Question

A 40-year-old woman, 5'4 "tall and 155 lbs. Wants to lose weight, for this reason she decided to consume no more than 1,600 calories daily. The first week she lost weight, however in the third week she noticed that she had gained more than the 5 lbs he had lost 1. Explain in physicochemical terms what happened in this situation.

Answer 1

Dieting is most common approach for losing weight, adopted by majority of obese and overweight peoples. Restricting food intake leads to weight loss initially but eventually regain of weight occurs. Here, also same thing is happening. The 1st week the lady loses weight and then regain it in 3rd week.

Main reasons for this

#1 Calorie deprivation

In response to Calorie deprivation, level of leptin(satiety hormone) decreases and level of ghrelin(hunger hormone) increases. So individual in deprived state experience more hunger, and feeling of hunger remain increased even after eating a regular meal.

Due to this physiological adaptation to Calorie deprivation occurs which is Reduction in energy expenditure. Therefore, to continue losing weight, the individual must consume even fewer calories than during the initial stages of the diet. Dieters who are unaware of this metabolic adaptation and don’t alter their diet accordingly will stop losing weight, may start to regain, and will likely be puzzled and discouraged.

#2 Sedentary lifestyle

Another main reason is our relationship with smartphones, TV, cars, computers and other electronic gadgets which encourage us to sit for many hours. This lead to decreased metabolism and gaining of weight as there will be no calorie burning.