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The effort to drop the pounds can be a challenging thing, but what goes into actually maintaining weight loss can feel even tougher, particularly at the beginning. That said, new research from the University of Copenhagen is indicating that if you can hang in the for a year, things will become notably easier for you.
What Did the Study Find?
The study indicated that people with obesity who kept maintaining weight loss over a period of one year were better able to retrain their bodies to accept the reduced caloric intake without turning on “starvation mode”, allowing a lower body mass to be achieved with a reduced amount of resistance.
For people who are able to keep maintaining weight loss for that first year, that is very good news, as it means that, while it will be a substantial effort and a concerted effort will need to be kept up for motivation, after that point, it will get easier. The challenge will start to decrease, and progress can be made without experiencing as many side effects such as a slower metabolism.
Maintaining Weight Loss When You Were Overweight or Obese
University of Copenhagen associate professor of biomedical sciences, Signe Sørensen Torekov explained that people who are overweight and obese and who can keep up a year of weight loss will find that their bodies will stop fighting the process as would otherwise be the normal reaction to living “in a calorie-deficit state.”
This research was published within the European Journal of Endocrinology. It revealed that following a year of losing weight, the PYY and GLP-1 hormones – which are known to inhibit the appetite – would start to increase their levels in a meaningful way. Equally, the levels of the ghrelin hunger hormone – which tend to spike during the first part of a weight loss diet – will return to normal after a year.
What Does This Study Suggest?
This indicates that it is possible for hormones to naturally adjust to a new established “set point” which might make it less challenging for a dieter to be able to continue losing the weight and to keep the pounds from returning once they’re gone. This is very important to the long-term success of a weight loss strategy, particularly among people with obesity, as they are prone to having low levels of GLP-1 (the appetite inhibiting hormone) when they get started.
This study involved the participation of 20 healthy obese adults who followed a low-calorie powder diet for a span of 8 weeks and who lost an average of 12 percent of their overall body mass. Those participants were then tracked throughout a weight loss maintenance protocol that lasted another 52 weeks.
What Can You Learn About Weight Loss Maintenance?
One of the main lessons you can take from this weight loss maintenance study is that if you think of your diet in terms of something you’ll be continuing over the long term, you will increase your chances of keeping the pounds from coming back. Instead of falling into the typical trap of thinking that you only need to make changes until the unwanted pounds are gone, a new perspective is needed.
The new perspective involves thinking of your new lifestyle strategy as something you’ll want to do for years to come. That way, it won’t be based on meeting a goal weight. Instead, it will be based on building new habits you intend to keep using for the foreseeable future.
This way, you’ll help yourself to keep going with your efforts for at least a year, at which point various factors shift and improve your chances of achieving and maintaining that goal weight over the long term. As the study demonstrated, being successful at building a healthy body weight and keeping it there isn’t something temporary. It is something to be aimed for over time.
Resources Available to You
This can sound overwhelming. Therefore, it’s important to use the many resources you have available to you. For instance, start by setting short term goals that will bring you toward your larger long-term goal. Set goals to aim to achieve along the way. Some people enjoy weekly goals, goals once every two weeks or monthly goals. These give them a target within reach. Working that way can help keep up motivation throughout the length of a longer period of time.
Next, make sure you keep up with helpful articles, tools, forums and other tools and resources you find to be informational and motivational. This way, you can keep up with the latest knowledge within this area while you prevent losing your drive to keep going. Many people find that social resources such as forums can help them to feel supported while they support others as well. This can make a substantial difference in your natural willingness to keep up your weight loss maintenance.
* This article is for informational purposes only and not to be taken as medical advice. Always consult with your doctor before making any changes to your medications, supplements, diet, or exercise routine.