In this article I will provide you with ready-made research & material on how to solve your weight problem forever! What you will read in the following pages will truly change your life & that everything we’ve been told about obesity being related to some inherent destiny is an absolute absurdity!
A few friends have asked me how I lost weight & what diet plan they should undertake to lose it.
Many people falsely believe that weight gain/loss is all about calories in vs calories out and that if we were to simply eat less and move more, problem solved! This is a very naive perception of how our body works! It does not address the physiological drive on why we are overeating!
After much research & investigation I’m here to tell you the exact reasons & solutions to the weight problem & why dieting will fail until we do not specifically rectify the issue with dopamine & leptin resistance!
It is true that we gained weight due to overeating. But the question I want to raise is why are we overeating consistently if the system in our brain that is supposed to regulate our food intake and prevent us from gaining weight does not stop us from overeating. The question is: Why?
When we eat highly palatable addictive foods like sugar, a massive amount of dopamine is released in an area of the brain called the Nucleus Accumbens. When we eat these foods often and in large amounts, the dopamine receptors start to down-regulate. Now there are fewer receptors for the dopamine. This causes our brain chemistry’s reward system to be hijacked like in a drug addict!
Consequently as we become overweight as a result of our food addictions, we now develop an issue called “Leptin Resistance”, which basically means that our fullness signals stop functioning correctly because we then have an overabundance of leptin produced by our enlarged fat cells. We never get the message “I’ve had enough, I feel stuffed” with normal amounts of caloric intake like in lean people so our energy expenditure never gets matched and we keep silently gaining even more weight overtime...
The hypothalamus cannot recognize (our genetically lower set point weight and thinks we are in a state of starvation) and we feel hungrier and our appetite never gets extinguished. It only gets fostered, and so you eat more and you keep going and it becomes a vicious cycle. If our brain can't see the leptin signal, we are going to become overweight/obese!
Now this is the exact experience I had when I became overweight. I was never receiving that important (fullness) signal to stop eating and I developed unusual food addictions to the point where eating in moderation was unrealistic!
In a situation like this trying to exert “willpower” or “self-control” over the powerful leptin-driven starvation signal is next to impossible! We cannot control our weight by fighting hunger & eating less! We must retune leptin signals so that we can naturally eat to our appetite (fullness) & remain exactly the same weight and until we can’t achieve that, we have not solved our weight problem!
Reading on The Body Fat Setpoint, Stephan Guyenet explains why “calories in vs calories out” is not what determines our weight. We have a much more complex biological system that tightly controls & regulates our appetite & weight. Unless system isn’t broken rapid weight changes cannot occur!
Stephan Guyenet neurobiologist & obesity researcher wrote: In a situation like this trying to exert “willpower” or “self-control” over the powerful leptin-driven starvation signal is next to impossible! We cannot control our weight by fighting hunger & eating less! We must retune leptin signals so that we can naturally eat to our appetite (fullness) & remain exactly the same weight and until we can’t achieve that, we have not solved our weight problem!
Reading on The Body Fat Setpoint, Stephan Guyenet explains why “calories in vs calories out” is not what determines our weight. We have a much more complex biological system that tightly controls & regulates our appetite & weight. Unless system isn’t broken rapid weight changes cannot occur!
“One pound of human fat contains about 3,500 calories. That represents roughly 40 slices of toast. So if you were to eat one extra slice of toast every day, you would gain just under a pound of fat per month. Conversely, if you were to eat one fewer slice per day, you'd lose a pound a month. Right? Not quite.
How it that most peoples’ body fat mass stays relatively stable over long periods of time, when an imbalance of as little as 5% of calories should lead to rapid changes in weight? Is it because we do complicated calculations in our heads every day, factoring in basal metabolic rate and exercise, to make sure our energy intake precisely matches expenditure? Of course not. We're gifted with a sophisticated system of hormones and brain regions that do the "calculations" for us unconsciously*.
When it's working properly, this system precisely matches energy intake to expenditure, ensuring a stable and healthy fat mass. It does this by controlling food seeking behaviors, feelings of fullness and even energy expenditure by heat production and physical movements. If you eat a little bit more than usual at a meal, a properly functioning system will say "let's eat a little bit less next time, and perhaps also burn some of it off.”
