Patricia Thompson - NUTRITION TALKIT IS so easy to start a new diet but many a New Year's resolution to lose weight is often abandoned before the end of January. This is because the people making the resolutions have not yet grasped the notion that dieting, especially for weight management, is a long-term process.
The frequent loss and regain of weight, known as 'weight cycling', is bad for your health. It is healthier to remain slightly overweight but of constant weight than to engage in weight cycling.
Weight cycling studies with rats show that when 'dieting' rats return to usual eating, they show a greater preference for high-fat foods and they are more efficient at extracting this fat from the food than rats who did not 'diet'. They also have a tendency to eat more food than normal and hence weight gain is more than would have been if the weight cycling was not done. A modest rate of weight loss allows the body to make the necessary hormonal and behavioural adaptations so that the loss is maintained.
GRADUAL ADAPTATION
It appears that each adult person, under normal circumstances, has a specific body size that is closely regulated internally so that body weight will vary very little from this norm for a number of years. This is known as your 'happy' weight or set point. If for any reason you should temporarily gain weight, such as with pregnancy, your body will strive to regain the original weight when normal eating is resumed. However, if you stay at your increased weight for too long, then your body adapts to this higher weight which becomes your new set point.
To adjust your set point downwards, you should stay at each level of loss for enough time to allow hormonal changes to adapt. Hence the reason persons experience a 'plateau' after about a 15-20 pound weight loss. If you lose weight too fast, you do not get a chance to reset your set point and your body will always be striving to regain this higher weight. If at any point in time you lose control and overeat, you will regain weight very quickly to reach this higher weight and all your efforts would be lost. You would then be fighting a losing battle with your appetite and may even become a chronic dieter.
You should therefore make every effort to cease weight cycling and to resolve instead to develop good eating habits for life. For long-term success, you should consult with a registered nutritionist or dietician.
Patricia Thompson M.Sc., Registered Nutritionist, The Nutrition Centre, Eden Gardens.
