Why is dieting so difficult to succeed? The key to weight loss is to create a calorie deficit, which means reducing calorie intake and increasing calorie expenditure to promote fat breakdown.
However, the human body instinctively stores energy. Throughout our long evolutionary process, our bodies have developed a “thrifty mechanism,” tending to store excess energy as fat for emergencies. This makes it increasingly difficult to lose weight, as the body fiercely resists when we try to burn this stored fat.
Let’s take a look at how dieting individuals’ bodies obstruct weight loss, resulting in gaining weight instead.
First, many people think of starving themselves when they start dieting. Although this can produce some weight loss effects initially, the body does not immediately burn fat in this process. Instead, it prioritizes burning glycogen from muscle and releasing water, leading to a noticeable weight drop before eventually consuming stored fat, which is when real fat burning occurs.
It’s important to know that muscle burns more calories than fat. The reduction in muscle further lowers the basal metabolic rate, making subsequent weight loss even more challenging.
Second, when you choose to eat less, your body senses inadequate energy intake, mistakenly thinking it’s facing a famine. As a result, it slows down the metabolism, leading to muscle loss, hair loss, amenorrhea, fatigue, and more—all aimed at conserving energy output. This means that even if you eat less, the calories burned also decrease, making it harder for you to lose weight.
Third, long-term dieting can also affect thyroid function. The thyroid controls the body’s energy consumption rate, and once its function declines, calorie expenditure slows down, making weight loss naturally difficult.
Fourth, when you starve yourself for a long time, the secretion of cortisol, a stress hormone, also increases. It not only stimulates appetite, making you feel hungrier and craving high-calorie foods, but it can also lead to the accumulation of abdominal fat.
You will notice after a period of dieting that your appetite also becomes more voracious. It becomes increasingly difficult to resist the temptation of high-calorie, high-fat, and high-sugar foods. Once you binge-eat, the body will convert the excess calories into stored fat, and your figure will quickly rebound.
To achieve healthy weight loss, we should avoid the pitfalls of dieting and instead reasonably control calorie intake. Aim to consume enough to meet your basal metabolic needs—generally no less than 1200 calories per day—while ensuring a varied diet and balanced nutritional intake combined with exercise for healthy weight loss.
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