Again, this supports the idea that the body has a body fat mass "set point" that it attempts to defend against changes in either direction. It's one of many systems in the body that attempt to maintain homeostasis.
OK, so why do we care? We care because this has some very important implications for human obesity. With such a system in place to keep body fat mass in a narrow range, a major departure from that range implies that the system isn't functioning correctly.
In other words, obesity has to involve a defect in the system that regulates body fat, because a properly functioning system would not have allowed that degree of fat gain in the first place.”
********************************************************************
In 2012 I didn’t go on any diet because I knew it would’ve failed. I made a serious decision to first abstain myself from these addictive foods and sugary sodas. I went mostly all paleo. It was a difficult decision, I was like a drug addict which required willpower to give up those junk food addictions.
Within 6 months I lost 12 KG weight & regained leptin sensitivity and my brain no longer craved these foods again! In June 2013 when I realised my weight stabilized I managed to lose more weight without requiring any willpower because my brain no longer craved these foods & fullness was back!
Diets alone for weight loss are going to fail if we cannot regain leptin sensitivity and reset our brain chemistry’s reward system back to normal! And the only way we are going to reverse leptin resistance is to abstain ourselves from eating highly palatable foods for around 3-6 months and eat as much bland/paleo food to reset our brain chemistry’s reward system & reverse leptin resistance.
Please follow the hyperlinks as highlighted for more information on how to reverse leptin resistance!
Rahul’s reason for weight gain:
Overeating potato crispsàEating Fast Food (Junk Food) everydayàDrinking several glasses of sugary drinks & energy drinks per day àSnacking on highly addictive caloric chocolate bars such as Snickers, Double Decker, Yorkie, etc.àLeptin Resistance (hunger/fullness signals broken).
Rahul’s solution:
Banned myself from buying potato crisps permanentlyàStopped eating Fast Food (Junk Food) every day (only one to four times a month)àSwitched to sugar free drinks as well as sugar free energy drinksàLimiting on high caloric chocolate bars and replacing them with lower caloric, (less addictive chocolate bars). Also incorporate healthier food choices such as bananas, apples, plums, beetroots, kiwis, granola bars, cereal bars every day as part of a healthy dietàNaturally reverse leptin resistance overtime, now the brain can finally recognize hunger/fullness signals (overeating naturally stops)!àBrain no longer craving junk food like a drug addictàFirst 12 KG weight now came off spontaneously without deliberate caloric restrictive diet.
Rahul’s reason for weight gain:
Not sleeping enough consistently during College/University periodsàNot having enough time for breakfastsàBinge eating due to hunger+due to gherlin hormone productionàRewarding myself with food due to hard work, boredom/pleasureàPersistently snackingàweight gain.
Rahul’s solution:
Sleep enough 7-9 hours religiouslyàNever ever skip breakfastsàNo more afternoon hungeràNaturally no more overeating!àStopped rewarding myself with food or eating solely due to boredom or for pleasureàLimited to no snacking in between breakfasts and mealtimes unless genuinely hungryàNatural weight loss/maintenance.
Reflect back on your own personal history of weight throughout the years!
Weight: 29 KG Weight: 38 KG Weight: 49 KG Weight: 74 KG
Height: 140 CM Height: 150 CM Height: 157 CM Height: 175 CM
BMI = 14.80 kg/m2 BMI = 16.89 kg/m2 BMI = 19.88 kg/m2 BMI = 24.16 kg/m2
(Healthy weight) (Healthy weight) (Healthy weight) (Healthy weight)
Rahul- 2007 Age 18 Rahul- 2008 Age 19 Rahul- 2009 Age 20 Rahul- 2010 Age 21
Weight: 79 KG Weight: 82 KG Weight: 84 KG Weight: 86 KG
Height: 179 CM Height: 179 CM Height: 179 CM Height: 179 CM
BMI = 24.66 kg/m2 BMI = 25.59 kg/m2 BMI = 26.22 kg/m2 BMI = 26.84 kg/m2
(Healthy weight) (Healthy weight) (Healthy weight) (Overweight)
Rahul- 2011 Age 22 Rahul- 2012 Age 23 Rahul- 2013 Age 24 Rahul- Feb 10 2014 Weight: 88 KG Weight: 90 KG Weight: 78 KG Weight: 62 KG – PresentWeight: 79 KG Weight: 82 KG Weight: 84 KG Weight: 86 KG
Height: 179 CM Height: 179 CM Height: 179 CM Height: 179 CM
BMI = 24.66 kg/m2 BMI = 25.59 kg/m2 BMI = 26.22 kg/m2 BMI = 26.84 kg/m2
(Healthy weight) (Healthy weight) (Healthy weight) (Overweight)
Height: 179 CM Height: 179 CM Height: 179 CM Height: 179 CM
BMI = 27.46 kg/m2 BMI = 28.09 kg/m2 BMI = 24.34 kg/m2 BMI = 19.35 kg/m2
(Overweight) (Overweight) (Healthy weight) (Healthy weight)
Childhood days that kept me slim:
Outdoor activities with fellow kidsàNo computer games or sedentary lifestyleàWe didn’t eat Junk Food or buy potato crisps. Parents cooked a more Paleolithic diet. I always adhered to my hunger/fullness signals.
