Has this ever happened to you? You've been very disciplined in your attempts to lose those last five pounds. You've carefully monitored how you've eaten, sticking to a low-calorie diet, and you've exercised as planned all week. You proudly step onto the scale to weigh yourself expecting to have succeeded only to find that you've actually GAINED weight! What happened? How can all this hard work equate to the opposite of the desired effect?
I've recently read a very interesting article that talks about our "set weight range" and "intentional eating" ("Why Diets Are So Last Year" by Anne Marie O'Connor in the February 2017 edition of Pilates Style). Our set weight range is the weight range that our bodies naturally want to be in. For instance, your set weight range may be anywhere between 135 pounds and 150 pounds. Your body just naturally gravitates to somewhere between these two points. It's different for every person, but it's the reason that sometimes it's difficult to get the scale to budge. It's usually fairly easy to lose weight to get into the set weight range, while it takes a bit more work to get to the lower end of the weight range. To go below the weight range, however, it takes serious calorie restrictions - i.e., dieting. This, however, can be extremely detrimental to your overall health and a major set back to weight loss.
The article I read cites several studies that show that dieting can actually cause you to gain weight over the long run. In one of the studies, 13 Biggest Loser contestants had regained all of the weight they lost six years after the program, and their metabolism was slower than when the show began - meaning that they now burn less calories than when they started. Another study showed that twins who dieted regularly were five times as likely to end up overweight as compared to their twins who were not trying to lose weight at all.
The explanation behind this phenomena lies in the effect that dieting has on our bodies. When we overly restrict calories, our bodies go into starvation mode. In starvation mode, our bodies want to hold on for dear life to any calorie it gets because the calories seem to be few and far between. The metabolism slows to a snail's pace. It's our bodies' way of keeping us alive - very helpful if you're on a raft with little food floating for days in the middle of the Pacific Ocean but not so helpful if you're just trying to lose a few pounds.
So the next time you're tempted to go on a ten day cleanse where you eat nothing but spinach smoothies, think of the long-term consequences first. Any immediate weight loss that you might have will be off-set by the slow in your metabolism as a result. A year from now, you're likely to weigh more than you do now because of the slower metabolism, especially if this type of dieting happens on a regular basis.
Now that you've sworn off dieting (which is actually kind of a relief, right? who really likes dieting anyways?), what are you to do if you want to lose weight? Instead of dieting, focus on being on the lower end of your set weight range and being an "intuitive eater." That means listening to your body. When you're body is sending you signals that you're hungry, you eat until you are comfortably full (not uncomfortably stuffed). The foods that you do eat should be nutritious and serve the purpose of providing steady energy for your lifestyle. Think of your hunger on a scale of 1-10 (1 being starving and 10 being just finished Thanksgiving dinner). You should strive to eat when you're at a 3 and only eat until you're at a 6.
If you stick to this intentional eating, you're body will naturally gravitate to its set weight range. That's where your body wants to be.
What if your set weight range is not where you want it to be though? What if you still want to lose ten more pounds? While some experts believe you can't change your set weight range, some experts do believe it is possible to gradually shift it to a lower weight range. The key is to do it very gradually. You can make small changes at a very slow pace so that the changes will hopefully not send your body into starvation mode. Once your body has reached the lower end of your set weight range (i.e., you have reached a weight loss plateau), the key is to make small changes one at a time, allowing your body time to adjust between each one, and the changes that you do make should be sustainable - not something that you can't maintain for more than a few weeks. So you wouldn't want to cut your calories in half and add an extra five miles to your daily run all at once. Instead, you would set a goal for one week to be mindful of what you are eating, being sure to eat slowly and make sure you're really hungry for what you're eating. The next week, you may set a goal to take a walk outside three times a week. The following week maybe you decide to set a goal of eating more vegetables. Spread over time, these changes are not drastic and will not have a negative effect on your metabolism. The goals are healthy and are sustainable.
To be sure, you won't lose ten pounds in a week like you would with drastic dieting, but you also won't suffer the boomerang effect that dieting has on your body, where you end up heavier than when you started. So the next time you're tempted to try one of these gimmick diets where you starve yourself for some short term goal, just say no! It's time to say goodbye to starving yourself and say hello to healthy, intentional eating - for the sake of your current self and your future self.
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