90% of people who rely on dieting to lose weight are not satisfied. How to become the 10% who succeed

There are many different ways to lose weight. Besides burning calories through exercise, many people choose to diet to control their weight. Common diets include eating only apples, bananas, and boiled eggs, or using fasting to reduce food intake. Recently, the so-called "ketogenic diet" has become popular, which combines a high-fat, moderate-protein, and very low-carbohydrate diet to achieve the goal of reducing calorie intake.

However, while dieting may seem effective in the short term, research and real-world cases show that up to 90% of people eventually regain weight, sometimes even gaining more than before their weight loss efforts. The reasons behind this are closely related to the body's physiological responses and metabolic mechanisms.

Dieting for weight loss: effective in the short term, but easy to gain weight again in the long term

Regardless of the diet, you will usually see significant weight loss in the early stages, sometimes losing two to three kilograms, or even more, in a week or two. However, as time goes on, your body will gradually enter the so-called "wall period". At this time, no matter how strict you are, your body will gradually lose weight.control diet, the weight no longer goes away, which makes people feel frustrated and give up dieting and return to their original eating habits, resulting in rapid weight gain and even a worse figure than before.

Professor Joseph Proietto of the University of Melbourne, Australia, conducted a study in which 50 obese men and women participated in a ten-week dieting program. The subjects lost an average of 13 kilograms during the experiment, but a year later, they had regained an average of 5 kilograms. This suggests that most people who lose weight through dieting often have difficulty maintaining their gains and eventually lose weight.weight rebound.

Research data further indicates that after about a year on a diet, weight typically rebounds to 30% to 35% of the weight lost during the weight loss period. After four to five years, as many as 90% of people have completely regained their original weight, or even gained more. After repeated unsuccessful dieting attempts, many people fall into a vicious cycle of "weight loss, weight gain, and more weight loss," making it difficult to achieve a sustainable weight loss goal.

Why is it that dieting has significant effects at first, but is difficult to sustain?

To understand why dieting can easily lead to weight regain, it's important to first understand how it works. When a person begins a diet, reducing or stopping their normal diet, the body begins to draw on stored carbohydrates, proteins, and fats for energy. During the initial stages of starvation, sugars are depleted first, followed by the breakdown of fats and proteins. Because both of these substances contain a large amount of water, their depletion reduces water content in the body, resulting in a rapid weight loss that can lead to a false sense of weight loss success.

However, this weight loss is mostly due to water loss, not realLose fatOnce you resume a normal diet, your body quickly rehydrates and your weight rebounds. More importantly, long-term dieting can have negative effects on your body, including nutritional imbalances, decreased immunity, and, most critically, a lowered basal metabolic rate.

Decreased basal metabolic rate: the biggest concern of dieting

Basal metabolic rate (BMR) refers to the minimum number of calories required by the human body at rest to maintain basic physiological functions such as heartbeat, breathing, and organ function. This rate accounts for approximately 65% of a person's total daily calorie expenditure. When people continue to lose weight on a low-calorie diet or age, their BMR gradually decreases.

Once your basal metabolic rate slows, your body's energy consumption efficiency decreases. Even with the same amount of food, it's more likely to convert excess calories into fat and store them, leading to weight gain. This is why many people who lose weight through dieting quickly gain weight back if they relax their diet even slightly.

The right way to lose weight: a balanced diet + regular exercise is the key

Therefore, relying solely on dieting for weight loss is not only limited in effectiveness but can also be harmful to your health. The key to successful weight loss lies in establishing healthy eating habits, not extreme calorie restriction. Your total daily calorie intake should meet your body's basic needs. Even if you need to reduce your intake, it shouldn't fall below the minimum. By gradually adjusting your diet, you can help your body adapt to new calorie intake patterns while retaining enough energy for daily activities and exercise.

For the 10% of people who successfully lose weight and maintain their gains through dieting, they almost all have one thing in common: consistent exercise. Besides diet control, regular exercise is crucial for maintaining weight and preventing weight gain. It's recommended to perform aerobic exercise three to five times a week for at least 30 minutes each time. Warm up before exercise and stretch afterward to avoid sports injuries.

Exercise methods can be diversified to maintain enthusiasm and motivation. For example, different activities can be arranged every week, such as running, cycling, skipping rope or ball games. By changing the exercise pattern in a cycle, it can not only enhance the exercise effect, but also make the weight loss process more interesting and sustainable.

In summary, there's no shortcut to weight loss. While dieting alone may produce short-term results, it can easily lead to weight gain in the long term and can also harm your health. Only through a balanced diet and regular exercise can you truly achieve healthy weight loss and maintain your ideal physique over the long term.