Weight gain mode during late adolescence and after age of 18:
Physical outdoor activities declinedà Started playing computer games (first custom built Gaming PC)àSedentary lifestyleàDrinking sugary drinksàEvery day Junk Food CultureàOvereating for pleasure/boredomàWeight gain.Weight gain mode during late adolescence and after age of 18:
Remind yourself that you had a healthy/lower weight for years and that any unusual weight gain is not a result of your biology, genetics, slow metabolism, etc. Neither did your fat cells multiply for becoming overweight or obese as an adult since our permanent numbers of fat cells are established during childhood and puberty.
“Early onset obesity is associated with increase adipose cell number while adult obesity is associated with normal cell number. There are two phases of life in which growth of adipose cells are likely to develop: very early, within the first few years of life and between the ages of 9-13 years of age. Those who become very obese early in life are the ones who have nearly normal cell size but have the greatest increase in cell number; whereas those with onset of obesity between 9-13 have more change in cell size than cell number.” Salans LB, Cushman SW, Weisman RE, Studies of human adipose tissue. http://www.downeyobesityreport.com/2009/09/fact-sheet-1-about-obesity/
As we can see the most critical years for fat cell development are between first few years of life & between 9-13 years of age. After that fat cells only change in size, not number!I know I was blessed to have a normal Childhood BMI throughout my childhood and adolescent years. So being aware that I have a normal number of fat cells that were simply enlarged with weight gain was a big relief for me.
The fact that I grew up lean with a normal weight would rule out genetics or fat cell numbers being the problem, therefore I have no excuses to blame my biology or environment for my recent weight problems, when I have been a healthy weight all these years before that in the very same environment.
So if according to the Set Point Theory our body weight is pre-determined by biology and genetics then how comes my weight continued to increase well past puberty? Since we don’t increase our number of fat cells after puberty and my weight should’ve theoretically stabilized at some point. What happened to my initial set point weight?
Again, this proves that neither 74 KG in 2005 nor 90 KG in 2012 was a natural weight set point. The simple evidence is that the weight I had in recent years does not reflect my childhood weight BMI, not to mention, puberty was over by 2005 and I was still a healthy weight back then. So how can my childhood weight set point be low and my adult set point become all of a sudden naturally high? From a biological perspective it wouldn’t make any sense!
Therefore it should point out that the weight gains in recent years can be attributed to external factors such as having an intense sedentary lifestyle during the times of my college/university studies and that combined with the everyday junk food and potato crisps addiction which led to a modification in my brain chemistry’s reward system. This artificially elevated my original lower set point weight! Seeing that I never had a troubling weight problem prior to the arrival of junk food/potato crisps and sedentary lifestyle, we know where the culprits lie!
How is it that suddenly after graduating university and switching back to a prior healthier lifestyle and ceasing the culprits of junk food, sugary sodas and potato crisps made my weight drop back down again to 78 KG by itself if the body really wanted to maintain the overweight state at 90 KG? Simply because I wouldn’t find any other food/drinks that are addictive enough to overeat/drink and my leptin signalling’s (fullness) were recognized once again!This is a direct evidence that the body never wanted to defend that overweight state because if it did, it should’ve forced me to eat my way back up again! But instead, it happily dropped down and stayed that way until I voluntarily decided to lose some more weight 5 months later.
