Why is it so hard to lose weight?

Why is something that, on face value, seems so easy, nigh impossible for us to sustain?

There is no simple answer to this. Our difficulty to maintain weight loss is due to many factors that are often outside of our control, and constantly seem to work against us:

These are biological, psychological, and environmental. All of these are covered in the book Weighting on God, but here is a brief overview:

Biological Factors

1. Metabolic Adaptation: Our basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the amount of energy we each need simply to stay alive without any bodily exertion whatsoever, even that which involves eating and digesting food. It takes into account gender, age and weight and accounts for roughly 75% of our daily needs.

   
   

   When we lose weight, our body undergoes metabolic changes that lower our BMR. This means we burn fewer calories at rest, so if we are focused on counting calories rather than what our body actually needs at any given time, it becomes harder to maintain weight loss.

   
   

2. Starvation mode: (Thermogenesis) When we lose weight, it isn’t necessarily just fat we are losing. If we are not eating sufficient protein and not active enough, then we will probably lose muscle as well. Muscle is more metabolically active than fat, meaning it burns more calories, so once this is lost, we would need even fewer calories to maintain weight loss.

   
   

3. Fat Cell Memory: Fat cells have a "memory" of their previous state, which can make it easier to regain weight after losing it. This is what contributes to the "yo-yo effect" of weight cycling.

   
   

4. Hormonal Changes: When we lose weight, the hormones that increase appetite and cravings start to work against us! Grelin, the hormone that signals hunger, may rise, whilst leptin, that signals satiety, may decrease, and this can lead to increased food intake.

Psychological Factors

Food is intended primarily to satisfy physiological hunger, yet we tend to eat for many other reasons that have nothing at all to do with physical need.

1. Emotional Eating: So many emotions, mainly negative ones, can lead us to eat inappropriately. This is covered extensively in Weighting on God, and involves eating when stressed, bored or lonely, eating because of a false self-image and low self-esteem, unresolved emotional trauma (past and present) and even unsatisfied spiritual hunger.

   
   

   No matter how disciplined we may be in trying to lose weight through conventional dieting, whilst there are emotional issues at the root of our dysfunctional eating behaviour, this can never be successful long-term.

   
   

2. Mindset

   Ingrained habits: Our eating behaviour is formed and sustained throughout life by habits and thought patterns, often acquired in childhood. Our compulsion to eat up everything on our plate or to ‘go large’ to get our money’s worth, whether we need that amount of food or not, are two prime examples.

   
   

   Dieting Mindset: ‘Going on a diet’ is usually a temporary measure with specific short-term end goals, such as needing to lose weight before going on holiday. Individuals often go for a ‘quick fix,’ which involves drastic calorie reduction. This really messes up our metabolism (see above), making it highly probable that all the weight, and more, will be regained.

Environmental Factors

Predominance of high-calorie, unhealthy foods: Our supermarket shelves are filled with highly processed, calorie-dense foods that are relatively cheap. mess up our metabolism and can cause substantial harm to our bodies. These are often marketed in an enticing way to trick us into thinking that we are eating healthily when we are not.

Social Influences: Social gatherings and cultural norms easily promote overeating or unhealthy food choices (doughnuts after church?!), making it very easy to overeat.

With all these considerations, no wonder our attempts to lose weight sustainably seem like a valiant effort against overwhelming odds.

But here’s the good news – we are not left to battle this alone. God knows us intimately: He made us and understands how our bodies function and change over the years; he knows our every thought and understands all our emotions, both positive and negative. He also created the environment in which we live and the vast variety of food He has provided to nourish and sustain our health. He knows what foods are wholesome and which, through man’s interference, could make us ill.

He waits only for us to turn to Him, and He will rescue us. Through His Word, through His Holy Spirit and through the wisdom of sound science, He can help us to succeed in our health and weight loss goals, if we will let Him.