Have you lost weight before on a diet and then gained it all back within a year? Maybe you ended up even heavier that you were before the diet? Most people, when they lose weight on a calorie restrictive diet (one in which you count calories and don’t go above a certain level) will regain all their lost fat and more. This is very common and it may be natural reaction of your body to a weight change.
A new study funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council and published at the New England Journal of Medicine finds that your hormone levels may have a lot to do with your ability to keep the weight off.
The study involved 50 patients who were either obese or overweight and did not suffer from diabetes. They were place on a 10 week long diet that was very low energy. That means it was a diet that was very low in calories. As you would expect, the patients did lose weight during the 10 week study. Along with the lose in weight they experience several changes in hormone levels. Some of these hormones control body functions like appetite and energy usage.
It appears as though this is another vote for the idea that obese people have a body weight set point that is higher than normal. This means their body actively wants to stay at a higher weight level. The changes in hormones act to increase appetite after weight loss and to slow down energy usage, also referred to as metabolism. Thus we want to eat more and yet it takes less food to actually fuel our bodies. As we increase the amount of food we take in after the diet, and since our body is being more efficient, we pack the pounds of fat back on.
So the fact that you lost weight but couldn’t keep it off may have nothing to do with your willpower. It may just be your body trying to get back the fat it lost.
How A Low Carb Lifestyle Can Help
As I have said before, diets of any kind are destined to fail because they do not offer a long term solution. This study is proof that if we lose weight by restricting calories, then we are more likely to regain the weight within a year.
I like a low carb solution because it does too things. First, the higher levels of fats and proteins keep me feeling full longer. This mean even as I lose weight my appetite does not become a problem. I feel full most of the time and when I feel like eating I am actually hungry and I can eat enough to feel full. This may mean that a person eating a low carb menu may not have as much problem with appetite after they lose the weight.
Also, on a low carb eating plan you can eat as much as you want within reason. This seems to keep the body happy and it doesn’t crave sugary or starchy foods. This can counteract the natural tendency of our body to try to eat more.
By continuing with a low carb lifestyle instead of returning to our old eating habits we may be able to counteract the effects of these hormones that try to make us gain the weight back.