We’ve all felt the painful sting of dieting one way or the other. But does it always work?
(In case you didn’t notice the awesome .gif on top, the answer is almost always no)
But here we’re gonna talk about how dieting is supposed to work, why in most cases it doesn’t and what to do next.
Dieting: great in theory, not so great results in real life.
So stop what you’re doing, stop eating, stop using your smartphones and be very attentive because this post will be awesome!
First off, what is dieting? what does it mean?
Just to get this increasingly foul pet peeve off my shoulders, the term dieting is in fact a misnomer. What you’re actually doing is modifying your diet. The word diet refers to a way of eating and when people say “I’m dieting” they should actually say “I’m changing my eating habits” or “I’m changing my diet” but since we’re lazy creatures by nature then we’re just gonna go with “diet” and let everyone assume we’re eating healthier.
Now that this tidbit is outta the way we can dive into the other fun stuff.
Exactly what is the problem here?
How does obesity happen in the first place?
Well I have this incredibly amazing darwininan theory about it but I’m not gona bore you with the details. Here’s the short version: we eat more calories than we spend. Its that easy, its even mathematical!
If you had a coin jar and you filled it with 10 coins each day but only spend 5, then you’d always have an excess of coins right? What would happen with the jar? You’d need to get a bigger one to replace it! The same happens with the energy we receive from our foods. This energy is measured by a unit called calories (kcal) and is a very good estimate of how much energy that food provides us. If we take in more than we spend then the body has to do something with all that excess! And in all its evolutionary glory, it stores it away in the form of fat. Yes, fat. This is precisely what enabled us as a race to survive the cold and harsh winters when we were at our most primitive. Sadly evolution hasn’t kept up with our lifestyle and food is now easily available (at least compared to our caveman days). So we eat more and spend less energy. This all leads to obesity!
The Vicious Cycle
So the alternative to eating horribly and moving less can be counteracted by eating better and moving more, right? Well yes and no.
It is true that some people obtain marvelous and near perfect results with these methods, this is not the way for everyone and here’s why:
Not all obese people are the same, sure some are barely obese at a BMI of 30 kg/m2 but there are heavier people clocking in at a BMI >35. These are precisely the patients that need another alternative. Its far more difficult for them to deny themselves food. Being obese means creating a vicious cycle. The more you gain weight, the more mass you have, more mass equals more calories to maintain said person alive, more calories equals eating more, eating more gains weight, etc.
What is the solution for these people?
Something called bariatric surgery!
Bariatric surgery attacks obesity on multiple levels!
- Limits the amount of food they can eat.
- Limits the amount of calories they absorb from food.
- Limits or nearly eliminates hunger-inducing hormones (i.e. ghrelin).
- Provides the base for a life-change in eating habits.
As you can see it has multiple ways of helping obese patients, even in cases where diets have failed. Bariatric surgery is a safe and proven weight loss strategy that has multiple benefits!
- It has been named as the best cure for diabetes mellitus type 2.
- Modifies appetite via hormones and physical methods (restricting food).
- Weight-loss is fast and best of all is maintained for life!
- With all that weight gone not only can diabetes be cured but also has other benefits like improving blood pressure, obstructive sleep apnea, gastric reflux disease and more!
If your BMI is 35 or above and have tried time and time again to lose weight through dieting and didn’t know why, or didn’t know how to cure your obesity. Then you’ve found your solution with bariatric surgery! Visit our main page for more info and any questions you might have we are always glad to listen to all of you!
Have a great weekend from LIMARP Staff and Dr Liza M. Pompa González!
