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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – It’s that time of year when we feel guilty for overindulging in holiday goodies. Many vow to shed their holiday weight gain, to eat better and get healthy. What better way to do that then to count calories?
What exactly is a calorie? You can’t see it, smell it or taste it. But, calories, or an excess of them can get you into a lot of trouble. Your body is a machine that uses food calories as fuel. When you eat the amount of fuel you need to run your body, your weight remains constant. Eat too many calories and your body uses what it needs and stores the leftovers for future use. You see this storage in your thighs, hips and waist. Eat too few calories and your body draws on its fuel reserves to meet demands. Your thighs, hips, and waist get slimmer as your fuel reserves are depleted.
You can think of the extra pounds you are carrying around as a warehouse of stored fuel. Remove calories from the warehouse and you lose. Add to the inventory and you gain.
The federal government, public health organizations, professional groups, educators, pharmaceutical companies, food manufacturers and even restaurant chains are all scrambling to solve the problem of America’s expanding weight gain. One area that has not been given much focus in weight loss research is a person’s individual weight history and why it occurred.
Research published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics looked at life-course theory to explain how obesity occurred over time for an individual. Though the cause of weight gain is that calorie intake exceeds calorie use, the underlying influences of this energy imbalance are very complex. Life-course theory looks at how obesity develops over time taking into account a person’s life events.
For a person to get the right intervention to lose weight it is important to determine if changes in weight were the result of a dramatic life change or were gradual changes in weight as the result of lifestyle habits and chronic dietary behaviors. The researchers identified four patterns of weight gain.
Those who reported being always heavy reached obesity in adolescence or their early 20s. For this group, early intervention and healthy habits might help to forestall further weight gain and possibly result in weight loss. In the late peak group, most were of normal weight or just overweight through early to mid-adulthood, then began to gain rapidly. For this group, a life stressor appeared to be the trigger – marriage, children, divorce, death in the family – leading to drastic changes in weight caused by emotional eating. More than half the women who had children experienced weight gain after giving birth which was unrelated to pregnancy weight gain. In the steady progression group weight gain occurred in increments, such as 15 pounds a year or a jump of 20 pounds after a stressing event. Though people often identify stress as a cause of weight gain, resolution of the stress rarely leads to weight loss. Instead, most people just stayed at the new higher weight and might diet not to gain further. What is interesting about stress eating is that it differs dramatically. Some may gain 10 to 20 pounds while others over 100 pounds. How individuals respond to stress is not well understood. The weight cycling group was the most common weight gain pattern with weight histories characterized by large and numerous fluctuations in weight. Most were obese by age 30 and reported trying multiple diets, often over and over. They frequently targeted events – weddings, vacations, graduations – to prompt weight loss but regained after dieting and as they got older gains outpaced losses.
This research approach to weight gain over the course of a person’s life only clarifies again how difficult and multifaceted weight loss is for many people. We screen for many health conditions but few doctors regularly screen for obesity or track a patient’s weight over time to suggest intervention strategies. Just like nurse practitioners and medical assistants are part of the health care team, registered dietitians should be used to provide expertise in weight management. At this point in time, they are still sadly underutilized.
© NRH Nutrition Consultants, Inc.
Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD, CDN is a registered dietitian and the author of 30 books. Available as eBooks from iTunes and Kindle/Amazon:
Diabetes Counter – the most up-to-date information on managing diabetes
Calorie Counter – a weight loss guide that won’t let you down
Protein Counter – put the latest protein recommendations to work for you
Healthy Wholefoods Counter – planet-friendly eating made easy
Complete Food Counter – food counts and nutrition information at your fingertips
Fat and Cholesterol Counter – newest approach to heart-healthy eating
Available in print from Gallery Books:
Most Complete Food Counter, 3rd Ed.
Your Complete Food Counter App: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/your-complete-food-counter/id444558777?mt=8
For more information on Jo-Ann and her books, go to: www.TheNutritionExperts.com.