You Can Maintain  

Your Ideal Body Weight

 

Donald Glassey, D.C.

 

18

Enlightenment Journal | Winter 2011-2012

HEALTHY LIVING

T

he marketplace abounds with 

weight-loss plans and no small 

amount of confusion about 

which one is best in terms of overall 

health and the ability to maintain our 

desired weight. There are several 

factors that influence weight and 

weight loss. Understanding them can 

facilitate wise dietary choices.

Weight-loss dieting reduces fat and 

muscle. When beginning such a diet, 

the weight that is burned by the body's 

metabolism is mostly protein, caused 

by breaking down lean muscle tissue. 

Fat is burned last, which is the oppo-

site of what a weight loss diet should 

do. When starting to eat normally 

again after a weight-loss diet, the lost 

weight is gained back very quickly, 

mostly in the form of fat. That is why 

"trend" diets, which may result in 

weight loss in the short term, are not 

successful over time in maintaining 

ideal body weight. Ninety-five percent 

of people who lose weight on such 

diets gain it back in one year; 97%  

gain it back in two years. Maintaining 

ideal body weight is related to a 

number of factors: