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  • "The Reason Weight Loss Plateaus When You Diet"

  • We have millions of years of evolution hard-wiring us to survive scarcity,

  • compensatory survival mechanisms our body uses to defend against weight loss.

  • So when we start losing weight, we may unconsciously start moving less

  • as a behavioral adaptation to conserve energy.

  • There are metabolic adaptations as well. Our metabolism slows down.

  • Every pound of weight loss may reduce our resting metabolic rate

  • by seven calories a day. This may only translate to a few percent differences

  • for most, but can rapidly snowball for those who achieve massive weight loss.

  • During one session, some of The Biggest Loser contestants

  • famously had their metabolic rates tracked.

  • Above and beyond the hundreds of calories less it takes to just exist

  • 100+ pounds lighter, by the end of the season their metabolic rates

  • slowed by an extra 500 calories a day.

  • The mindblower was that six years later they were retested

  • and still had the 500-calorie-a-day handicap. So the contestants had to cut

  • 500 calories more than anyone else their size to maintain the same weight loss.

  • No wonder the bulk of their weight was regained.

  • Most remained at least 10% lower than their starting weight, though,

  • and even a 7% drop has been shown to cut diabetes rates about in half.

  • Still, the metabolic slowing means you have to work that much harder

  • than everyone else just to stay in place.

  • Analyzing four seasons of The Biggest Loser, minute-by-minute,

  • researchers noted that 85% of the focus was on exercise rather than diet,

  • though the exercise component accounted for less than half of the weight loss.

  • Even six years after their season ended, the contestants had been maintaining

  • an hour of daily, vigorous exercise, yet still regained most of the weight.

  • Why? Because they started eating more.

  • They could have cut their exercise

  • to just 20 minutes a day and still maintained

  • 100% of their initial weight loss if they would have just

  • been able to keep their intake to under 3,000 calories a day.

  • That may not sound like much of a challenge,

  • but weight loss doesn't just slow your metabolism; it boosts your appetite.

  • If it were just a matter of your weight settling at the point at which

  • your reduced calorie intake matches your reduced calorie output,

  • it would take years for your weight loss to plateau.

  • Instead, it often happens within six to eight months.

  • You may know the drill:

  • Start the diet, stick to the diet, and then weight loss stalls

  • six months later. What happened?

  • Don't blame your metabolism; that just plays a small part.

  • What happened is that you likely actually stopped sticking to your diet

  • because your appetite went on a rampage. Let's break it down.

  • If you cut 800 calories out of your daily diet

  • 2600 calories a day down to 1800—

  • and your weight loss stalls after six months, then what happened is

  • that at the end of the first month you think you're still cutting 800 calories,

  • but you may actually only be down about 600 calories a day.

  • By month two you're only down about 500,

  • month three, 300, and by month six you're only eating 200 calories

  • less than before you went on the diet.

  • In other words, you inadvertently suffered an exponential increase

  • in calorie intake over those six months.

  • Yet you may not even realize it, because by that time

  • your body may have ramped your appetite up 600 calories.

  • So, it still feels as if you are eating 800 calories less,

  • but it's actually only 200.

  • Since an 800 calorie drop in intake may slow your metabolism

  • and physical activity about 200 calories a day,

  • with no difference between Calories In and Calories Out at six months,

  • no wonder your weight loss grinds to a complete halt.

  • The slow upward drift in calorie intake on a new diet

  • is not because you got lazy. Once your appetite is boosted by

  • 600 calories after dieting for a while, eating 200 calories less at the end

  • is as hard as eating 800 calories less at the beginning.

  • So you can maintain the same disciplined level of willpower

  • and self-control and still end up stagnating.

  • To prevent this from happening, you need to maintain the calorie deficit.

  • How is that possible in the face of a ravenous appetite?

  • Hunger is a biological drive.

  • Asking someone to eat smaller portions

  • is like asking someone to take fewer breaths.

  • You can white-knuckle it for a bit, but eventually nature wins out.

  • That's why I wrote How Not to Diet.

  • There are foods that can counter the slowing of our metabolism

  • and suppress our appetite,

  • ways of eating to counter the behavioral adaptation

  • and even eat more food yet still lose weight.

  • Due to the metabolic slowing and increased appetite

  • that accompanies weight loss, sustained weight loss requires

  • a persistent calorie deficit of 300 to 500 calories a day.

  • This can be accomplished without reducing portion sizes

  • simply by lowering the calorie density of meals.

  • This can result in the rare combination of weight loss

  • with both an increase in quality and even quantity of food consumed.

  • I'm going to do a whole series of videos about it.

  • The bottom line is that sustainable weight loss

  • is not about eating less food; it's about eating better food.

"The Reason Weight Loss Plateaus When You Diet"

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