HBO's 'Weight of the Nation'

[Sixty]

I've been following the above series on YouTube, and am curious what others think of it.

The series tosses out lots of statistics and figures. I don't know whether to treat them as facts or factoids. For example:

1) Given two people of identical weight, the one who has previously lost 10% of their body weight requires 20% less energy to maintain their weight. Thus if both eat identical meals, one is overeating, and the other is not, despite the fact that they weigh the same.

2) 75% of all people who successfully maintain their weight, weigh themselves regularly. I can't remember the interval - at least once a month?

One thing is clear - taking off extra weight is a huge struggle for most people.

[Too solid flesh]

One thing is clear - taking off extra weight is a huge struggle for most people.

Oh, it is. Somebody on the boards (KCCC?) posted that they taught their child that they could do difficult things.

We can do difficult things.

[JayEll]

I believe it's true about the calories. Some evidence indicates that frequent, severely restricted dieting can slow metabolism (or make it more efficient--which is a more positive way to put it I guess). In the worse case, it can become a vicious cycle of: start to gain --> restrict more--> eat too little, add in more food --> start to gain...

I like the No S plan because I don't want to know how many or how few calories I'm eating. Been there, done that, got very frustrated.

[oolala53]

The body needs fewer calories whether the loss is slow or fast. This also helps explain why the stat revealed in the article linked on the "Do the Math, thread: that it takes about THREE YEARS of having decreased calorie intake by 100 calories a day to lose ten pounds. If the body kept burning at the original rate, according to the normal formula of 3,500 calories = one pound, it should take only about a year.

If you look at the check in threads of many successful losers here, you'll see they eat VERY moderately, esp. after several months or a year. I find I'm hungry for less, but it is still a little bit of a problem to just go with that reduced appetite. I don't eat a lot on N days to start! But it's more comfortable than being TOLD I need to eat that much. When you come from it by just realizing you're not as hungry, it's more acceptable. At least that's my explanation.

[vmsurbat]

In my own case, I think I'm still able to eat a pretty decent amount of food, even after losing (and continuing to lose!) over 55 pounds. One thing that I think is a critical factor is that my rate of losing has been "slow" (1st year: 30lbs, 2nd year: 10; 3rd year: 10 lbs; mid 4th: 4-5 lbs.) I know I've read studies that the lack of severe restriction (as is typical of many diets) wreaks much less havoc on one's metabolism rate.