Again, this proves that the lower body fat set point that I had was simply artificially increased due to junk food addictions, since despite dropping further down to 62 KG (by accident) my body still stayed the same weight without fighting back! Since giving up every day junk food eating in 2012, I never witnessed any weight gain on the scale ever since! And you know why? Because the dopamine receptors of my brain gradually lost the information to no longer crave these foods and my brain chemistry’s reward system was reset back to normal!
This is why you’ll never see someone overeating apples & bananas!!! Because healthy foods do not have the addictive properties that modify your dopamine receptors, so you naturally won’t want to overeat past fullness! Countless studies show that in traditional cultures where people who eat 100% paleo never become overweight or obese! This again proves why during childhood I was skinny, because luckily for me back in those days I never ate junk food. Which further proves the point that overweightness-obesity is not genetic!WEIGHT LOSS & MAINTENANCE
Many skinny people claim that they have a faster metabolism that’s why they never gain any weight despite following a sedentary lifestyle. Let me straighten up some misconceptions here!
Skinny people do not have faster metabolisms, quite the opposite; their metabolisms are in fact slower.
But they are leptin stable. Meaning if they accidentally overeat one day, their metabolism readjusts to increase their energy expenditure & reduce their appetite to make them feel fuller the next day with less food! Not to mention their dopamine receptors are normal so they are not addicted to overeat palatable foods. So their weight remains stable.
All the while the overweight & obese person may increase their physical activity but are unable to lose any weight. In fact they may even gain weight! How could this be if their metabolism was slow?
The problem is that overweight and obese people are resistant to leptin! Their body fails to regulate their food intake & does not readjust to suppress their appetite even when they overeat! The lack of fullness and modification in the dopamine receptors creates a desensitizing of their taste buds to sweet foods. That means, the more sweet foods they eat, the less likely they are to discern a sweet taste, so they eat more and more high-sugar snacks and junk food to feel satisfied.Many skinny people claim that they have a faster metabolism that’s why they never gain any weight despite following a sedentary lifestyle. Let me straighten up some misconceptions here!
Skinny people do not have faster metabolisms, quite the opposite; their metabolisms are in fact slower.
But they are leptin stable. Meaning if they accidentally overeat one day, their metabolism readjusts to increase their energy expenditure & reduce their appetite to make them feel fuller the next day with less food! Not to mention their dopamine receptors are normal so they are not addicted to overeat palatable foods. So their weight remains stable.
All the while the overweight & obese person may increase their physical activity but are unable to lose any weight. In fact they may even gain weight! How could this be if their metabolism was slow?
In other words their biologically lower set point weight has been invaded. So when a weight loss is attempted it is sensed as starvation, so multiple mechanisms are activated to increase fat stores, rather than burn excess fat stores. This is despite the fact that overweight and obese people have faster metabolisms than skinny people but it isn’t helping them lose much weight, if at all.
When I realised that I had this problem in 2012 I knew dieting would’ve been futile despite only becoming 10 kilos overweight.
In a situation like this “willpower” for weight loss doesn't make much sense and would remain ineffective!How are we supposed to maintain our weight, if the hypothalamus is not signalling fullness or keeps craving me to eat junk food? I cannot fight this abnormal hunger! From a situation like this it would be crazy to go on a diet, it wouldn’t be maintained! I knew it was a vicious cycle and if I didn’t do something about it sooner, I would’ve probably become obese.
So I read more on leptin and how to lower it naturally to regain sensitivity so that the hypothalamus can finally recognize our biologically lower body fat set point! Once leptin can begin to do its job of turning off the hunger switch and turn on the fat burning switch, willpower will no longer be needed to lose weight via dieting; in fact quite the contrary, the body will now be fighting to drop you back down to your naturally lower set point weight! To do this it may take up to 6 months or more of a fairly strict diet with minimum sugar and refined foods. Basically going back to a hunter gatherer (Paleolithic Diet), filled with greens, meat, fish, wild poultry and fruits.
Within 6 months my leptin resistance was reversed & I dropped from 90 KG to 78 KG naturally without intentional dieting from my part! When I gave up potato crisps, stopped eating junk food (fast food) every day & switched to a paleo based diet I naturally stopped overeating and for the first time my hunger/fullness signals returned to normal and my weight fell off.5 months later I noticed that my weight still remained exactly the same. This is when I became confident to go on a diet to lose some more weight knowing that I was naturally maintaining the 78 KG weight initially. Also don’t confuse thirst with hunger. Drink plenty of water!
