Losing Weight, Part 1

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Understanding the Mechanism of Weight Regain

If your goal is simply to lose weight, it’s not that difficult in the short term.

If you eat less and exercise more, your weight will go down.
The real challenge is whether you can maintain that condition.

If you fail to maintain it, the weight you worked so hard to lose can quickly come back, and sometimes you may end up weighing even more than before you started dieting. This is what is commonly known as “weight regain” or “rebound weight gain.”

The more often you repeat this cycle, the easier it becomes to gain weight.

That’s why, when starting a diet, the first thing you should think about is:
“How can I prevent weight regain?”

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Why Does Weight Regain Happen?

Before that, let’s first understand “basal metabolism.”

Basal metabolism refers to the energy your body consumes even while at rest.
It is closely related to muscle mass: people with more muscle generally have a higher basal metabolic rate, while those with less muscle have a lower one.

When you restrict your food intake, your body enters a state of energy shortage.

Just as people try to save money when times are tough, the body also tries to conserve energy. When less energy is coming in, the body attempts to reduce energy consumption.

As a result, muscle mass decreases, and basal metabolism drops as well.

In other words, extreme dieting does not create “a body that burns fat easily”; instead, it creates “a body that burns fewer calories.”

At this point, dieting becomes difficult, and if you return to eating the way you used to, excess energy is more likely to be stored as fat.

Thus, every time a diet fails, muscle decreases, fat increases, and the body becomes even more prone to gaining weight.

This is the mechanism behind weight regain.

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How to Prevent Weight Regain

So, how can you prevent it?

The key is to avoid lowering your basal metabolism as much as possible.

To achieve that, it is important to:

• Avoid extreme dieting
• Exercise regularly to maintain muscle mass
• Consume enough protein, which is necessary for building muscle

The basic principle of dieting is:
“Don’t overdo it.”

At first, it’s enough to slightly reduce how much you eat or slightly increase your level of physical activity.

Rather than forcing drastic changes on your body, aim to improve gradually while maintaining habits you can continue comfortably.

Instead of pursuing a painful diet, it’s important to aim for “a sustainable diet.”