First: Weight decreases or increases
In daily life, we will find that if we do not make corresponding intervention, our weight will remain within a relatively stable range. Of course, at this time, your weight may be Light or high. If explained from the perspective of caloric stability, daily caloric intake and consumption maintain a relatively stable state. The factors leading to this state are not only diet and exercise, but also the desire to eat, the level of basal metabolism , and activities. The amount of calories, hormone levels, rest and mood, and many other factors will keep the calories in a relatively stable state, so whether we are fat or thin, our weight will remain in a relatively stable state.
At this time, when we are dissatisfied with our body shape or weight and want to make changes, we will use diet, exercise, or diet and exercise to make the caloric intake less than the consumption. Of course, in During this process, factors such as eating desire, basal metabolism, daily activity level, hormone levels, rest and mood will also change, which will affect the size of the caloric gap and even its existence.
However, one thing is certain, if your weight is on a downward trend, no matter whether the rate of decrease reaches your expectation or not, it will mean that the current method is effective and that the current caloric balance is broken, that is, there will be The state of caloric intake <> consumption appears.
Of course, in the face of weight loss and increase, what we hope for must be the former, so when the weight drops, in order to lose weight, we will stick to the current behavior. However, in this process, the speed of weight loss is not will remain the same, but will become slower and slower, It may even stop, and no matter how hard you try, you won't see any results anymore. This means that a plateau has appeared. If you want to lose weight at this time, you need to adjust your methods to let the caloric gap reappear until the weight drops to the point where you can lose weight. Of course, you may need to adjust your weight loss plan and behavior many times during this process.
Second: Why is it said that losing weight is a lifelong matter, rather than just losing weight?
At the beginning of weight loss, we think relatively simply, thinking that we just need to lose weight, or that our weight can be reduced to within our ideal range. However, when we achieve our goals through hard work, we will find that it is not that simple. , because you will be faced with weight There is a risk of rebound. Therefore, for most people who lose weight, they will basically go through a process of losing weight, but only a few friends will maintain their appearance after losing weight. The biggest difference is that only a small number of people persist in their current behavior. And most friends will revert to their old behavior.
So, why is it easy to regain weight after losing weight? Again, this should be answered from the perspective of caloric balance. After losing weight, maintaining the current weight requires keeping calories in a balanced state, but the caloric balance at this time is not the balance before losing weight, because after you lose weight, your Daily caloric intake and expenditure were reduced. So whether you resume eating or stop exercising, the weight will come back. The details are as follows:
1. Caloric balance after weight loss
When your weight drops to your ideal range, your purpose will change. You no longer need to lose weight, just lose weight. There is no longer a need for a caloric deficit, so what we need to do is to maintain a caloric balance after weight loss. Of course, from a behavioral point of view, compared with the fat loss period, we need to relax a little bit in both diet and exercise. , but this does not mean that we can return to the original state, for the following two reasons.
2. Restoring diet means excessive daily caloric intake
During the entire weight loss process, our daily overall consumption will not always remain in the same state. With diet control and weight loss, consumption will also decrease. On the one hand, it is because when the daily caloric intake cannot satisfy the daily consumption, the body will feel threatened, and at this time it will resist your efforts by reducing unnecessary consumption in order to ensure survival.
At the same time, weight loss will also reduce basal metabolism, and the consumption produced by the same exercise method will also be reduced, because we no longer need the same energy to move a lighter body as after weight loss, so, Even if you continue to exercise, your overall consumption will decrease.
Of course, in this process, in order to continue losing fat, we need to control our diet and make adjustments according to the effect of weight loss. However, when we reach our weight loss goal, we will make more or less changes in our diet. Recovery, however, if the diet returns to the state before weight loss, there will be a state of caloric intake > consumption, because our daily consumption decreases after weight loss, so the weight will rebound.
3. If you stop exercising, it means that the overall consumption is reduced.
Assuming that after losing weight, we can maintain the same eating habits when we lost weight, but we will rebound if we no longer insist on exercising, because when you stop exercising, The daily caloric consumption that has already been reduced will be further reduced due to the reduction in exercise. In this case, it is also likely that caloric intake > expenditure will occur.
Because after long-term diet control, our desire to eat will become stronger and stronger. At the same time, after losing weight, our motivation and willpower will also decrease or even disappear due to the achievement of the goal. At this time, the diet It is difficult to maintain the status of fat loss.
4. Summary
Through the above content, we can know that after the fat loss goal is achieved, we still need to make corresponding efforts. Even if the effort can be relaxed compared to the fat loss stage, it does not mean that we can return to the original state. Because what we need to maintain is a new caloric balance state, not the caloric balance state before losing fat, so losing weight is a lifelong matter.
Third: How to maintain results after losing fat?
As mentioned above, when the weight reaches the expected range, in order to avoid rebound, we need to persist in our behavior. So what do we need to do at this time to maintain the fat loss results? At this time, you may only need to do one thing, and that is to measure your weight regularly and observe changes in your body. Why does
say this? Because weight changes will reflect the relationship between your caloric intake and consumption to a certain extent. If your weight has been on an upward trend at a certain stage, it means that your daily caloric intake > consumption. At this time, You can make adjustments according to weight fluctuations, either by controlling your diet or increasing exercise. You must know that it is much easier to prevent yourself from gaining weight than to lose weight after gaining weight.
Of course, in addition to observing the change trend of weight, in order to maintain the results of weight loss, one of the most recommended methods is to continue to exercise, because exercise can help you offset the small relaxation in diet to a certain extent, thereby reducing the risk of becoming obese. , this has also been mentioned in relevant studies. If we can insist on exercising for about 30 minutes a day on average, we can reduce the risk of becoming obese and better maintain weight.
Summary:
Losing weight is indeed a lifelong thing, because after losing weight, you still have to make corresponding efforts to maintain the results after losing weight. If the behavior resumes, the weight will rebound, so losing weight is not just about losing weight, which affects the success or failure of weight loss. The reason is whether you can persist. Therefore, many times we also say that the important reason that ultimately affects the success or failure of weight loss is lifestyle changes.
Author: October Zhixing