Why it’s so hard to keep the weight off, part 1

Why is it so difficult to keep the weight off?

That's the real weight problem we presently have in our military and in our country. We can lose weight, but in the world, only less than 1% of those people are able to successfully keep the weight from coming back. It's a problem because we're confused as to why everything we have tried in the past and everything that is currently available as tools to help us lose weight isn't working.

Think about it. No one goes on a diet just so they can gain the weight back. When you start a diet, you imagine how you'll feel once you reach your goal. But then what? What about life after the diet? That question is what we'll answer in this two-part article.

What You Do Know: Fitness & Weight Loss Basics

When embarking on true transformation - not just relying on more motivation or ingesting more information - it's important to revisit the basics and separate the facts from opinions.

Whether you're new at working out or dieting or not, there are some fitness basics that are easy to understand and apply. And fortunately for you, if you're a member of the Armed Forces, then exercise and good nutrition are standard issue. Unfortunately, the standard is growing too large and getting stretched to the point where there are legitimate health concerns, such as high blood pressure, chronic stress, eating disorders, and post-traumatic stress even in those who haven't been in traditional combat.

We've seen warning signs for years, and as hard as the military tries to help improve the quality of life and opportunities to increase our chances of living as well-balanced a life as possible as a military member, the results aren't sticking. In the Army, for example, we see that "[the] bad news is that the typical lifestyle of Soldiers puts them at a higher risk for hypertension and heart disease. Too often, Soldiers cope with the stress of Army life by smoking, drinking and eating unhealthy," according to an article from Army.mil in 2011. "The good news is though, with lifestyle changes and/or medication, you can reduce your risk."

Weight Loss is Easy

Weight loss is just being in a caloric deficit for a long enough period of time to change the shape and weight of your body. The reason why losing weight is so desirable for so many is because, honestly, you feel better in addition to looking better. You're more fit, slimmer, in less joint pain, and have an easier time walking or going up and down the rungs on a shipboard ladder, which is typically only six feet of steps at a time, less than you'd find in a standard house.

The human body is complex but also simple. It likes to be at a normal weight where there is just enough fat, like Goldilocks's bowl of porridge – the body likes feeling "just right." If you carry more fat than your body prefers, then it will let you know by sending you signals like joint discomfort, maybe heat rashes, low back pain, tightness in your muscles, etc. Have you noticed how these symptoms either decrease or completely go away when you start losing weight?

You don't just feel better because of the food or supplements you're now taking – your body naturally feels better when it doesn't have to spend so much effort and energy at maintaining as much weight as it was. You got yourself closer to feeling "right."

Conversely, the human body doesn't like being too low in weight. It will let you know with fatigue, hormones not performing optimally, and slowing down your physical movements in order to preserve energy.

The human body was designed to move and to eat, but we are living at the extremes of too much movement or too much food, or not enough movement or not enough food. We're using as many externals things as we can to help us feel "normal." But the more we rely on the latest fad diet, the latest supplements, the latest technology (clamping our stomachs down), the less normal and more disconnected we feel from our natural weight and state of being.

Losing weight is easy because there are so many ways to lose weight. Interestingly, all diets share the same secret but in their own different flavors: you lose weight because they put you in a caloric deficit. That's how weight loss works in any diet.

CALORIC DEFICIT PER DIET

Ketogenic: removed an entire food group (carbs).

Paleo: removed an entire food group (processed food).

Whole30: removed processed foods and more, including grains, legumes, sugar, dairy, and junk food (basically the same as Paleo but a little more restrictive).

Weight Watchers: created smaller portions, which is a caloric deficit.

Mediterranean Diet: low on red meats and processed food (steak and donuts pack more calories per volume than fish and grains do).

Low Carb: lowered processed carbs. You still eat tons of carbs on this diet, but those carbs come in the form of spinach, carrots, apples, etc (all vegetables and fruits are carbs).

The reasons these diets don't work is because:

1.) You can still gain weight or stall your weight loss if you eat too much of the food within that diet, and,

2.) When the diet is over, if you go back to eating the way you were before, then you start getting back your former body.

Here's the thing…

It's not the food or the diet that is the reason for the weight regain. In Part 2, the actual reason will become crystal clear.