Hitting the Wall

The first couple of weeks are great – weight is coming off steadily, people start to notice that something is different (did you get a new haircut?), and you are convinced that this time you are going to make to size 8. Then it happens – the plateau. Might take a couple of weeks or a couple of months but eventually it happens to every dieter. For some mysterious reason, the diet stops working.

Nobody really knows why it happens but there are some theories. At the top of the list is the “starvation response”. When the human body is deprived of food, metabolism slows down to preserve energy. The thyroid gland seems to be a key player in this process. Leptin levels not only affect appetite but also energy metabolism.

A common misconception about the starvation response is that you stop losing weight. Weight loss slows down but, if you are still in a deficit (taking in fewer calories than you burn) then you will continue to lose. The body’s attempt to preserve energy does not stop deaths from malnutrition in third world countries or prevent anorexics from slowly starving themselves into the grave.

Another reason that diets mysteriously stop working is non-compliance. During the first few weeks, you are logging every calorie, weighing every gram. Then somebody in the family has a birthday. A co-worker invites you to go to lunch. Donuts in the breakroom. A 1200 calorie diet becomes 1500 (or maybe 1800?). It’s not that the diet stopped working – you stopped dieting.

I came across a study that compared the results of various types of diets. Basically, researchers found that they are all pretty much the same (Atkins participants lost slightly more). Very interesting to look at the pattern of weight loss. The study lasted for a full year but most weight was dropped during first two months. In fact, after the 6th month, there was an overall gain for ALL the diets.

The study was intentionally structured to measure “real world” dieting. Participants kept food diaries and received periodic checkups but were responsible for preparing their own food.

At the end of the year, Atkins dieters had lost the most – 10 whole pounds. Less than a pound a month. For a 200 lb woman, that’s not even a whole dress size.