If 78 KG with moderate activity is 2,757 calories a day for weight maintenance, then I need to cut 1000 calories and eat 1757 calories roughly, every day to lose 1 KG per week with moderate physical activity! If you want to lose a pound (half KG) cut 500 calories and eat in this case 2257 calories with moderate physical activity every day.
My target was to lose to 70 KG initially, then I became ambitious to lose another 5 kilos to drop down to 65 KG I knew it was realistic and maintainable! But I dropped to 64 KG. When I tried to maintain that with 2200 calories from what the calculators online was displaying, I still continued to unintentionally lose weight down to 62 KG from January to February 2014.
I decided to make an experiment and stopped counting calories and started eating intuitively on the basis of fullness and (remarkably) my weight remained stable ever since! This reinforces the evidence that the biological set point weight was not altered from the weight gain! I dropped back down to my natural weight! So why am I not gaining any weight now, since the last 3 years of reversing leptin resistance and giving up junk food, sugary drinks & potato crisps? The reason, like I mentioned above, my fullness signal has returned again and my dopamine receptors are no longer telling me “give me junk food”! So if I try to overeat even by accident, my appetite diminishes over the next day to subconsciously eat less, something that wasn’t working before when I was overweight!This casts some scepticism into the theory about “calories in vs calories out”. We now know that this is so far from what really happens & that if someone says it again you know they have no idea of how the body works. The absurdity of this simplicity is an absolute insult to the intellect of the body.
Survival, health and homeostasis has always been the aim of the body. There are systems in place that check on this on a second by second basis. If there is not enough food stored the body will ask you to consume food, if your nutrients are low it will ask you again. If there are enough vitamins and minerals and stored fat your body will stop asking you to eat, it will boost the fertility system so that you can reproduce and perhaps store more nutrition for a scarce food day or season.
This further proves the point that calories in vs calories out is an oversimplification as I cannot coincidentally match energy expenditure, yet remain exactly the same weight! No normal lean individual counts calories to maintain their weight; we eat based on our fullness! If we were to gain or lose weight on an imbalance of 5% calories, we would all become either obese or severely underweight!Survival, health and homeostasis has always been the aim of the body. There are systems in place that check on this on a second by second basis. If there is not enough food stored the body will ask you to consume food, if your nutrients are low it will ask you again. If there are enough vitamins and minerals and stored fat your body will stop asking you to eat, it will boost the fertility system so that you can reproduce and perhaps store more nutrition for a scarce food day or season.
For you to gain weight you have to disobey the system by consistently being an overeater!
The fact of the matter is that without leptin/insulin resistance, a hormonal imbalance or hijacked brain chemistry, unwanted weight gain is impossible to occur!!!
We need to maintain normal levels of leptin by eating every few-several hours, to prevent overeating unnecessary calories. We must not snack in between mealtimes, unless genuinely hungry! Only eat in correspondence to hunger. If you are little bit hungry, eat small. If more hungry, eat slightly more and always stop when full even if you have food left over in your plate!
Always adhere to your hunger/fullness signals and stop when full (I can’t emphasise enough the importance of that)! This is a sign that you’ve met your total daily energy expenditure and eating beyond that would mean you are storing unnecessary calories as fat.
This means eating based on your body's hunger/fullness cues--Eating when GENTLY hungry and stopping when HUNGER IS GONE. If you truly follow these rules, there is no eating out of boredom or overeating to the point of being uncomfortable. The beauty of this is that your body will re-adjust your needs for you. If you are exercising, you will be hungry more often than on a rest day, so you can eat more to match that energy expenditure! Your body is very smart and good at self-regulating if you simply listen to its signals!
If someone is offering you food, ask yourself: “Am I hungry?” Do not overeat for the sake of pleasure/stress/low mood/boredom or because you worked hard today (self-rewarding) & do not tell yourself that you are overeating today exceptionally! With this mentality you are establishing overeating habits, setting yourself up to weight gain mode once again. If you see someone else overeating, tell yourself “it’s their problem, I’m not overeating because they are overeating”!The fact of the matter is that without leptin/insulin resistance, a hormonal imbalance or hijacked brain chemistry, unwanted weight gain is impossible to occur!!!
