Why We Gain Weight Back After a Diet
Without a metabolism test, you will never know your calorie burn rate, so you will not know how much to restrict in your diet. Not knowing, you could easily eat too little, suffer for months, lose some weight and gain it back.
A metabolism test at the beginning of a diet and then doing more as you progress is VITAL to permanent weight loss.
Suppose you compare this Pnoe test to the last set; you can see that my metabolism has remained the same even though I am losing weight. Almost the same. The number is near the middle on the right and says, “Mean EE.” Mean defined: “occupying a middle position,” and EE is energy expenditure. I have remained in the area of 2080 calories at rest. To this, I add calories from any movement during the day. This is about 700-900 for someone of my activity level.
The reason Diets Fail
On a typical calorie reduction diet, most people’s metabolism slows down. This slows your weight loss, causes one to gain the weight back right after the diet, and often the metabolism STAYS at the lower level for some time afterward. Worst case, your metabolism stays low indefinitely.
So if you use calorie restrictions to lose weight, AND THERE REALLY ISN NOT ANY OTHER WAY, do not reduce your intake by more than 500 calories a week. You can reduce by 700 or a bit more if you are active. Or restrict less 350-400 if you are not active. 1000+ calorie deficits will almost always assure weight gain.
If you want to lose weight, you want to lose fat. And keep or even gain a little muscle while losing. To do the latter is pretty tricky, but it can be done. Maintaining your muscle weight while losing fat is very lovely as well. So cut the calories, do some (moderately) intense weight training, and track your calories. Another point I am experimenting with is how much protein to eat each day, and it looks like about 1 gram a day per pound of current body weight will help with weight (fat) loss.
We can help with all at LeoFitLabs. Lose weight, keep muscle, and possibly gain some lean tissue.
Good luck,
Leo Hamel
