The science behind gaining it all back

grassette
grassette Posts: 976 Member
edited October 6 in Health and Weight Loss
A great article in the NYTimes:

"While researchers have known for decades that the body undergoes various metabolic and hormonal changes while it’s losing weight, the Australian team detected something new. A full year after significant weight loss, these men and women remained in what could be described as a biologically altered state. Their still-plump bodies were acting as if they were starving and were working overtime to regain the pounds they lost. For instance, a gastric hormone called ghrelin, often dubbed the “hunger hormone,” was about 20 percent higher than at the start of the study. Another hormone associated with suppressing hunger, peptide YY, was also abnormally low. Levels of leptin, a hormone that suppresses hunger and increases metabolism, also remained lower than expected. A cocktail of other hormones associated with hunger and metabolism all remained significantly changed compared to pre-dieting levels. It was almost as if weight loss had put their bodies into a unique metabolic state, a sort of post-dieting syndrome that set them apart from people who hadn’t tried to lose weight in the first place. "

Read the article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/magazine/tara-parker-pope-fat-trap.html?_r=1&hp
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Replies

  • koosdel
    koosdel Posts: 3,317 Member
    ..and to think I believed it was because I went back to old eating habits. I'm so glad its not my fault.
  • grassette
    grassette Posts: 976 Member
    Another quote: Note how much exercise is needed to keep it off!

    "There is no consistent pattern to how people in the registry lost weight — some did it on Weight Watchers, others with Jenny Craig, some by cutting carbs on the Atkins diet and a very small number lost weight through surgery. But their eating and exercise habits appear to reflect what researchers find in the lab: to lose weight and keep it off, a person must eat fewer calories and exercise far more than a person who maintains the same weight naturally. Registry members exercise about an hour or more each day — the average weight-loser puts in the equivalent of a four-mile daily walk, seven days a week. They get on a scale every day in order to keep their weight within a narrow range. They eat breakfast regularly. Most watch less than half as much television as the overall population. They eat the same foods and in the same patterns consistently each day and don’t “cheat” on weekends or holidays. They also appear to eat less than most people, with estimates ranging from 50 to 300 fewer daily calories. "
  • grassette
    grassette Posts: 976 Member
    On maintenance: "they also represent a tiny percentage of the tens of millions of people who have tried unsuccessfully to lose weight. “All it means is that there are rare individuals who do manage to keep it off,” Brownell says. “You find these people are incredibly vigilant about maintaining their weight. Years later they are paying attention to every calorie, spending an hour a day on exercise. They never don’t think about their weight.”
  • grassette
    grassette Posts: 976 Member
    "The research shows that the changes that occur after weight loss translate to a huge caloric disadvantage of about 250 to 400 calories. For instance, one woman who entered the Columbia studies at 230 pounds was eating about 3,000 calories to maintain that weight. Once she dropped to 190 pounds, losing 17 percent of her body weight, metabolic studies determined that she needed about 2,300 daily calories to maintain the new lower weight. That may sound like plenty, but the typical 30-year-old 190-pound woman can consume about 2,600 calories to maintain her weight — 300 more calories than the woman who dieted to get there.

    Scientists are still learning why a weight-reduced body behaves so differently from a similar-size body that has not dieted. Muscle biopsies taken before, during and after weight loss show that once a person drops weight, their muscle fibers undergo a transformation, making them more like highly efficient “slow twitch” muscle fibers. A result is that after losing weight, your muscles burn 20 to 25 percent fewer calories during everyday activity and moderate aerobic exercise than those of a person who is naturally at the same weight. That means a dieter who thinks she is burning 200 calories during a brisk half-hour walk is probably using closer to 150 to 160 calories. "
  • HonkyTonks
    HonkyTonks Posts: 1,193 Member
    That sucks... lol
  • grassette
    grassette Posts: 976 Member
    That sucks... lol

    Nope. It just says how wonderful this website is, and how it gives us to tools to fight a life-long battle.
  • Jeff92se
    Jeff92se Posts: 3,369 Member
    All more reason to weight train
  • anyonebutmehaha
    anyonebutmehaha Posts: 174
    whoa, i JUST had finished reading that 8 pg article and popped over here to MFP only to find this thread on top of the page. lol, well no need to do a search to see if it has been posted here now.
    was a very interesting read, although a bit depressing. i guess my days of eating whatever i felt like and never having to worry about weight are over even after i lose this 'post-accident recovery' recent weight gain... bummer.
  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
    On maintenance: "they also represent a tiny percentage of the tens of millions of people who have tried unsuccessfully to lose weight. “All it means is that there are rare individuals who do manage to keep it off,” Brownell says. “You find these people are incredibly vigilant about maintaining their weight. Years later they are paying attention to every calorie, spending an hour a day on exercise. They never don’t think about their weight.”

