Bodies Like Being Fat

By David Spero Some people say they can't lose weight, but almost anyone can lose. The problem is keeping the weight off. Very few people (5% in studies) maintain weight loss over the long term. Why do our bodies regain weight, and what can we learn from that? Understanding weight loss is important for people with Type 2, because they are frequently told, "Lose weight." Often they do, but it's frustrating to watch the weight come back up over time, especially if blood glucose levels go up with it. You can feel like a failure. Other people, including your doctor, may blame you and accuse you of not trying hard enough. But that guilt-throwing is unjustified and scientifically wrong. It ignores our bodies' natural response to weight loss, which is, "Oh my gosh. There must be a famine going on. We have to pack on more fat or we'll starve." This is a natural, life-saving response developed over 100 million years of evolution. The big danger has always been starvation, not diabetes. So our bodies have learned a number of tricks to get back lost weight, and often a little more just to be safe. As Jacquie Craig, MS, RD, CDE, wrote here in 2008, these tricks include slowing down our metabolism. The body starts to do everything slower, so as to burn less energy. That way more can be saved as fat. Bodies will even turn down their temperature to burn less fuel for heat. As a result of slowed metabolism, you may find yourself feeling more sluggish at your lower weight (although not eve...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - Category: Diabetes Authors: Source Type: blogs