6 ms·

Yes, the problem is (i am someone who was put on a VLCD of 800 calories a day- and didn't lose that much weight from it) that your body has a set metabolism tha

Yes, the problem is (i am someone who was put on a VLCD of 800 calories a day- and didn't lose that much weight from it) that your body has a set metabolism that keeps slowing down as you lower calories over the years. I had no problem going on the vlcd besides fatigue. The reason is I was already only consuming 1200 calories a day. These diets don't work over the long haul. I realize my case isn't the most common, but they are now looking into microbiome therapy as a possible solution. This resetting of metabolism plagued the biggest losers from "the biggest loser" as well. I do hope more research is done, because in my case, following diets (and perhaps other medical factors like igg)slowed my metabolism to a ridiculous level. And I don't have diabetes or high blood pressure, luckily.

nradov 9y ago
The notion of a metabolic set point is mostly a myth. The actual changes in resting metabolic rate from mild caloric restriction are very small. Most people underestimate how many calories they consume unless they carefully weigh and log everything.
- vevoo 9y ago
  My reading of the last 3 years of findings regarding changes in resting metabolic rate due to caloric restriction is that they could become big enough to explain the pattern of weight regain. Now, the specific quantification of the relationship between amount, lenght of caloric restriction and resting metabolic rate is, in my opinion, waiting for a trove of data we do not have yet.
- brooklyn_ashey 9y ago
  well, my doc is head of bariatric surgery at nyu, so I'll pass on what you said. Btw, I do weigh and log everything.
  - buttcoinslol 9y ago
    "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it" -Upton Sinclair Your surgeon's income depends on people getting bariatric surgery. You can add in exercise to increase total calories burned to support a larger food intake and still lose weight.
    - fao_ 9y ago
      > Your surgeon's income depends on people getting bariatric surgery. Surgeons are usually good at doing other surgeries as well...
    - arkades 9y ago
      (1) that’s not a meaningful support of any kind of argument. It’s borderline vacuous. (2) I’ve never heard a bari surgeon Not recommend lifestyle change. Most will ask you to do your best pre-op, to make the surgery as safe as possible. They will counsel you on the same post-op. Many have in-house dietitians to assist. (3) Your argument implies the following: Bari surgeons pretend and contend diet doesn’t work, to keep the supply of customers coming. Fact check: diet was failing for decades, and only the resultant epidemic made something as extreme as cutting out pieces of a non-diseased GI tract not entirely insane. Go read another hundred diet books of the week; proclaim their findings from the rooftops. I’m pretty sure the bari surgeons aren’t going to run out of willing customers.
      - bigmanwalter 9y ago
        I think the problem is that most people, and that includes doctors and bariatric surgeons alike, don't really know how to diet. Using only diet, I have successfully lost 90lbs and continue to lose.
        brooklyn_ashey 9y ago
        Good for you! I mean that. But your experience isn't everyone's experience. Mine isn't either. I said so. For one, men have much easier time losing weight. I'm not a man. I offered my singular experience to give support for those who might also be mystified after trying everything with a doctor. To those who think my surgeon is trying to get me to buy surgery by saying a diet won't work-- actually, my surgeon (also head of a weight loss clinic) recommended against surgery and against my eating less that I already do. There are a number of drugs that can help people trying to lose weight that aren't phentermine. Some people like me can't take them because of a family history of thyroid cancer or other diseases. But for those who can take these, they are helpful tools. Often, those who struggle with weight loss have struggled with it throughout their life for a host of reasons, only one of which may be eating and exercising habits. To the person who told me I could "add in exercise", what are you trying to accomplish with comments like this? Of course I exercise. People who struggle with this health issue need support and to know that there are other difficult cases sometimes and to keep at it anyway. I keep at it anyway, because being in shape and healthy matters to me and always has. I do an hour of cardio 5x a week and I weight train every other day. I was a serious athlete as a young person (high school/college) and never had trouble with weight gain/eating disorders. I definitely know how to add in exercise. In fact, I never didn't exercise in my life. When I hear simplistic comments like some of these that seem to be meant to shame someone for not exercising, or for having no willpower, or for just generally not being disciplined at losing weight, I have to ask myself where is this kind of thing coming from? I can't say for sure, but perhaps it is because they feel that way about themselves and it feels harsh to them so they throw it at other people so they don't have to deal with the discouragement. To these people I say: don't be too harsh with yourselves! You will do much better at all of these things if you support your own small successes every day. Ultimately, don't you want to succeed at being as healthy as you can? Well, you get there through encouragement and support of yourself. You get there hopefully with the help of better data, drugs, approaches, exercise, and emotional support as better and better research is done into weight loss. And this is what the OP was all about anyhow. One of the best things a person can learn from being an athlete is that if you have team support-- if you root each other on-- you raise the level of the team. People who are trying to lose weight, including yourselves, need this. Because the other raises cortisol levels, and we know what happens then.
- wutbrodo 9y ago
  Do you have a source for this? It's a fairly trivial Google search to find papers making the counter-claim, but I'm aware that nutritional science is kind of a dumpster fire, and much of the research is at least a couple decades old.
- woodandsteel 9y ago
  >The actual changes in resting metabolic rate from mild caloric restriction are very small. But only a small change in metabolic rate can easily produce ten or more pounds of additional weight a year.

