Golden Rule for Maintaining Weight Lost Through Diet

Medical Park Gebze Hospital Nutrition and Dietetics Specialist Dyt. Kenan Yıldırım, emphasizing the dangers of extremely restrictive diets, states: "When we consume far too few nutrients, we first reduce our physical activity, then we direct our organs to function with less energy. When we start eating a lot suddenly after finishing the diet, the excess energy we get from food is then stored in the body as fat. After a while, when we apply a weight-loss diet again, we lose weight more slowly, and our weight-loss process takes longer than before. This is called 'weight cycling' and eventually a person may reach a point where they can no longer lose the weight they have gained," he says. So can a person who loses weight through dieting maintain their achieved weight? Medical Park Gebze Hospital Nutrition and Dietetics Specialist Dyt. Kenan Yıldırım, shared the answer to this much-asked question with us.

Starvation Is Not a Healthy State

Medical Park Gebze Hospital Nutrition and Dietetics Specialist Dyt. Kenan Yıldırım, noting that people who do not restrict food excessively for long periods, do not condemn themselves to hunger, eat in measured and balanced portions, and adopt an active lifestyle can maintain their weight loss without regaining it, said that those who think "I followed a strict diet, lost weight, now I can return to my old eating habits" will inevitably regain the weight they lost quickly.

"Cut Your Coat According to Your Cloth"

Dietitian Kenan Yıldırım, emphasizing that during rapid weight loss through semi-starvation the metabolism adapts to expend less energy, thus resulting in unhealthy weight loss, made the following remarks: "When few nutrients are consumed, naturally less is expended. This is a kind of equivalent to the saying 'Cut your coat according to your cloth'. If you have little money, you try to live by spending less. Our body is the same way. When we consume far too few nutrients, we first limit our physical activity, then we direct our organs to function with less energy. When we start eating a lot after the diet ends, the excess energy obtained from food is stored as fat. After a while, when the person applies a weight-loss diet again, they lose weight more slowly, and the weight-loss process becomes longer. This is called 'weight cycling' and eventually the person reaches a point where they cannot lose the weight they have gained."

Rapid Weight-Loss Diets Are Not Healthy

Dietitian Kenan Yıldırım, pointing out that frequent dieting for the purpose of rapid weight loss is the greatest danger for weight control, stated: "A person who loses weight by changing negative aspects of their eating habits over a long period of time and by making their lifestyle more active will not return to their previous state." Protein group foods: Meat, low-fat cheese, boiled eggs. Calcium-containing foods: Low-fat milk and unsweetened yogurt. Bread and grain products: Foods rich in carbohydrates and B-group vitamins. Vegetable group foods: Raw vegetables and salads, vegetable dishes. Fruit group foods: Extremely rich in many vitamins, minerals and fiber, and they also contain carbohydrates. Daily consumption should not exceed 3 portions. Fat: Fat in dishes should be as minimal as possible. Solid fats should be avoided, liquid oil should be used, and also small amounts of fatty nuts (hazelnuts, peanuts, walnuts, almonds, etc.) should be consumed. Sugar and sugary foods: Foods in this group should be consumed as little as possible.