,184 Member
    Personally, I find it easier to control my appetite when it's warm than when it's cold... and I doubt the tiny difference in calorie expenditure is worth it.
    Because food tastes good, that's why.
    \thread
  • Posts: 8,159 Member
    People regain the weight because they didn't make real habit changes. Sustainable changes.

    Moving to a new eating lifestyle is finally helping me to be hungry free while my weight drifts downward to a more healthy number month after month.

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  • Posts: 5,446 Member
    RodaRose wrote: »

    This made me giggle -- even though it is one the most depressing things I have seen in a while. Thanks. B)

    Lol :) Happy to have made you smile, RodaRose :)
  • Posts: 30 Member
    I haven't seen much talked about the SET WEIGHT for a while.

    It is something science is aware of but it is not something that is easy to say why about.

    Set weight is the weight you have been on average over the last 6 months. So when you go too far away from that set weight your body will set off alarms and go into preservation famine mode, then start storing, so if you give up loosing weight, your body will try to tak you back to the weight it feels is your proper weight, and then some to spare in case you do that again.

    This is why you SHOULD find short term goals maybe 3 monthly goals? reach them and learn to enjoy that weight for a while and do a short maintenance period, so that all the work you have done so far starts to become a part of setting a new Set weight.

    If you do ever arrive at your final goal weight, remember you haven't arrived for at least 6 months after that date because you need to fight your body to make it the NEW set weight.
This discussion has been closed.