Articles
Maintaining Weight Lost - Is it Just that Easy?
Recent research has indicated that although eating less and exercising more is the key to weight loss, it is not always the key to maintaining that weight loss long term. Scientists have found that a number of things occur in the body of a dieter that actually work to fight against weight loss, even after the dieting has stopped. The body will fight to gain the weight back! So the question remains....once we get fat, will we stay fat forever?
Research from the University of Melbourne show that after an 8 week dieting period, in which significant weight loss was achieved, patients showed hormonal changes, particularly an increase in the level of ghrelin, the hunger increasing hormone, and a decrease in peptide YY, the hunger suppressing hormone.
Research at the University of Columbia into muscle fibres of an overweight/obese person, taken before, during and after weight loss shows that after weight loss, muscle fibres become more highly efficient and burn up to 25% less energy during exercise. Brain scans of the same people show that after weight loss, there is greater response in the areas of the brain linked to reward and a decreased response in the area linked to control when patients were showed pictures of various foods. This indicates that the brain is working in the fight against weight maintenance.
It is known that some people are hereditarily pre-determined to be overweight or obese. It is also thought that some people are even genetically pre-disposed with the desire to consume high Kilojoule foods. How much of this is genetic and how much is learnt through early family habits is unknown.
If being overweight or obese sets us up for a life time of overweight or obesity, how can we fight the fat? It is yet unknown what kind ‘fat timeframe’ we have, the time a person has to lose the weight before it has any lasting biological effects, but it is certainly not overnight. Genetics will certainly play a role, as will the length of time a person has been overweight or obese. The good news is that an overall lifestyle change, including diet and exercise regimens, that carry on long term will certainly help fight the fat and keep it off!
Added to site on : Sunday, 1 April 2012