The Fat Switch

by Richard J. Johnson

As we have discussed, weight is normally tightly regulated. However, many of us have become mildly leptin resistant, which we believe is being driven largely from diets high in sugar. As a consequence, most of us are slowly gaining weight, with an average increase of one or two pounds per year. This only requires taking a few more calories each day over what we require to stay in balance. Some studies suggest that this amount equates to only 15 extra calories a day on average. However, as one gains weight, one also requires more energy to stay at that new weight. Thus, once you are at a higher weight, you will eat more calories to stay at your new weight, plus you are also likely to eat additional calories above your needs because you will continue to be leptin resistant. This emphasizes why losing weight is much more challenging than preventing weight gain. This is because to lose weight you have to not only restrict the extra calories you eat each day, but also you have to restrict calories to the point that your calorie intake is less than your energy demands. This is further complicated by the fact that there will be a tendency for you to reduce your energy output as energy intake falls, as your body will attempt to keep weight stable. Hence, this explains why exercise is important to help keep your energy output high. Furthermore, as you lose weight, the number of calories required to maintain weight also decreases, so that you have to adjust to a lower energy intake ...