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Weight Regain After Weight Loss
 The
formula for successful
weight loss is deceptively simple. To lose weight you must burn off more
energy than you take in from food. You will lose one pound of
body fat every time you
eat 3500 fewer
calories than
your body burns off. To achieve this, you don't need to know the exact amount of
calories your body is burning off or taking in. As long as you correctly guess
you're eating fewer calories than your body is burning off, you will lose
weight.
You need to determine how many
calories your body are burning off everyday. By doing this you will be able to
properly adjust the calories you are eating to maintain control of your
weight. You
also need an easy and inexpensive way to determine how much of your weight loss
is
muscle
and how much is body
fat.
The more muscle, the more calories you burn at rest.
Factors responsible for weight
regain
-
Biological
factor - To a large extent, the weight we are is determined by genes.
More than 300 genes (so far) have been linked with
obesity. Where our fat
is deposited, how insulin is regulated, how much of various hormones our
bodies secrete, and many, many more. Similarly, the regulation of appetite
is complex. It's important to understand what is known about it, because
what we eat and how we eat it can affect appetite on a short-term basis. One
example: a major short term satiety regulator is cholecystokinin, or CCK.
When we eat fat or protein, CCK is released, slowing down the
digestive process
and dampening our appetites. Interestingly, soluble fiber can slow down the
breakdown of CCK, keeping us feeling satisfied for longer.
Hormones like
Ghrelin, Insulin, leptin, resistin also play a significant role in weight loss
and
weight regain.
Ghrelin is a hormone that is secreted from at least two places - the stomach and
the brain - and is a trigger for the feeling of hunger. Ghrelin levels go up
before meals, and down after meals. After weight loss, ghrelin levels don't go
down as much after a meal and are quicker to rise. It's turning out that
stomach surgery
for obesity decreases ghrelin secretion - in fact, this is likely the most
important reason surgery works well when it is successful.
Some medical conditions tend to
cause weight gain. Among them are hypothyroidism, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS),
and Cushings Disease. Successful treatment of the underlying
condition
should at least partially alleviate the weight problem.
-
 Unrealistic
Expectations: Figures quoted by the weight loss industry reinforce the
idea that rapid weight loss can be healthy, when in fact it makes it more
likely that weight lost will be regained. Scientific reviews of the
literature suggest that a 10% reduction in weight taking approximately 6
months should be the maximum rate of initial weight loss. After 6 months, a
serious reevaluation should take place. This means that for anyone who has a
starting weight under 260, a goal of losing one pound per week is too fast.
In general, slow weight loss, including
plateaus and stalls, help the body adjust to the change and lessen the
chances of triggering counter-reactions. Realistically, maintaining a weight
loss requires the same effort (or more), with a similar diet and exercise
program as weight loss. In fact, most people need MORE exercise to maintain
the weight loss than
 they did to lose it. This is why concentrating on
finding a "diet for life" is crucial.
-
Dietary
Pattern: Women generally tend to land up with
yo-yo
dieting in order to
lose weight, which does more harm than good. Skipping meals in order to lose
weight makes you crave, overeat at the next meal, and it slows down your
metabolism, which
ultimately hinders weight loss. A low
carbohydrate diet causes
weight loss because of restricted kilojoules or energy. These diets
basically starve the body of the nutrients it needs and causes major
metabolic disturbances to the body.
-
 Physical
Activity:
Exercise
is absolutely essential for long term weight loss. The trouble is, we tend
to go about it the wrong way. A new exercise gym opens, and we
enthusiastically join up, do too much too fast, get sore, and 6 months later
we have nothing to show for the money we spent. Or we just set goals that
are too high, and don't adequately integrate them into our schedules. Or we
are doing well for awhile, and then and illness or change of schedule
derails us.
-
 Support
System: All of us need support and encouragement in order to achieve
long term and short term weight loss goals. Studies have shown that dietary
changes are very difficult to maintain without the support of those around
us, and that talking to people who are attempting similar changes can be
enormously helpful. Encouragement in form of
motivation
to keep you on track is essential for long lasting success. People often go
on diets for short-term goals - they want to lose weight for a reunion, a
wedding, a vacation. It's not surprising that the results they get are
short-term as well. It is far better to wait until you are ready to make a
real, permanent change, and then do it in a way that is most likely to bring
about long-term success. To be motivated, you don't need to be "fired up" or
"excited". Those emotions won't sustain you over the long haul anyway. You
just need the calm, certain conviction that you are ready for a real change.
At that point, we can help you take those slow, steady steps. A move, a job
change, the loss of a loved one - these are only a few of the possible life
events that can throw you off track. The more firmly established your new
patterns are, the less likely a curve will throw you off, and more than ever
we must get support from others to hold the "slow and steady course".
To avoid regaining
weight (or not
gaining extra weight in the first place), the energy your body burns off must
equal the energy you take in from food. To achieve this it is essential that you
feed yourself exactly the same amount of calories as your body burns off. In
this way, there will be no surplus calories left over to be stored as extra
weight. But, how can you guess this amount of calories? In order to balance your
calories, you need to work with specific numbers.
The balance between the number of
calories coming into your body and the number of calories your body burns off is
known as your energy balance. Controlling your energy balance is like
controlling your bank account. If you ignore looking at the specific numbers in
your bank account and just try to guess that the money coming into your account
equals the money going out…well, do you see the problem? And yet, this is how
millions of people attempt to manage their weight every day!
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