Why Does the Weight Come Back?

In this example, if your typical daily calorific intake is 2000 calories, in around 30 days you would put on between 4-5 pounds of fat!

Let's say, you then decide to go on a restrictive diet and halve your calorific consumption to 1,000 calories per day. You would now require 110 x 12, that is, 1

Before many Australians recently, a devastating story unfolded on a popular current employment program.

We watched with acceptance as the fattest man in Australia told of his most recent, serious accept to lose weight. say 12 months earlier and weighing main road to 300 kilos, he under went surgery and had his stomach stapled.

I doubt there would have been one person watching not moved by this man's depression and plight. Despite undergoing the surgery, today he could inappreciably get through each day, both physically and mentally. He shared with us his sense of hopelessness and wanting to end it all.

It was not only his size that was causing his depression. He had to deal with a heart suppressed by disappointment.

You see, the stomach stapling had been a success.

He soon lost well over 50 kilos post operation and he and his family rejoiced. But then the unthinkable happened.

The weight came back. Today he weighs well over 300 kilos - more than in the past the stomach stapling.

This is an extreme case, but nonetheless raises a question that so many people continue to action with.

After a diet, why does the weight come back so quickly?

To advance this we need to understand how much energy a body requires. For each pound you weigh, each day you need 12 calories to maintain your body weight. If you weigh 120 pounds you will need 120 x 12 calories, that is, 1440 calories per day to maintain that body weight. If you eat or drink more calories than your body requires, the excess energy is stored as fat. It takes 3,600 excess calories to make one pound of fat.

In this example, if your typical daily calorific intake is 2000 calories, in roughly 30 days you would put on mid 4-5 pounds of fat!

Let's say, you then decide to go on a restrictive diet and halve your calorific consumption to 1,000 calories per day. You stay on this diet for near upon a month and lose 10 pounds and now weigh 110 pounds. You feel fantastic with respect to losing the weight but can't keep up such a restrictive regime now you are irritable and have no energy.

So you go off your diet and go back to your usual routine of 2,000 calories a day. Remember you are lighter now and your body requires less energy to maintain its new weight. You would now require 110 x 12, that is, 1320 calories per day.

In this instance, by consuming 2000 calories daily, cause you are lighter than before, you would put the weight back on in just 24-25 days!

If you want to keep the weight off you must develop a consistent diversification in eating habits to ensure you do not consume more than your body requires. You cannot continue to eat the same quantities and/or combinations of foods that made you to be overweight in the first place. This will require developing an understanding of the nutritional content of food and raising your body's metabolism through increased muscle mass and exercise.

(c) Copyright Kim Beardsmore