This article from the New York Times scared the hell out of me when I first read it shortly after beginning to lose weight. But fear is a pretty good motivator, so I decided I was going to buck the trend. Science be damned!
While it's somewhat soul-crushing to know that there are numerous biological factors working against weight loss success, I decided I was glad to know my enemy. Because I read this early in my process, I better understood the challenges I would probably face, and was able to recognize early on that I couldn't just lose 30 lbs (my goal at the time) and traipse merrily back to a "normal" diet. Almost immediately after reading this, when people asked me how long I was going to be on a diet, I started answering, "The rest of my life."
So, yeah, "The Fat Trap" is frightening and depressing, but it may have ultimately helped me buck the odds. And you know what...if my statistical chances of keeping the weight off approach zero over time, it's not the end of the world. The benefits of what I've done for my health now are probably going to extend my life. If age, hormones, and metabolism gradually pack it back on over the next 25 years, my health and quality of life will have been better for it.
I hadn't read that before, but it makes sense. I've now lost 40 or more pounds 3 times in my adult life. But my issue was always that as soon as I stopped losing weight, I decided to bulk up by adding muscle, at which point I would never diet the extra fat off.
ReplyDeleteI'm hopeful that this time, through Weight Watchers, I'm able to keep it off. I've been pretty constant since hitting my goal last March, although I've inched up slight in the last month or so to by just over my goal weight. I'm confident, though that I'll get back under 185 and be just fine.