Please explain the science of maintaining the same weight

[WickerShit]

I have maintained the same weight for at least 3 years. Probably longer but I have data for the last 3 years. Therefore surely the way I am naturally eating is my maintaining food intake - equal calories in and out.

However during that time, I have on occasion gone all out to try and lose some weight and have succeeded once by 4 kg. However, when I go back to eating naturally the weight goes back on. But only up to my current weight it doesn’t keep going. I don’t keep getting heavier.

If my natural way of eating is sufficient to maintain my weight Then why when I lose weight and go back to eating normally do I not maintain that weight?

It feels like my body wants to be the weight I am now and unless I keep under-eating, it just restores itself to its natural equilibrium.

Can anyone explain the science please? Genuinely interested, not trying to start a scrap. Ta.

It's called your set point, and you're right, it's the weight your body tries to keep you at, so once you stop dieting your body will try it's best to return to your set point.
It's possible to change your set point by being hyper vigilant not to regain any weight once you reach the weight you want. Cutting down again if the scales start to creep up. After a period of time (several months to a year) of maintaining your new weight your body will adjust its set point to the new weight.

Ok so it’s not as simple as calories on calories out then. Thank you. I don’t overeat currently so I need to eat so little to lose weight it’s hard to commit to doing that long term.

If you lose weight you need fewer calories to maintain, so your normal diet means you eat too much for your new weight.

If you lose weight you need fewer calories to maintain, so your normal diet means you eat too much for your new weight.

Ok so the new smaller body needs less calories to ‘work’ - that makes sense.

When you lose weight, the calories you need to maintain your new weight are fewer than the calories you needed to maintain your previous weight.
For example (completely made up numbers!) you’d need 1500 calories to maintain a weight of 64 kilos, but only 1300 calories to maintain a weight of 60 kilos. If you got down to 60 kilos and went back to eating 1500 calories, you’d gain weight.
I lost 3 stone last year. I’ve maintained it by calculating the calories needed to maintain my new weight, and sticking to that.

Thank you that makes sense. I eat pretty healthily and only really at mealtimes but I think my portions are too big so I’ll start with that. Also the wine…

Thanks for your help by the way

I know I could google but I’m wary of going too far into the whole weight-loss/internet sphere as my daughter has an eating disorder and I find it a bit triggering.

As others have said, when you lose weight you use fewer calories than when you were heavier. You can offset that to some extent by building muscle if you don't want to cut your calorie intake. I maintain a lower middle BMI as an average height woman eating over 2000cal a day purely because I strength train and am fairly muscular, and muscle burns more energy. I'm also relatively mindful about what I eat, I suppose, and I think that makes a difference in how your body utilises the energy. I focus on protein, fibre, whole foods where I can, rather than the empty carbs and diet foods I ate previously thinking they were going to help me lose weight. I think there's a lot of factors at play, but I don't think the diet industry that just has women eating fewer and fewer calories all the time is particularly helpful and for me personally, I didn't want to live my life counting every single morsel that passed my lips and permanently restricting myself.

Yeah I’m in the process of increasing the amount of weight training exercise I do. Hoping that will help.