Why does the “Lost Weight” often come back?

Jul 09, 2008

In a recent popular current affairs program, one of the fattest men in Australia shared his views on excess weight. He underwent a surgery to get rid of his 300 kilos and managed to loose about 50 kilos immediately after having his stomach stapled. He and his family was thoroughly rejoiced at the operation being a success, but soon the unbelievable fact unfolded â he gained more than 300 kilos in a matter for few months after the surgery. His disappointment knew no bounds when his weight became more than what he originally weighed.

Even though this may be a rare occurrence it still raises the question: why the âlost weightâ comes back in due course?

To comprehend this aspect, you need to first analyze the required energy for a bodyâs proper functioning. You need about 12 calories on a daily basis for each pound you weigh, to maintain the weight of your body. For instance if your weight is 140 pounds, you would need 140 x 12, i.e. 1680 calories everyday to keep your body weight maintained. On days when you consume more than the required calories, the excess calories/energy is stockpiled as adipose tissue or body fat. Studies reveal that to make one pound of fat, 3600 excess calories is required.

By the above example, if your calories consumption is more than 1680, say about 2000 calories a day, you would gain 4-5 pounds of fat in about 30 days.

Assuming that you gain about 4-5 pounds in a month, you decide on curtailing your calorie intake by half, i.e. 1000 calories per day. With this diet pattern, you lose about 10 pounds in a month and weigh 130 pounds. Though this gives you a very pleasant feeling, you are not able to keep up this restrictive diet pattern because you lose energy and thus get irritable. Hence you get back to your original diet routine which is 2000 calories per day. But do not forget one important fact and that is your body weight is now reduced and you need less energy to maintain your latest weight. This means you need about 130 x 12, i.e. 1560 calories a day.

With this redefined weight pattern, if you consume about 2000 calories daily, you would put on the same weight in much less time, say in about 24-25 days, because of your body now being lighter than what it originally was.

Given the above analysis, it becomes clear that to maintain the required body weight one must cultivate a consistent eating patter that is in line with your bodyâs requirement at any point of time. You cannot afford to eat in same proportion or the same concoctions that triggered you to become overweight in the first instance. This can be achieved by paying a little attention to the nutritional content of food and improving your body metabolism through increased muscle mass and exercise.