Why is regaining weight so common????

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  • belimawr
    belimawr Posts: 1,155 Member
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    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.
  • Aviva92
    Aviva92 Posts: 2,333 Member
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    bmanlatour wrote: »
    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.

    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.
  • CoffeeNBooze
    CoffeeNBooze Posts: 966 Member
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    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!
  • Jolinia
    Jolinia Posts: 846 Member
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    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.
  • arussell134
    arussell134 Posts: 463 Member
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    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.

    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.

  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    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.
  • gothchiq
    gothchiq Posts: 4,598 Member
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    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.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    edited February 2015
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    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
  • BobbiTracey
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    Aviva92 wrote: »
    bmanlatour wrote: »
    Maintaining a calorie restricted diet for a long time does 2 things that contribute to regaining lost weight.

    1. You lose muscle mass. You aren't eating enough protein so you have a negative nitrogen balance. You body breaks down muscle for use in making other proteins. Less muscle lowers your resting metabolic rate.

    2. You body becomes more efficient at living off of less calories. While calorie calculators say you are going to lose 2 lbs per week, you have acclimated to a lower calorie intake in addition to losing muscle mass.

    You reach your goal. Then you try to return to a maintenance level of calories. You are well adjusted to a low caloric intake at 2000 calories. Now you start eating 2500 calories like a normal person of your weight and size. Your body treats the 500 calories like a surplus. 500 calories for 7 days equals 3500. 3500 calories is the estimated energy in 1 lb of adipose tissue! Your muscles are tiny so they can't hold much glycogen and haven't been stimulated by exercise so they don't need anything protein synthesis. Guess where it goes: adipose tissue.

    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?

  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    Aviva92 wrote: »
    bmanlatour wrote: »
    Maintaining a calorie restricted diet for a long time does 2 things that contribute to regaining lost weight.

    1. You lose muscle mass. You aren't eating enough protein so you have a negative nitrogen balance. You body breaks down muscle for use in making other proteins. Less muscle lowers your resting metabolic rate.

    2. You body becomes more efficient at living off of less calories. While calorie calculators say you are going to lose 2 lbs per week, you have acclimated to a lower calorie intake in addition to losing muscle mass.

    You reach your goal. Then you try to return to a maintenance level of calories. You are well adjusted to a low caloric intake at 2000 calories. Now you start eating 2500 calories like a normal person of your weight and size. Your body treats the 500 calories like a surplus. 500 calories for 7 days equals 3500. 3500 calories is the estimated energy in 1 lb of adipose tissue! Your muscles are tiny so they can't hold much glycogen and haven't been stimulated by exercise so they don't need anything protein synthesis. Guess where it goes: adipose tissue.

    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?

    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.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
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    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)

  • Aviva92
    Aviva92 Posts: 2,333 Member
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    heybales wrote: »
    Aviva92 wrote: »
    bmanlatour wrote: »
    Maintaining a calorie restricted diet for a long time does 2 things that contribute to regaining lost weight.

    1. You lose muscle mass. You aren't eating enough protein so you have a negative nitrogen balance. You body breaks down muscle for use in making other proteins. Less muscle lowers your resting metabolic rate.

    2. You body becomes more efficient at living off of less calories. While calorie calculators say you are going to lose 2 lbs per week, you have acclimated to a lower calorie intake in addition to losing muscle mass.

    You reach your goal. Then you try to return to a maintenance level of calories. You are well adjusted to a low caloric intake at 2000 calories. Now you start eating 2500 calories like a normal person of your weight and size. Your body treats the 500 calories like a surplus. 500 calories for 7 days equals 3500. 3500 calories is the estimated energy in 1 lb of adipose tissue! Your muscles are tiny so they can't hold much glycogen and haven't been stimulated by exercise so they don't need anything protein synthesis. Guess where it goes: adipose tissue.

    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?

    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
  • tulips_and_tea
    tulips_and_tea Posts: 5,714 Member
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    belimawr wrote: »
    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.

    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.
  • jmichaelminton
    jmichaelminton Posts: 47 Member
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    stealthq wrote: »
    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?

    '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. ;)

  • Slacker16
    Slacker16 Posts: 1,184 Member
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    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
  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,160 Member
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    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.

  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
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    RodaRose wrote: »
    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)

    Lol :) Happy to have made you smile, RodaRose :)
  • PMLeigh
    PMLeigh Posts: 30 Member
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    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.