Healthy Weight Loss

Why People Who Lose Weight Gain It Back

Losing weight is a continuous process that requires consistency, discipline, sacrifice, and determination. It entails taking a little step at a time. It is no news that people tend to regain weight after losing it. It has now become a cycle such that an individual, after much effort loses weight, stops the diet, and gains the weight back. 

According to numerous studies, about 90 percent of people who already achieved weight loss gained it back. Another study found out that people who achieved weight loss tend to get more hungry than necessary. 

In this article, we will look into the reasons why people who lose weight gain it back. 

Kevin Hall (Ph.D., MD)- a researcher- specialized in studying the response of the body to weight loss at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda. He found out that there is an increase in appetite after weight loss which contributes to weight gain. After weight loss, the body finds a way to regain the lost calories. For every two pounds lost, the body demands about 100 calories a day to make up for the lost pounds. That is why after working so hard to stay away from brownies and donuts, you find yourself eating it after you stopped dieting. 

Here below are a few reasons why people who lose weight gain it back. 

Sustainability 

Sustainability entails your ability to maintain your diet. This is where many individuals go wrong. They find it challenging to be consistent with their diet. As you lose weight, you have to continue with the diet. Putting a stop to the diet after some time will mostly result in weight gain. It is hard to lose weight, and even harder to maintain. You have to keep up with your food consumption and avoid eating outside your diet guidelines. 

Another reason individuals are unable to maintain their weight after losing it is that they embarked on an unrealistic diet. What’s an unrealistic diet? An unrealistic diet involves the type of eating that cannot be sustained for a long time. WebMD mentioned five types of unrealistic diets: 

  • Diets that focus on only a few foods or food groups
  • Diets including very low-calorie foods
  • Diets that include taking pills or medication for  weight loss
  • Diets that tell you that you will lose 1000 pounds in two weeks.
  • Detox diets 

These diets may work but are impossible to maintain, thereby causing more weight gain. 

Food Metabolism 

The body requires energy to perform well. Food is our energy fuel. When you’re on a diet, the body cannot differentiate between an intentional fast or starvation. It simply reduces the rate of food metabolism such that the body retains food consumed for some time. This is a way of adapting to the current situation of food consumption, leaving an energy gap. When the diet is eventually over or stopped abruptly, the body starts to demand those calories lost to fill up the energy gap. It is not your fault that you regain the weight back after losing them. Your body is trying to reach or achieve a state of energy balance. 

Exercise 

This is one of the most common ways people try to lose weight. They subject themselves to daily workout sessions coupled with low-calorie foods and some medications. Some even overexercise to lose more calories within a short time. This is a good way of burning unnecessary fat, but it can be termed bad. Overexercising is an excellent method because it gives a fast result. However, on the other hand, it is a bad choice in the sense that your body system somewhat responds to this change and increases the rate of metabolism. Once there is an increase in metabolism rate, the body demands more calories for sustainability and energy refill. The only way you can maintain the weight loss is if you can keep up with the same exercise forever. This is impossible. 

To maintain your weight loss, you need to engage yourself with “enough” exercise. You need to find the right amount of exercise you can continue for a long time. Experts advise that to maintain weight loss. You need to engage yourself in rigorous exercise for about 150 minutes to 250 minutes per week. Also, if you’re trying to lose weight, 225 to 450 minutes per week is enough, coupled with a low-carb diet

Lifestyle 

This aspect talks about what you engage yourself in daily. Do you sit at home all day binge-watching movies and TV shows? That’s the reason why you regain weight after all the effort you put into losing it. People that sit down all day idle tend to consume more calories in the form of snacks and fast foods. While at home on your off-days, try to engage in something productive like reading, sleeping, doing small chores, and so on. This will keep you active. 

Simple Tips on How To Maintain Weight Loss

It is easier to lose weight than maintain weight loss.  Below are a few tips that can help you to maintain weight loss. 

  • Focus on living a healthy life. Most people focus on the amount of calorie intake, the food they consume, and so on. These are the things that can help you lose weight or maintain, but it shouldn’t be the main focus. Your drive to achieve a goal matters a lot. Ensure your focus is to live a healthy life. 
  • Stress. Try to reduce stress. Stress has been ranked as one of the top reasons why people eat more. Avoid overworking yourself every time, don’t stay up late for no good reason. All these contribute to overeating or unhealthy eating. 
  • Sleep. Sleep is a way of resting your entire body system. When you don’t sleep well, your body can respond by demanding more food. Sleep or rest for at least seven hours a day. It doesn’t have to be at a time. You can divide it throughout the day. 
  • Exercise. Your body also needs exercise to maintain weight loss. This has been partly explained above. There is a need to emphasize more on it. Exercise regularly and be consistent. This would make you healthy, fit and in good shape. 
  • Diet. This comes in last because it won’t work if all the other factors are not in place. Your diet should include healthy foods and food low in carbs. You can design a meal plan to achieve this. 

Weight regain can be said to be the body’s response to low consumption- dieting. Avoid embarking on unrealistic diets that are impossible to sustain. Exercise moderately and consistently, avoid overstressing your body, sleep well, and focus on living a healthy lifestyle. All these contribute to weight loss maintenance. 

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