We need to maintain normal levels of leptin by eating every few-several hours, to prevent overeating unnecessary calories. We must not snack in between mealtimes, unless genuinely hungry! Only eat in correspondence to hunger. If you are little bit hungry, eat small. If more hungry, eat slightly more and always stop when full even if you have food left over in your plate!
Always adhere to your hunger/fullness signals and stop when full (I can’t emphasise enough the importance of that)! This is a sign that you’ve met your total daily energy expenditure and eating beyond that would mean you are storing unnecessary calories as fat.
This means eating based on your body's hunger/fullness cues--Eating when GENTLY hungry and stopping when HUNGER IS GONE. If you truly follow these rules, there is no eating out of boredom or overeating to the point of being uncomfortable. The beauty of this is that your body will re-adjust your needs for you. If you are exercising, you will be hungry more often than on a rest day, so you can eat more to match that energy expenditure! Your body is very smart and good at self-regulating if you simply listen to its signals!
No one has a genetically overweight-obese set point weight. Simple evidence for this is that our ancestors were never designed to be fat evolutionarily because we were hunter gatherers searching for food and we had to defend ourselves from predators by running away from animals such as lions and tigers.
The real reason overweight-obese people are at that state is because overweight & obese people fell victim of highly palatable addictive foods/drinks, thus ignoring their hunger/fullness signals. Their brain chemistry’s reward system has been hijacked like a cigarette, alcohol or drug addict. This is ultimately causing the vicious cycle of weight gain (not that your biology wants to gain the weight)!
Your biologically pre-determined weight set point hasn’t been altered! We gained weight because of our junk food addictions (overriding our natural set point weights). After all, 86% of American & 75% of British overweight-obese people cannot all have genetically high set points!
Dieting or increasing physical activity will not solve our weight problem! Until we cannot address the root cause of the problem on overeating, dieting for weight loss will fail! Eating in moderation at this stage is unrealistic, until we do not reset our dopamine receptors/leptin signals back to normal!
I already went through this initial stage, so my circumstances are different from what overweight people are facing. I also naturally lost & maintained a constant 78 KG weight initially for 5 months.
While overweight-obese people who are looking to lose weight have no experience of maintaining a constant body weight, they are just looking for a quick fix solution to a permanent problem! If they go on a diet without resetting their brain chemistry & reverse leptin resistance they will regain it (not because of biology, not because of genetics) but because of modified dopamine receptors & broken leptin signalling’s that aren’t telling them to stop overeating!
The real reason overweight-obese people are at that state is because overweight & obese people fell victim of highly palatable addictive foods/drinks, thus ignoring their hunger/fullness signals. Their brain chemistry’s reward system has been hijacked like a cigarette, alcohol or drug addict. This is ultimately causing the vicious cycle of weight gain (not that your biology wants to gain the weight)!
Your biologically pre-determined weight set point hasn’t been altered! We gained weight because of our junk food addictions (overriding our natural set point weights). After all, 86% of American & 75% of British overweight-obese people cannot all have genetically high set points!
Dieting or increasing physical activity will not solve our weight problem! Until we cannot address the root cause of the problem on overeating, dieting for weight loss will fail! Eating in moderation at this stage is unrealistic, until we do not reset our dopamine receptors/leptin signals back to normal!
I already went through this initial stage, so my circumstances are different from what overweight people are facing. I also naturally lost & maintained a constant 78 KG weight initially for 5 months.
While overweight-obese people who are looking to lose weight have no experience of maintaining a constant body weight, they are just looking for a quick fix solution to a permanent problem! If they go on a diet without resetting their brain chemistry & reverse leptin resistance they will regain it (not because of biology, not because of genetics) but because of modified dopamine receptors & broken leptin signalling’s that aren’t telling them to stop overeating!
IN FACT HERE’S MY OWN EVIDENCE OF HAVING A NATURALLY LOWER BODY FAT SET POINT (SET POINT THEORY)
1. Despite consuming huge amounts of calories; 3 full plates of rice and curry, 3-5 packets of potato crisps, 5 glasses of sugary drinks, a few chocolate bars per day on a regular basis with 100% Sedentary Lifestyle. Weight gain was minimal on an average of 2 KG per year. This suggests that the body was trying to defend my lower body fat set point by raising the metabolic rate.2. There’s a 65% chance that you have the same body fat set point as your parents/family tree.
