What's Eating You?

In the first part of this three part series, I wrote about how our country got fat (2/3 of the population is overweight and that percentage is rising!). In this article, I will explore the industry of diets. Most of us have tried at least one in an attempt to lose weight. Unfortunately, these fad diets rarely work the way we want them to: permanent weight loss and physique improvement. People try diets for many reasons:

• To look better
• To feel better
• To wear a swimsuit
• A big event like weddings
• To improve health
• to improve attractiveness for dating
• To fit into old clothes/dresses

The list goes on and on.Whatever the reason, people turn to these fad diets in an attempt to lose weight. These diets are low calorie plans masquerading as the magic secret. They all have a gimmick. They diet industry knows it's much easier to lose weight than to keep it off and that's why they are always about losing weight: not keeping it off.

 Diets work perfectly for that function: Losing weight. What they don't do is help you maintain the weight loss. After following a diet successfully, many people slowly return to their previous lifestyle (most diets are suggested to last a 4-12 weeks). After gaining the weight back, another diet is attempted. This is known as "yo-yo dieting". It is a very common occurrence and can be demoralizing, stressful, and dangerous to your health.

Diets are great for losing weight, but they don't tell you how to maintain that weight loss. Why would they? If everyone successfully lost the weight and kept it off, they would run out of customers.

The diets, like the junk food that brings you to them, are marketed through celebrities. The ads are telling you that all you have to do is follow the diet and you can have a body like them. The hard truth is that it takes so much more than a 12 week calorie restriction.

DO THEY WORK?

I know your probably thinking "I'm glad that part is over. Which Diet really works?" Unfortunately, this uphill battle is going to get a little steeper. The Diet fad that has swept the nation over the last 60 years is no more honest than Tony The Tiger. As America gets fatter, so do the pockets of the people telling you they have the diet that really works this time. There are thousands of them out there, all claiming to be the miracle plan: to have all the answers to your weight loss. I'm about to get brutally honest with you: They are all the same.

Let's break it down a little. In a previous post I explained that there are three macro nutrients:

• Fat,
• Carbohydrates
• Protein.

If you look at each one of these diets, all they are really doing is having you eliminate one of these macro nutrients for a certain period of time. The problem with this is that our body requires all three of these macro nutrients for our bodily functions.

Another common plan of fad diets is to lower caloric intake by extreme amounts. This type of diet puts your body into starvation mode. The problem with this diet is that your body's metabolism slows to a crawl, lean muscle mass is metabolized first for fuel, brain activity slows, and energy levels drop dramatically. This type of diet is dangerous and counter-productive. Upon stopping this diet, your body stores ALL extra calories as a means of survival, making you quickly regain much of the weight lost, if not more. Through these diets you will lose weight, but it is typically muscle and water loss, not fat.

THE SET POINT

Set point theory is a theory that the body maintains its normal weight and body fat level with internal regulatory controls that dictate how much fat one has. According to the set point theory, some individuals have a high setting, meaning they tend to have a naturally higher weight as a set point, and others have a low set point, and therefore a naturally lower body weight. If you are overweight and hover around the same weight for years, you will find that to be your set point.

The set point theory suggests that despite dieting efforts, the body tends to return to its set point weight, however regular, consistent exercise may help to adjust the natural set point.

Lets imagine there are two women having lunch together. They are the same height, have the same features, and both are 140 lbs. However, one has always been at that weight and the other got there by a 15% body mass decrease through dieting (and exercise). The women who has always been that weight can eat 2200 calories/day to maintain her weight. The women who got to that weight through weight loss can only consume 1600 calories/day to maintain that weight. That is because her body wants to return to it's set point.

I know this may all seem daunting and demoralizing, but it can be done and it gets better from here. In Part three of this series, I will explain how you can lose the weight safely and properly, and KEEP IT OFF!