nradov 9y ago

The notion of a metabolic set point is mostly a myth. The actual changes in resting metabolic rate from mild caloric restriction are very small. Most people underestimate how many calories they consume unless they carefully weigh and log everything.

vevoo 9y ago
My reading of the last 3 years of findings regarding changes in resting metabolic rate due to caloric restriction is that they could become big enough to explain the pattern of weight regain. Now, the specific quantification of the relationship between amount, lenght of caloric restriction and resting metabolic rate is, in my opinion, waiting for a trove of data we do not have yet.
brooklyn_ashey 9y ago
well, my doc is head of bariatric surgery at nyu, so I'll pass on what you said. Btw, I do weigh and log everything.
- buttcoinslol 9y ago
  "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it" -Upton Sinclair Your surgeon's income depends on people getting bariatric surgery. You can add in exercise to increase total calories burned to support a larger food intake and still lose weight.
  - fao_ 9y ago
    > Your surgeon's income depends on people getting bariatric surgery. Surgeons are usually good at doing other surgeries as well...
  - arkades 9y ago
    (1) that’s not a meaningful support of any kind of argument. It’s borderline vacuous. (2) I’ve never heard a bari surgeon Not recommend lifestyle change. Most will ask you to do your best pre-op, to make the surgery as safe as possible. They will counsel you on the same post-op. Many have in-house dietitians to assist. (3) Your argument implies the following: Bari surgeons pretend and contend diet doesn’t work, to keep the supply of customers coming. Fact check: diet was failing for decades, and only the resultant epidemic made something as extreme as cutting out pieces of a non-diseased GI tract not entirely insane. Go read another hundred diet books of the week; proclaim their findings from the rooftops. I’m pretty sure the bari surgeons aren’t going to run out of willing customers.
    - bigmanwalter 9y ago
      I think the problem is that most people, and that includes doctors and bariatric surgeons alike, don't really know how to diet. Using only diet, I have successfully lost 90lbs and continue to lose.
      - brooklyn_ashey 9y ago
        Good for you! I mean that. But your experience isn't everyone's experience. Mine isn't either. I said so. For one, men have much easier time losing weight. I'm not a man. I offered my singular experience to give support for those who might also be mystified after trying everything with a doctor. To those who think my surgeon is trying to get me to buy surgery by saying a diet won't work-- actually, my surgeon (also head of a weight loss clinic) recommended against surgery and against my eating less that I already do. There are a number of drugs that can help people trying to lose weight that aren't phentermine. Some people like me can't take them because of a family history of thyroid cancer or other diseases. But for those who can take these, they are helpful tools. Often, those who struggle with weight loss have struggled with it throughout their life for a host of reasons, only one of which may be eating and exercising habits. To the person who told me I could "add in exercise", what are you trying to accomplish with comments like this? Of course I exercise. People who struggle with this health issue need support and to know that there are other difficult cases sometimes and to keep at it anyway. I keep at it anyway, because being in shape and healthy matters to me and always has. I do an hour of cardio 5x a week and I weight train every other day. I was a serious athlete as a young person (high school/college) and never had trouble with weight gain/eating disorders. I definitely know how to add in exercise. In fact, I never didn't exercise in my life. When I hear simplistic comments like some of these that seem to be meant to shame someone for not exercising, or for having no willpower, or for just generally not being disciplined at losing weight, I have to ask myself where is this kind of thing coming from? I can't say for sure, but perhaps it is because they feel that way about themselves and it feels harsh to them so they throw it at other people so they don't have to deal with the discouragement. To these people I say: don't be too harsh with yourselves! You will do much better at all of these things if you support your own small successes every day. Ultimately, don't you want to succeed at being as healthy as you can? Well, you get there through encouragement and support of yourself. You get there hopefully with the help of better data, drugs, approaches, exercise, and emotional support as better and better research is done into weight loss. And this is what the OP was all about anyhow. One of the best things a person can learn from being an athlete is that if you have team support-- if you root each other on-- you raise the level of the team. People who are trying to lose weight, including yourselves, need this. Because the other raises cortisol levels, and we know what happens then.
wutbrodo 9y ago
Do you have a source for this? It's a fairly trivial Google search to find papers making the counter-claim, but I'm aware that nutritional science is kind of a dumpster fire, and much of the research is at least a couple decades old.
woodandsteel 9y ago
>The actual changes in resting metabolic rate from mild caloric restriction are very small. But only a small change in metabolic rate can easily produce ten or more pounds of additional weight a year.