3. Weight history, for example childhood weight, lower end of BMI charts.
4. Despite losing weight, body had no biological tendencies to try and fight back to regain the lost weight! For example there are no experiences of drop in body temperature, energy levels remained high, normal heart pulse, normal appetite/hunger. In fact I experience even lower hunger levels than before losing the weight. Again, this suggests that the body is happy where it is.
5. Further evidence confirms that there is no excess number of fat cells since I was able to lose weight at the lower end of BMI charts & at lower body fat percentages without body fighting back. There is a study that shows people with excess number of fat cells cannot reduce to single digit body fat %. Also there would be signs of extreme hunger with people who have shrunken fat cells below normal size as there will be a deficiency in leptin produced by those shrunken fat cells. So the body will try its hardest to refill all the fat cells to regain the lost weight to restore leptin levels back to normal.
“One example of this biological defence is a study by Per Bjorntorp and his colleagues in Sweden. They studied 26 patients who were losing weight and measured the fat cell size of the patients before weight loss and again when they stopped losing weight. Despite the fact that the patients varied greatly in their fat cell size before weight loss, 23 out of the 26 patients stopped losing weight when their fat cells reached between 0.4 and 0.6 micrograms. Some of these people were still overweight, however, because they had an excess number of fat cells. This study suggests that fat cell size may determine how much weight can be lost.” http://www.dawn-centre.ie/index.php?page=Page&op=show&id=104
6. Lastly my experience tells me that in a sense there is some truth to “calories in vs calories out”. However, the amounts of calories I have consumed on a regular basis do not reflect the average weight gains I had per year! If “calories in vs calories out” is what determined our weight, I should’ve reached between 124 to 180 kilograms in only 2 years according to most calorie calculators online with the amount of foods (3000-4000 calories) I’ve been eating everyday with sedentary lifestyle!
But I reached only 90 KG in 7 years! How does that work out under the calories in vs calories out equation?
Knowing the fact that I actually gained the weight with some difficulty! This was the reason why I was confident to lose more weight once my leptin (fullness signals) returned and my body weight stabilized. I naturally stopped overeating once my weight dropped to 78 KG. This is not a matter of willpower or discipline, no one can fight hunger! If my fullness didn’t return and my junk food addictions didn’t die, I wouldn’t have bothered to lose any weight at all!But I reached only 90 KG in 7 years! How does that work out under the calories in vs calories out equation?
The fact that I become overweight as an adult and not during childhood meant that I naturally had a lower fat cell number count which is why I so easily dropped back down without much effort or willpower. In fact I continued to lose weight when I dropped to 64 KG. I tried to maintain that with 2200 calories from what the calculators online were displaying, but I still continued to unintentionally lose weight down to 62 KG from January to February 2014.
So instead of me trying to deliberately gain a couple of kilograms (knowing that I am still of a healthy weight even if it’s at the lower end). I decided to make my own biological experiment to see whether that was my natural set point weight as an adult. I was pretty confident that it was, because if I look at my childhood BMI and compare it to the one I have now, it would be equivalent to the same set point weight that I have as an adult. So I decided to stop counting calories and just rely on my own intuitive eating to see what happens. I was philosophical, knowing that if I did regain the weight, no big deal. At least let’s experiment and fail than not try at all!
Not surprisingly, my assumptions proved to be correct! I have since then stayed exactly the same weight now without any weight regain tendencies! My experience tells me that being overweight for 3-4 years did not have any negative impact on my body fat set point. I very easily dropped down without any weight loss plateau or negative symptoms.According to obesity researcher Dr. Rudolph Leibel in order for your natural set point weight & metabolism to be permanently altered & reset to a higher body weight, you have to be obese for many years for the body to no longer accept the formerly low body weight and perceive it as famine. I know I never became obese. I also know that it was me who voluntarily made myself overweight due to food reward & addiction and not my biology wanting to make me overweight.
Let's be honest. Why would a formerly thin person like myself have a biology that would suddenly decide to want to make me fat? It wouldn’t make sense especially when you don’t have an overabundance of fat cells, to begin with!
LAST BUT NOT LEAST REMIND YOURSELF FOR THE DECISION/POSITIVES FOR LOSING WEIGHT!Let's be honest. Why would a formerly thin person like myself have a biology that would suddenly decide to want to make me fat? It wouldn’t make sense especially when you don’t have an overabundance of fat cells, to begin with!
