gios

Since I cut carbs back in March of 2018, I've reset roughly 30 lbs lower and have been in maintenance. I try to keep carbs at or below 20 net grams / day ( very low carb / ketogenic ). No low fat seed oils aka vegetable oils - which means no eating out. Being in my early 60s - I'm down to my weight when I was in my 20s. I was never overweight per se, but I know I was thin outside fat inside ( TOFI ).

guachi

Your resting metabolic rate isn't really something you can increase. And the less of you that there is (all other things equal) the fewer calories you'll need. On the other hand, lifestyle and dietary changes may mean you won't feel the need to eat as much and/or the exercise you do will keep your weight in balance.

I think the basic answer to your question is "no".

GetUpnGo

You will find two different kinds of answers to your question: scientific and anecdotal.

The science on this question is developing rapidly and it pays to keep up to date on recent studies. I read Science Daily diet and weight loss news at https://www.sciencedaily.com/news/he...d_weight_loss/.

I recommend The Obesity Code by Jason Fung, but you need to read it intelligently and question some things. His main teaching is that weight gain is caused by insulin and the solution is a low-carb diet with intermittent fasting.

Anecdotally, here's what happened to me. I lost 70 lbs in about two years with a huge amount of cycling (2000 miles a year) as well as walking, running, hiking, skiing, kayaking, and weight lifting PLUS a very clean lower-calorie diet with zero sugar or junk food. I maintained the loss for a couple of years. As soon as I stopped this heroic regimen and drifted back toward my previous habits, the weight returned slowly. I regained 55 lbs, became alarmed, and lost 20 again. The lessons I learned (remember, we're talking anecdotally):
(1) No, you don't reset at a lower weight such that you don't have to be so careful about diet and exercise. You need lifelong good habits that will be radically different from the society around you.
(2) After a certain point, huge amounts of exercise have no further impact on weight loss. Researchers are now saying that exercise doesn't contribute much to weight loss (maybe 10%?), so now I exercise for health and pleasure but not really for weight loss.
(3) I believe the amount of exercise I did impaired my metabolism permanently. In the beginning I lost 1 lb for each 25 miles of biking. Then it took 50 miles per lb, then 100 miles, and then I stopped losing weight from biking, meaning zero weight loss from biking for the next 1000 miles. I now exercise 4 hours a week and observe NO impact at all on my weight.
(4) The research is now pointing to intermittent fasting as the best way to lose weight. It doesn't have to be radical---I lost the recent 20 lbs by restricting eating to 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. That's actually not difficult to do. (I also cut out all sugar.)
(5) My hardest lesson was that inhuman amounts of exercise (= surpassing what the human body was built for) will come back to haunt you not just with a slowed metabolism, but damaged joints that will one day prevent you from doing even minimal exercise to stay healthy. I lost a whole decade in pain while my body was in decline but too young to get joints replaced, according to doctors. During that decade I went from super fit and normal weight to walking with a cane, difficulty getting dressed (shoulder damage), and overweight again. Two joint replacements later, I'm functional again and can do enough exercise to be healthy, but I'll never be able to return to high-level activities. Skiing is finished, weight lifting is only to maintain not gain muscle, biking is for cardio fitness and enjoyment, not for high mileage.

That's my anecdotal cautionary tale. If I had it to do over again I would lose no more than 2 lbs a month, assume that dietary changes will be lifelong, and exercise only at a level that's fun and comfortable, never to pain and exhaustion.

Milton Keynes

I agree with this. Most success stories are from people who have cut out a lot of sugar and carbs, not fat. My own personal experience bears this out. I lost 60 pounds a few years ago, but got lax about not eating sugar or carbs and put half that back on.

guachi

I don't recommend the Obesity Code. The author's videos play fast and loose with facts and tries to bamboozle the viewer with irrelevant information. Humans have, throughout history, had incredibly varied diets. This should show us that people can maintain a healthy weight and diet eating a huge variety of foods.

Exercise usually doesn't contribute much to weight loss for two reasons: One, people don't do large amounts of calorie burning exercise and, two, people who are overweight got there because they ate too much. There is no reason whatsoever that exercise can't be 100% of your weight loss. I've lost 40 pounds in the last 9 months and my power meter says I've burned enough calories to have lost 60 pounds. This tells me that I'm out exercising my diet. The no carb/fasting people repeatedly state such a thing shouldn't be possible and that I can only lose weight by cutting carbs. I want to lose 50 pounds but in my case I doubt it would have made a lick of difference whether I had cut more carbs or fat to get there. My body clearly has enough fat stores for whatever aerobic exercise I'm doing so it's not like I need to eat more to put more fat on.

