Why We Gain The Weight Back After A Diet

Hello! How’s it going? I am super busy this week! I’m never busy, but suddenly I have 26 things to do when I’m usually just running and eating and hanging out with Vegas. I’ll take what I can get, so I’m not complaining but I’m nervous about two of the things I have on schedule. I was asked to speak at a local distance training club’s meeting about training and weight loss. This is a solo speaking gig for 40 minutes. I’m super scared.

Then, I’ll be at a social summit conference on a panel on Thursday. I’m glad that’s a panel session!

I put together my presentation for the club, and I feel like I know the topic well but I’m still very nervous.

Since I knew it was going to be a busy week I did a lot of meal prep on Sunday night. I baked chicken and sweet potatoes and cooked up some green bean fries. I also made protein pancake bites.

Ben and I also went shopping for a few things and happened to pass by a See’s Candy. We ate them while shopping all classy like.

Why We Gain The Weight Back

The real reason for this quick post is the Biggest Loser Weight Gain article. I heard about this article from a few different media outlets yesterday and looked it up. The author was on NPR yesterday too. It was so interesting – and kind of discouraging for the weight loss contestants. Did you read it?

Biggest Loser Contestants Gain Weight Back via NY Times

And here’s a link to the study in the Journal of Obesity.

Today I had a conference call for my health coaching class and someone brought it up (it wasn’t the topic of the call at all but it was on a lot of our minds). We talked about how discouraging it could be for the person who lost weight to then gain it back AND have a slower metabolic rate. It just doesn’t seem fair.

To put it in a very tiny nutshell:

The people who lost weight now have a slower metabolic weight than someone else their size. This means they must eat something like 500 to 800 calories less than another person of the same size to maintain their weight. This is the same as you going out with friends for a couple beers and them being fine but you gaining ten pounds over a few months.

The body wants to get back to a weight it’s comfortable with – and sometimes that is a heavy weight (relative to the size of the person).

My thoughts: Well, if this is a scientific study then you can’t exactly argue with it. But you shouldn’t give up either. I think remembering that HEALTH should be the priority helps. Your body might fight a number on the scale. The more important thing is how you FEEL, if your blood pressure and blood sugar readings are healthy, your health risks, etc.

And it is empowering to have information so you can help yourself reach your goals. Every body is different. I don’t think metabolic syndrome or slowing of the metabolism 100%  happens to everyone. The readings fluctuated with each person and it was a small study. It’s important to listen to your body and do what you need to in order to feel and be healthy.

Thoughts? Did you read this?

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