Weight Loss: How Hard Can It Be?

Is weight loss anything more than simply using more calories than you take in? In theory, weight loss is little more than this simple equation. This basic equation of energy balance is true but is made up of several mechanisms including metabolic, genetic, and environmental factors, which consider how your body uses and stores energy. Also, controllable factors such as the amount of food you eat as well as your psychological responses to the food, along with lack of exercise will have a direct effect on your weight control efforts. Calorie intake, level of physical activity, heredity and some specific behavioral and psychological issues will have a significant effect on your efforts at losing weight.

Weight Loss and Caloric Intake:

Weight control, regardless of genetic predisposition or other factors, still requires consuming fewer calories than you burn. In fact, one weight control study found that "diet resistance" or the inability to lose weight even when reducing caloric intake, was probably explained by the fact that exercise was being over-reported and food intake was being underreported. The participants in this study reported that they were only consuming 1200 calories per day but were unable to lose weight. When comparisons were made between actual versus reported activities and food data, it was found that caloric intake was underestimated by 47% and energy output was overestimated by 51%.

Even small excesses in consumption of food will lead to obesity over a long period of time. A person who merely overeats 25 extra calories a day will consume 9,125 excess calories over a year’s time, for a gain of 2 1/2 pounds (a pound of body fat is 3,500 calories). If a 125 lb. person were to start this pattern at the age of 20 years old, by the age of 40 they would weigh 175 pounds.

Weight control is much more complex than simply eating less. Sometimes it’s very difficult to understand why one person can eat much more than another person and not gain a pound. Many factors come into play when studying weight control including metabolism and physical activity. However, it always gets down to the fact that given metabolic circumstances, and activity levels, if individuals take in excess calories in relation to their individual weight control factors, they will store excess weight as body fat.

Physical Activity and Weight Loss:

Physical activities have a tremendous effect on weight control. An athlete may burn as much as 3,000 additional calories a day, whereas a sedentary person may burn just a few hundred extra calories over their resting metabolism rate (RMR) while only going about their daily activities (such as performing household chores and working). Exercise not only burns calories but develops lean muscle mass, and helps to raise RMR as muscles require more energy to be maintained. A report by the Surgeon General found that 60% of Americans are not active on a regular basis and 25% are totally inactive. This low activity level is probably the single most significant factor associated with the rising obesity rate in the United States.

Weight Loss Heredity:

Obviously, heredity will have a significant effect on your efforts at losing weight. Heredity is known to be a significant risk factor in whether you will become obese. Some studies have found for example that if you are the child of two obese parents, your chances of being obese are at about 80%, as compared with 14% for children born to parents of normal weight. Also, studies using identical twins have also found similar high rates of obesity due to inheritability.

Interestingly enough however, research comparing the weights of adopted children to the weights of their biological and adoptive parents, have identified that genetic factors are responsible for only about 33% of the weight variance. This figure is believed by experts to probably be more accurate. It is believed that heredity may influence the number of fat cells (adipocytes) in the body, how much fat is stored and where it is stored, as well as other aspects of metabolism. Approximately 80% of children who are obese children also become obese adults. However, only about 20% of obese adults were also obese children.

Your ability at losing weight does not have to be predetermined by your heritability however. Your predisposition to becoming overweight or obese can be overcome according to some studies. One study of 485 pairs of female twins found that the amount of physical activity appeared to be a significant factor in determining an individual's body weight or ability at losing weight. Women that were physically active, on the average had 9 pounds less body fat than their sedentary cohorts.

Weight Loss and Psychological Issues:

There are also psychological factors associated with weight control. Some people say that they eat even when they're not hungry due to external cues. Some experts believe that emotions and food are closely connected, with people frequently using food for a sense of comfort or to release tension. Also, eating too quickly may lead to eating more calories than is actually necessary to satisfy your hunger. Finally, an important psychological trait associated with weight control is that attitudes toward physical activity also frequently become a habit.