    Well, my obsessive tendencies will be useful anyway.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    This is why you diet slowly, and take breaks every so often to eat at maintenance. It prevents the hormonal problems, by allowing them to reset, rather than keeping at it long term and causing all kinds of havoc.

    And yes, strength training helps. If the muscle you have gets more efficient, just add more to make up the difference. :wink:
  • HonkyTonks
    HonkyTonks Posts: 1,193 Member
    hmmm, that sounds like the way to go about it - lose weight slowly, sometimes eat at maintenance and do strength training.
  • threeforagirl
    threeforagirl Posts: 39
    This is why you diet slowly, and take breaks every so often to eat at maintenance. It prevents the hormonal problems, by allowing them to reset, rather than keeping at it long term and causing all kinds of havoc.

    And yes, strength training helps. If the muscle you have gets more efficient, just add more to make up the difference. :wink:

    I had never thought to do the maintenance thing every so often. My sister and I are starting a new "competition" from Jan-March, I guess I'll do maintenance for a while before we start up the next one. Seems like a good idea.
  • iuew
    iuew Posts: 624 Member
    Another quote: Note how much exercise is needed to keep it off!

    "There is no consistent pattern to how people in the registry lost weight — some did it on Weight Watchers, others with Jenny Craig, some by cutting carbs on the Atkins diet and a very small number lost weight through surgery. But their eating and exercise habits appear to reflect what researchers find in the lab: to lose weight and keep it off, a person must eat fewer calories and exercise far more than a person who maintains the same weight naturally. Registry members exercise about an hour or more each day — the average weight-loser puts in the equivalent of a four-mile daily walk, seven days a week. They get on a scale every day in order to keep their weight within a narrow range. They eat breakfast regularly. "

    this.
  • UpEarly
    UpEarly Posts: 2,555 Member
    What a depressing article.

    So basically, my hormones are going to make me inclined to be fat forever? I'm going to have to count every calorie I put in my mouth for the rest of my life? And, I have to exercise twice as much as 'normal' people?
  • ncole3
    ncole3 Posts: 164
    bump...
  • JamieSK
    JamieSK Posts: 266 Member
    Great article...I think! :wink:
  • ejohndrow
    ejohndrow Posts: 1,399 Member
    hmmm, that sounds like the way to go about it - lose weight slowly, sometimes eat at maintenance and do strength training.
    I lost about 20 lbs from July-October and I've been maintaining it since then, now I'm back to logging to try and lose another 10 or so. Sure it's been slow, but I've maintained it so that's what matters in the end, and I think the strength training and workouts I've done has a lot to do with it.
  • geekymom57
    geekymom57 Posts: 176 Member
    What a depressing article.

    So basically, my hormones are going to make me inclined to be fat forever? I'm going to have to count every calorie I put in my mouth for the rest of my life? And, I have to exercise twice as much as 'normal' people?
    I initially had the same reaction when I read the article earlier today. Then I rethought it and realized well, I guess that helps explain why it has always been so hard for me to keep weight off after I lose it. And it also potentially validates what I had thought for some time: I simply can't eat as much as other people.

    It also confirmed what I'd concluded from my months on MFP and not losing anywhere near what "should" be the case based on calorie intake, exercise, etc.: I will probably need to be (almost) this attentive to my intake the rest of my life. It did give me inspiration to keep going, though, because it doesn't say one can't lose the weight and can't keep it off--it's just a lot harder.
  • Pams_Shadow
    Pams_Shadow Posts: 233 Member
    bump
  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
    What a depressing article.

    So basically, my hormones are going to make me inclined to be fat forever? I'm going to have to count every calorie I put in my mouth for the rest of my life? And, I have to exercise twice as much as 'normal' people?

    It is depressing, no doubt. I was already trying my best to think of a career that would let me be physically active all of the time and now I'm doubly determined to find one. If I gotta sweat all day to get and stay fit, might as well get paid for it!
  • micneg01
    micneg01 Posts: 147 Member
    bump
  • MaximalLife
    MaximalLife Posts: 2,447 Member
    A great article in the NYTimes:

    "While researchers have known for decades that the body undergoes various metabolic and hormonal changes while it’s losing weight, the Australian team detected something new. A full year after significant weight loss, these men and women remained in what could be described as a biologically altered state. Their still-plump bodies were acting as if they were starving and were working overtime to regain the pounds they lost. For instance, a gastric hormone called ghrelin, often dubbed the “hunger hormone,” was about 20 percent higher than at the start of the study. Another hormone associated with suppressing hunger, peptide YY, was also abnormally low. Levels of leptin, a hormone that suppresses hunger and increases metabolism, also remained lower than expected. A cocktail of other hormones associated with hunger and metabolism all remained significantly changed compared to pre-dieting levels. It was almost as if weight loss had put their bodies into a unique metabolic state, a sort of post-dieting syndrome that set them apart from people who hadn’t tried to lose weight in the first place. "

    Read the article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/magazine/tara-parker-pope-fat-trap.html?_r=1&hp
    We are still without excuse though.

