Extreme Weight Loss Vs Sustainable Weight Loss

We are all well-aware that maintaining a healthy weight is of prime importance in order to have a long and fulfilling life. In order to regulate the body to reach a healthy weight, most people have to balance out the calorie intake and increase physical activity.

In order to balance calorie intake to move towards the goal of weight loss, we have to reduce the amount of food we eat. When we gradually reduce the intake, we are able to slowly reduce the size of our stomach as well as appetite - which also reduces the set point of a body leading to a successful long term achievement of the goal. What is Set Point?

To put it simply, the Set point is the weight range in which your particular body is programmed to function at its best. The set point theory believes that a person’s body will fight to maintain that particular weight range, even while dieting and exercise. Essentially we must alter this slowly to make it a lasting and impactful effort because otherwise, there is a high probability of reverting right back to where we started at.

Why? You ask - Let me try to explain it best - When we are looking at time-based weight loss goals by severely restricting calories - the maintenance point of the body remains unchanged. So effectively, you drop weight by staying hungry. There is no change in the set point of the reduction of appetite. Moreover, since the body believes that it is not getting enough calories for sustenance, it also becomes efficient at utilising the current calorie intake by lowering metabolism rate. This results in absolutely no change in the set point of the body. It also takes us to the principal of homeostasis as per which the body will increase the production of hunger hormones like ghrelin, reduce the release of satiety hormones like leptin and insulin which will reduce the levels of satiety from the food eaten and also increase the pleasure you get from consumption of the food.

This means that you will have a tendency to eat more than required. This will also slow down the metabolism leading you back to regaining all or most of the weight you lose in the short-term.

My hope is that we all understand, there is no shortcuts to fitness - it is commitment - it is a lifestyle - something we must adopt with a view of doing it for the rest of our lives - adopt eating patterns we can sustain and exercise habits that we will enjoy for better health - if there is no enjoyment - we will not be able to sustain it - and this continues in a cycle - we should always attempt to break the self-sabotaging cycles that we create for ourselves in hope of creating a better future for ourselves where we look and feel our best!!!