1. Now is the perfect time to reform normal eating habits in your earlier life so it’s easier to maintain a healthier weight when you get older!
2. After the age of 30 collagen production (skin elasticity) declines. Now is the perfect time to lose weight so any loose skin that you may have after weight loss can tighten back into place in the following months after the diet is over!
3. Look back at your older photos/albums and ask yourself whether you want to return back to your leaner state again! Be nostalgic about your past!
4. Remind yourself that you are originally a naturally thin/normal weighted person. You did not become overweight due to genetic, biological reasons & you do not have an excess number of fat cells added for becoming overweight as an adult. So your fat cells have simply been enlarged but not increased in number, you simply need to shrink them back to normal size.
5. You will be naturally more energetic and active when you become slimmer. You will be treated by the society with more respect. Any other health related issues such as back pains, depression, foot pains, anger management issues, tiredness, etc will be improved/ resolved with weight loss!
THE GOOD NEWS!
I can confirm that as of February 10 2014 (with every monthly weight check-ups) I have so far naturally maintained a constant 62 KG weight for over 15 months (body fat percentage 6%).This is the first time in my adult life where I have maintained a constant body weight for a full year!
It has also been 3 years since I have not witnessed any weight gain on the scale since reversing leptin resistance & resetting dopamine receptors back to normal!
As long as we do not expose ourselves to fall victim of highly palatable food addictions and maintain leptin sensitivity as well as adhere to our hunger/fullness signals our weight will always remain stable!
Useful Links, Tips & references to help you encourage & overcome unnecessary misconceptions/fears regarding weight loss/weight loss/weight maintenance:
Useful Links, Tips & references to help you encourage & overcome unnecessary misconceptions/fears regarding weight loss/weight loss/weight maintenance:
http://www.healthyweightforum.org/eng/calculators/calories-required/
http://caloriecount.about.com/tools/calories-goal
http://nutritionwonderland.com/2009/06/understanding-our-bodies-leptin-the-fullness-hormone/
http://www.leanhealthyandwise.com/how-diet-and-exercise-reverse-leptin-resistance/
http://theandersonmethod.com/category/weight-loss-myths
http://www.williamandersonlmhc.com/img/Chapter8.pdf
http://www.williamandersonlmhc.com/img/Chapter9.pdf
http://theandersonmethod.com/category/can-dieting-ruin-metabolism/
http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/body-fat-setpoint.html
http://kelsisprogressionobsession.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/finding-your-bodys-natural-weight.html
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/diet-is-4-letter-word/201405/how-do-i-improve-my-relationship-food
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/eating-mindfully/201406/the-evidence-intuitive-eating
http://www.findingbalance.com/articles/understanding-hunger-and-fullness-cues/
http://www.dawn-centre.ie/index.php?page=Page&op=show&id=104
http://www.weightlossforall.com/fat-cell-numbers.htm
http://www.organiclifestylemagazine.com/triglycerides-in-junk-food-are-the-chemical-equivalent-of-hard-drugs-for-the-brain/
Why Do We Overeat? A Neurobiological Perspective
http://caloriecount.about.com/tools/calories-goal
http://nutritionwonderland.com/2009/06/understanding-our-bodies-leptin-the-fullness-hormone/
http://www.leanhealthyandwise.com/how-diet-and-exercise-reverse-leptin-resistance/
http://theandersonmethod.com/category/weight-loss-myths
http://www.williamandersonlmhc.com/img/Chapter8.pdf
http://www.williamandersonlmhc.com/img/Chapter9.pdf
http://theandersonmethod.com/category/can-dieting-ruin-metabolism/
http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/body-fat-setpoint.html
http://kelsisprogressionobsession.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/finding-your-bodys-natural-weight.html
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/diet-is-4-letter-word/201405/how-do-i-improve-my-relationship-food
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/eating-mindfully/201406/the-evidence-intuitive-eating
http://www.findingbalance.com/articles/understanding-hunger-and-fullness-cues/
http://www.dawn-centre.ie/index.php?page=Page&op=show&id=104
http://www.weightlossforall.com/fat-cell-numbers.htm
http://www.organiclifestylemagazine.com/triglycerides-in-junk-food-are-the-chemical-equivalent-of-hard-drugs-for-the-brain/
Why Do We Overeat? A Neurobiological Perspective