    All of these factors can be easily overcome with continued willpower, hard work and discipline.
  • annabellj
    annabellj Posts: 1,337 Member
    definitely bump this baby!
  • MaximalLife
    MaximalLife Posts: 2,447 Member
    What a depressing article.

    So basically, my hormones are going to make me inclined to be fat forever? I'm going to have to count every calorie I put in my mouth for the rest of my life? And, I have to exercise twice as much as 'normal' people?
    I pity those normal people.
    I'd never trade places with them, because my victory over this very struggle made me strong.

    I am stronger than them, and it's reflected in all the other areas of life where I excel way beyond the comfort zone normality.
  • Sorova
    Sorova Posts: 101 Member
    Registry members exercise about an hour or more each day — the average weight-loser puts in the equivalent of a four-mile daily walk, seven days a week. They get on a scale every day in order to keep their weight within a narrow range. They eat breakfast regularly. Most watch less than half as much television as the overall population. They eat the same foods and in the same patterns consistently each day and don’t “cheat” on weekends or holidays. They also appear to eat less than most people, with estimates ranging from 50 to 300 fewer daily calories. "

    This doesn't sound depressing at all to me. In fact, it sounds like exactly the sort of lifestyle I want to live: less sitting on a couch, more physical activity, and regular, healthy meals. To me it sounds like these people have a higher than average quality of life.

    I accepted a while ago that I will probably need to pay attention to my weight for the rest of my life. At first I felt frustrated, but then I realized: I've been paying attention to my weight my whole life already. I've thought about it every day when I got dressed, when I tried to squeeze into a small chair, and when I felt out of breath going up stairs. I'd much rather think about it from the other side of the problem, you know? And the added benefit is that I'll probably end up eating healthier than most people, because I'll be paying attention. We just need to look on the bright side.
  • DevanEve
    DevanEve Posts: 130
    This doesn't sound depressing at all to me. In fact, it sounds like exactly the sort of lifestyle I want to live: less sitting on a couch, more physical activity, and regular, healthy meals. To me it sounds like these people have a higher than average quality of life.

    I accepted a while ago that I will probably need to pay attention to my weight for the rest of my life. At first I felt frustrated, but then I realized: I've been paying attention to my weight my whole life already. I've thought about it every day when I got dressed, when I tried to squeeze into a small chair, and when I felt out of breath going up stairs. I'd much rather think about it from the other side of the problem, you know? And the added benefit is that I'll probably end up eating healthier than most people, because I'll be paying attention. We just need to look on the bright side.

    I agree with this. At first it was upsetting but after looking at it from this point of view I completely understand. I guess my response is: heck yes to staying healthy and fit for the rest of my life! :bigsmile:
  • IvoryParchment
    IvoryParchment Posts: 651 Member
    It's really not news; they're just finding the hormones that explain it -- which may lead to better ways to deal with the problem, and less room for scammers trying to sell weight loss miracle products that don't work, getting away with junk science because there's so little established science.

    I was reading a similar article from two years ago (I'm slow) about leptin. People born without leptin are constantly hungry and become massively obese from childhood. Give them leptin and they lose weight easily. But most obese people don't have low levels of leptin and don't lose weight when they are given more -- they just get lower levels when they lose weight. They seem to have reduced sensitivity to leptin. A thin person who overeats has increased leptin levels and stops eating. An obese person has increased leptin levels and continues to eat.

    Insulin is similar. Obese diabetics have plenty of insulin, but don't respond as much to it. Exercise, weight loss, and certain medications make them more sensitive to insulin.

    By defining the problem with appetite related hormones, we can begin to look for the factors that influence them.
  • mhotch
    mhotch Posts: 901 Member
    SAVE
  • TourThePast
    TourThePast Posts: 1,753 Member
    This doesn't sound depressing at all to me. In fact, it sounds like exactly the sort of lifestyle I want to live: less sitting on a couch, more physical activity, and regular, healthy meals. To me it sounds like these people have a higher than average quality of life.
    Exactly.

    I discovered years ago that my maintenance intake is very low, exacerbated in my case by being very short and light, so unless I want to end up fat again, the only positive way forward is me to keep this healthy lifestyle and frankly that's not entirely a bad thing.
  • Bellyroll
    Bellyroll Posts: 316
    So is it good that I am eating at maintenance for what my goal weight should be?
This discussion has been closed.

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