As for fasting, it was a recipe for disaster for me. It makes me too hungry and I respond by eating too much. I actually did that thinking it would work but the result was weight gain a few months ago that I've had to reverse by ditching it completely. Now it's a healthy snack in the morning. A lunch of whatever I want (just not a lot of whatever). Evening eating is based on whether and how much I worked out and whether I planned on working out the next day. Lots of carbs, especially on workout days. I'm a cyclist. Carbohydrates are life.

Fasting was a complete failure.

GetUpnGo

The main benefit I got from The Obesity Code was the emphasis on controlling insulin and the relationship between insulin and weight. For two decades I followed the conventional medical advice to eat 6 meals a day to control hypoglycemia and that lead to significant weight gain for me. The Obesity Code explains that frequent meals lead to increased insulin in the blood and weight gain. However, I do question other things in the book and I don't completely trust the author, especially his constant statement that "excess calories do not cause weight gain." I believe that his recommendations for intermittent fasting ARE a lower-calorie diet, which contradicts his claim.

There is more recent research now about how long the eating window can or should be for intermittent fasting, and what time of day is best. IF doesn't need to involve hunger. The eating window can be as much as 10 hours, as in 8 am to 6 pm. That's not very difficult to do. The point is to not be eating large meals at midnight.

Can you explain this, please: "I've lost 40 pounds in the last 9 months and my power meter says I've burned enough calories to have lost 60 pounds. This tells me that I'm out exercising my diet." Why didn't you lose 60 lbs?

Bearhawker

One thing that is interesting is that if you eat the same number of calories per day but switch from multiple eating times per day to just one, people tend to lose weight. The same number of calories spread throughout the day interferes with the insulin levels to where it never completely drops, vs eating the exact same amount of calories in one sitting spikes you once and gives you loads of time to come down before the next meal.

Another thing to consider is whether the calories are eaten or drunk - the body reacts to liquid as hydration, not nutrition. One example I've heard - and can verify from my personal experience - is someone who consumes 12 beers in a relatively short amount of time, very probably cannot consume the same amount of water in the same time. You body recognizes the water as hydration and tells you when you've had enough. It doesn't recognize the beer as hydration and thus you don't get the same shut-down signal.

Same with fat-heavy food: all my life I could stog as many tacos in front of me as you were willing to lose. Total volume would be staggering. But put a bowl of boiled eggs in front me and I could only choke down so many. Body recognizes the fat/protein as food and shuts you down WAY before the belly complains about bursting with carb-heavy tacos. Tells me that the body doesn't recognize carbs as food the same was at it does for fat/protein. Similar to the water/booze situation.

Bodies are weird machines

brawlo

I should say that while it's a refutation video made to a specific video of Fung, there's actually a bucket load of helpful and factual information in there on the topics discussed here in this thread

Leisesturm

There is no reason why exercise can't be 100% of weight loss for YOU. For other people, well ... as I understand it cycling burns ~600C/hr. A lb. of fat is 3,000C. I don't know about YOU, but I have other stuff to do in a day besides ride a bike around. If you really want to lose that extra 50lb. you will join the rest of us that have had to say ciao to the carbs and sayonara to the sugar ...

VTBike

Most people have a "set point" and their hormones will try to keep them there. The question is whether or not you can change your set point. The answer is... somewhat. You can make lifestyle changes that will have an impact on your set point, but it is incredible difficult to completely reset it at a much lower weight.

I was lucky enough to have been prescribed semaglutide and Metformin as part of a weight loss program though my local hospital. At the time I was prescribed these medicines they were not approved for weight loss - so my prescription was an off-label use. That said, they definitely changed the weight that my brain wanted me to be at. My appetite went down and I lost 24% of my body weight by taking these medications along with diet changes and exercise. I never counted calories. I was lucky, for sure, but I am convinced that the medicines changed my set weight for the better. That said, it has been extremely difficult losing those last few pounds to get to my goal. My set point is now starting to work against me.