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11/21/2019
There Are Two Steps to Lose Weight the Right Way
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Contents
- There are two ways to lose weight
- How to lower one's set-point weight
- What is your specific diet?
- Differences from low-carb diets
- The meaning of the “two-step”
The bottom line
Although this is not a diet blog, since I’m writing the reasons why people gain weight, naturally, I thought about ways to lose weight, and I felt that I should write about it.
In this post, I will only write about my theory for losing weight. Please understand this is not based on practice, but I hope this will help someone.
1. There are two ways to lose weight
Just like the phrase “to gain weight” has two meanings, “to lose weight” also has two meanings.
【Related article】 Two Meanings to the Phrase "Gaining Weight"
(1) In the case you rebound
The first way is done by eating less and exercising more, as in conventional calorie-restricted diets. This method requires constant hunger.
I consider that humans have an ability to maintain their present condition, and use the "set-point" theory of body weight to explain their stable weight.
When you eat less (fewer calories) and stay hungry over many hours, your body will try to minimize the change by:
- increasing absorption rate in order to utilize maximum nutrition.
- decreasing calorie expenditure including basal metabolism in order to suppress unnecessary consumption.
Even if you lose a little weight with your hard work, I believe it is only temporary, and most people will rebound because their set-point weight hasn’t changed.
[Related article] Dieting Doesn’t Work in the Long Run
(2) Lower the “set-point weight” itself
The other way is to lower your set-point weight. As I have mentioned many times, the cause of being overweight, in my opinion, is an increased 'set-point' for body weight.
This means that one's absorption ability is higher than that of the average person, and I assume that the higher absorption tendency is related to symptoms such as high blood pressure, heart disease, abnormal blood sugar levels, and diabetes,etc.
So, I believe that to lose weight correctly, lowering the set-point weight itself is necessary rather than reducing caloric intake.
I will quote the reference related to this from the book, “The Obesity Code.”
(About rebounding of weight)
"The fundamental biological principle at work here is homeostasis. There appears to be a “set point” (*1) for body weight and fatness, as first proposed in 1984 by Keesey and Corbett. Homeostatic mechanisms defend this body set weight against changes, both up and down. If weight drops below body set weight, compensatory mechanisms activate to raise it. If weight goes above body set weight, compensatory mechanisms activate to lower it.
The problem in obesity is that the set point is too high. "
(Jason Fung. The Obesity Code. Greystone Books, 2016, Page 62.)
There are two prominent findings from all the dietary studies done over the years.
First: all diets work. Second: all diets fail.
What do I mean? Weight loss follows the same basic curve so familiar to dieters. Whether it is the Mediterranean, the Atkins or even the old fashioned low-fat, low-calorie, all diets in the short term seem to produce weight loss.
Sure, they differ by amount lost–some a little more, some a little less. But they all seem to work.
However, by six to twelve months, weight loss plateaus, followed by a relentless regain, despite continued dietary compliance.(*snip*)
So all diets fail. The question is why.
Permanent weight loss is actually a two-step process. There is a short-term and a long-term (or time-dependent) problem. "
(Jason Fung. The Obesity Code. Page 215.)
2. How to lower one's set-point weight
Doctor Fung, the author of “The Obesity Code”, believes that the higher set point of body weight is relevant to insulin resistance, which is why he has adopted fasting to cure obesity.
My opinion, which is quite different from other researchers, is that instead of starving ourselves, we can lower our set-point weight by eating a lot of less digestible foods, according to certain rules, which may reduce the feeling of hunger. This is because I believe that if the underlying cause of weight gain is due to the mechanism of intestinal starvation, then by doing the opposite, one should theoretically be able to lower one's set-point weight, and in turn lose weight.
Of all the diets that have been done , the low-carb diet (one which allows you to eat as much meat and fat as you want), the carnivore diet, the Mediterranean diet, and eating more low-G.I. foods and fibrous vegetables, etc. are all ways that fit my theory.
One might say, "I am just combining those diets.” But since the point is to leave more undigested food in the intestines, I believe they should be combined.
Note that when I say "set-point weight itself goes down," I don't mean that one's metabolism goes up, but rather that one's absorption ability itself goes down.
It may be difficult to understand how eating food reduces absorption rate, but imagine, for example, eating a snack bread and a glass of orange juice.
If you eat it when you are starving, your blood glucose level will jump up, whereas if you eat it three hours after finishing a well-balanced lunch, your blood glucose level will not rise as much.
Even when you go out for drinks, if you haven't eaten anything for almost ten hours, you may get drunk faster, but if you eat a good lunch and have ice cream two hours before drinking, you will get drunk more slowly. In other words, if you keep eating less digestible food to reduce hunger, the absorption rate should decrease.
3.What is your specific diet?
I think the key is to reduce carbohydrate intake to a certain extent and conversely increase meat, fish, oil/fat, fibrous vegetables, seaweed, nuts, dairy products, etc. to reduce the time you feel hungry.
