Let's be honest - Dieting is not easy

I was reviewing lectures from a course I took at Harvard a short while ago. One of the invited speakers runs a weight management and research unit at a major New York University. He is an expert on weight physiology and also on the drugs that make us gain weight: more importantly he has been at the forefront of drugs that may help us lose weight.

The reason I bring this up is that we have known for many years, if not decades, that we have a huge 'treatment gap', between advising simple 'eat less and exercise more' with behaviour modification, to advising gastric bypass, or gastric sleeve operations.

There has been an explosion of knowledge in the mechanisms that cause us to gain weight, hence an increase in research of medications that might help us lose weight, such that we fill that treatment gap between simple behaviour changes and surgery.

Were you aware that as soon as you start to lose weight there can be upwards to 85% drop in the hormone leptin? This hormone regulates our hunger and metabolism through a centre in the brain. If it drops, metabolism slows and hunger goes up! Similarly the hormone ghrelin (from the stomach) elevates. It also increases hunger! It's no wonder why we slip up in our diet, and either 'sabotage' our eating efforts, or get frustrated when the scale doesn't seem to move in the direction we want.

Newer drugs will soon be available (I hope); as soon as Health Canada approves them. If we have over 100 drugs to treat hypertension (which is a far less complicated medical condition than obesity), then surely we can look at drug combinations that may help assist in decreasing hunger, thus helping to lose weight both in the short term and long term.

In the meantime, don't ever beat yourself up if the scale isn't moving as fast as you want it to. This is your body's genetics and hormones that are messing with you.

Over the years, even without drugs available, I've found that those people who are willing to keep on trying, to keep on searching for the methods that work for them, are the ones who will be successful both short term and long term. For some, it may be lowering carbohydrates and increasing fats. For others it may be snack and portion control and improving the timing of meals (a larger meal at lunch, a smaller meal at supper).

Some people may need to introduce the concept of intermittent fasting, where we don't eat for 12, or 18 hours maybe two times per week. There is a lot of research suggesting that food (too much, or the wrong kind) induces inflammation in the eating-metabolic area of the brain. Fasting allows this inflammation to settle and kick starts our metabolism, and possibly we begin to feel easier satiety with less food.

Our bodies are complicated. We were created to store fat, and unfortunately there is an abundance of food which we don't need, but is made readily available in the form of snacks which our brains mindlessly munch as we watch T.V. Food companies know about the addictive properties of these snacks, and really couldn't care less about the negative health implications on you.

So, don't get discouraged. Work on changing your habits daily. Expect setbacks, and successes. Think long term and how you want to feel and look many months or years from now, because eating the 'right things in the right amounts' needs to be with you for a lifetime.

You can do it, never give up!

Dr. Doug