Why it's so hard to keep weight off after dieting
Changes in body composition and homeostatic control of resting energy expenditure during dietary weight loss
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
When you lose weight, your body slows down its energy use — even after you stop losing weight — to save energy, like a car idling lower to save gas.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
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Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
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Evidence Score
Based on clinical experience or non-systematic literature reviews. The lowest level of evidence as they are most susceptible to bias and personal perspective.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
When you lose weight, your body slows down its energy use — even after you stop losing weight — to save energy, like a car idling lower to save gas.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 50 / 5
Evidence Score
Based on clinical experience or non-systematic literature reviews. The lowest level of evidence as they are most susceptible to bias and personal perspective.
Publication
Authors
Müller MJ, Heymsfield SB, Bosy-Westphal A
Related Content
Claims (6)
When a person loses weight, their body burns fewer calories and they feel hungrier for a period of time; these changes return to normal after the lost weight is regained.
The body's adjustment of energy expenditure during weight loss and maintenance involves multiple biological mechanisms that change over time, and these different phases require distinct scientific models to understand properly.
After losing weight through dieting, the body continues to use less energy during daily activities than expected, mainly because muscles become more efficient at performing work and the nervous system reduces its activation, leading to sustained lower energy expenditure.
During weight loss, the body's reduction in energy expenditure in the early phase is related to lower carbohydrate stores and less water inside cells, caused by decreasing insulin and increasing glucagon; in the later phase, it is related to the breakdown of fat and decreased metabolic activity in specific organs.
Current methods for calculating how the body adjusts its energy use during weight loss rely on just two measurements—fat and non-fat mass—but more detailed models that track changes in individual organs and tissues show that the body burns 48% less energy than those methods predict.