Weight Loss and Metabolism Changes
 

I came across this article and found it really interesting. It seems to have some pretty strong evidence for what I've always suspected. Someone who loses 50lbs to get to 150, for example, will have to consume less calories to maintain than someone who has a similar weight without any weight loss effort.

I also found it interesting that the "hunger hormone" is about 20% more abundant in people who have lost a significant amount of weight, which also explains why maintenance can be so difficult.

I think this just reaffirms the idea that weight loss truly is a lifestyle change. One can't just lose weight then go back to "normal" after and expect to keep it off.

I can't actually post the link to this article because my post count isn't high enough. But if you go to the Google homepage and search 'New York Times the Fat Trap' it will be the first result.

wow..very interesting.

Its a common surveys which indicate most people are not happy with their weight or the shape of their body.Half of the female and quarter of the male in this country are currently trying to lose weight and reshape their bodies. On the other site its sad thing is that a majority of these people are going about it in the wrong way,the hard way—by dieting,though its does not work!Its throw away diet books which tell people can lose weight and keep it off without moving a muscle.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/01/ma...pagewanted=all

Here is the link.

I have to say that I think it is completely obvious that the amount of food that we consider "normal" isn't. We have been completely fooled. In the 1990s Nutrition facts were mandated and food manufacturers lobbied for higher "calories per day". But the fact is, that people in the 1950s were told that much less were required per day and serving sizes were much smaller.

Now when people eat *normally* they consume too many calories. This is why it is easy to gain it all back unless you are constantly on guard.

The question is... does it stay that way? I am not sure that it does. But I think you are right in that right after finishing a diet it does seem very hard not to want to eat a lot. But from what I have seen from maintainers.. if you keep it off for about 1 year... you will likely for a long time.

This is interesting.

As an aside, without taking vitamin pills, we do need to eat a fair bit -- with variety-- to ensure proper nutrition. Trouble is, decades/centuries ago, people physically worked much harder so if they could get/afford the variety, they were also meeting consumption with energy output. All that has changed with our more sedentary lifestyles.

This is something that I have grasped with finally making this change a lifestyle, not just temporary to lose pounds. I know from regaining almost all the weight I had lost to reach goal that you HAVE to make life changes, otherwise you will most likely gain it all back, plus more.

Meg, a former moderator here, went to a 'fat symposium' a few years ago that was led by some of the biggest names in the weight loss research field.
She shared something that really struck me - A formerly obese person, at goal or normal weight, burns about 20% fewer calories than someone at the same weight (gender, age, etc) who has always been at a normal weight. The body changes after obesity, and this makes it harder to maintain.

This article, published yesterday, explains that we have to work so much harder to keep weight off.

Thanks for posting that. So here is the question I wish they would hurry up and answer -- (1) why and (2) can we do anything to solve it?

ETA:
After thinking about this a little I thought to myself... why do we have to burn off 450 cals per day? Isn't it obvious that
(a) your body should not biologically want you obese?
(b) that if your body drastically changes... there may be a good reason why? It takes a lot of your body to change itself.
(c) if the reason you have to burn off 450 more calories per day is because you think you have to eat 450 calories extra per day, who says? Who says you have to eat that much? Isn't your body telling you clearly that you don't and shouldn't?

someone once told me that the less you eat, the less nutrients you need because the biggest thing you need nutrients for is digestion. So perhaps after losing weight, your body just needs less food. Given that your metabolism adjusts ...shouldn't that also mean that you should be less hungry?

Isn't metabolism dropping something that people want to happen? Suppressed metabolism has been shown to be good for you as it slows the aging process. I am referring to calorie restriction studies.

Isn't all evidence pointing to the rather obvious idea that we are eating too much? It just seems obvious to me.

I think there is something completely different going on. Digestion is the process of extracting nutrients from food so they can be transported to the rest of our body where they are needed, while the remains are expelled from the body. Our bodies will always need a lot of nutrients to function properly. Our brain, heart, skin.. every part of our body. If we cut back the calories too much, we are giving up foods that contain essential nutrients, such as antioxidants, that we need and our health will probably suffer down the road.

Regarding changing our metabolism later to that of someone who was never obese, I don't think we can. I think we have to accept it and learn to deal with it :) Still, we are all very unique and the exact amount of calories we need later will vary by person. Of course food is so much more than calories, which is why we need to eat the right foods for more nutrients while being careful of calories. Maintenance is still hard.

I think this is the biggest thing to take away from all of these studies, articles, etc. We have to accept that we're different and our dietary needs will forever be changed.

It's no different from people with medical conditions, really. Some have to forever watch their diets because their lives depend on it. Some have to forever take medication, go through therapy, dialysis, etc. I think I can appreciate the fact that I'm healthy and all I have to do is watch how much I eat.

It's just something we have to accept. We can kick, scream, and whine that it isn't fair, but it doesn't really matter! At the end of the day we need less calories and that's that :)

YUPPERS!