(If you feel a little hungry, eat something. Eat regularly even if you don't have an appetite.)
Specifically, I believe there are two ways to do this.
(1) The way to actually improve your diet
- Reduce carbohydrate intake (rice, bread, noodles, etc.) by half to a third.
- Eat low G.I. carbohydrates if possible, such as brown rice, whole-grain bread, cold rice (starch turns indigestible once cooled down) and al dente pasta.
- Increase foods other than carbs such as meat, fish, fat/oil, dairy products, nuts, vegetables, seaweed, etc.
- If you feel hungry between meals, you can eat something.
- Of course, you can combine this step with some exercise, but make sure you eat balanced meals at least three times a day.
<Regarding fat intake>
Fat is an important energy souce for the body, and at the same time a cause of weight gain for some, but I believe that it is a food that can help us lose weight depending on how we eat it.
Fat was originally thought to be fattening because of its high energy density (9 kcal/g), but in fact, since it takes longer to digest, consuming it every three to five hours can also help you to lose weight (Of course, this varies from person to person).
For those who usually eat less to lose weight, the idea that "consuming fats along with carbohydrates will make you gain weight" would not be wrong. However, what matters is how you eat it, and it cannot be judged solely by the number of calories.
[Related article] Eating Fat/oil Is a Deterrent to Gaining Weight
(2) Slow down the digestive enzymes
For those who seem to digest food quickly no matter how much they eat, and who always feel hungry, the method (1) may not be effective. Some of them may even gain weight because of the increased calories.
I believe that the reason it becomes more difficult to lose weight as obesity levels become higher, is that they digest food faster and the absorption rate doesn't decrease so easily. In other words, the theory itself is not necessarily wrong.
In a similar case, in addition to improving the diet, it may be helpful to take medication that, for example, slows down the digestive process for fats and proteins, or decreases one’s appetite.
By slowing down the working of the gastrointestinal tract or lowering the ability to digest food, undigested food will remain longer in the intestines, which will have the same effect as (1) above.
( Naturally, it must be done under a physician's guidance.)
4. Differences from low-carb diets
Even though it is not up to extreme carb restriction (ketogenic), I believe my idea would result in a diet similar to a low-carb diet.
Those who advocate low-carb diets say, "it is the carbohydrates that cause weight gain, and instead of limiting them, you can eat as many protein-and fat-rich foods as you like to make up for the calories.”
In reality, however, it is not "you can eat" but rather "you have to" in order to lose weight.
If you reduce meat, fish, and fats/oils as well, you will feel hungry just like in a conventional calorie-restricted diet, and such diets do not work for long, as studies have shown.
My theory is that carbohydrates are only an indirect cause of weight gain making it easier to induce intestinal starvation. The point is only that we should consume more indigestible foods, which slow down the digestion process and suppress hunger. So, while carbohydrates are not necessarily bad, I believe that cutting the amount of carbohydrates in the diet will be more effective.
Of course, it is possible that reducing glucose, which provides immediate energy, may speed up weight loss in the short term.
5. The meaning of the “two-step”
For those who have been dieting by eating less, their caloric intake may at least increase . So "eat more to lose weight" may sound fishy.
However, reducing caloric intake is not the final point.
- In the short term, the absorption rate should be temporarily reduced by eating more indigestible foods so as not to feel hungry.
- In the long term, it's more important, by continuing to do so, to lower one’s set-point weight and get the non-rebound body you desire.
In other words, a "two-step" process is necessary to lose weight properly.
▽In Japan, there are various ways of dieting to lose weight by eating a lot of foods, and many people have their own interpretation of “losing weight by eating a lot.”
- Raised metabolism by eating foods.
- Eating a lot of low-calorie foods result in reducing the total caloric intake daily.
- Snacking results in a decrease in appetites, and as a result, reduced caloric intake at meals.
- Some components in a specific food eaten break down(/decomposed) body fat.
Still, I believe that none of these explanations are correct (although there might be some truth in them), since “why we gain weight” is not recognized correctly and people still believe that too many calories and carbohydrates eaten are the causes of being overweight.
The bottom line
(1) Just as the phrase "to gain weight" has two meanings, "to lose weight" also has two meanings. To avoid rebounding, the set-point weight itself must be lowered.
(2) Two steps are needed to lower the set-point weight.
In the short term, eating more indigestible food and reducing hunger will lead to a temporary decrease in absorption rate.
In the long term, I believe that by continuing to do so, the set-point weight itself will drop, and the body will be less likely to rebound.
(3) In Japan, the "eat a lot and lose weight" diet is all around us, but I think it is not properly recognized, and of course, it is not officially approved as a treatment. If it is proven that intestinal starvation causes people to gain weight, I'd like to believe that the meaning of "eating a lot and losing weight" will be properly understood.