Call it what you will. Yo-Yo Dieting, Battle of the Bulge, The Holiday Pounds...it's that annoying tendency of our bodies to re-gain so easily weight that we tried to hard to lose. So why does this occur?

Basically, there are several mechanisms that your body relies on to keep your weight-o-meter at one constant level. While these survival mechanisms may have helped our ancestors rely on stored fat in times of cold, famine and trekking, it really doesn't help us out at all in our technology-assisted lifestyles, where food is prevalent and moving about is not very necessary. These fat preserving mechanisms include the following:

1. Studies have shown that "ex-fat" people have a higher tendency to crave high-fat and high-sugar foods. Since fat serves as a thermoregulator and a shock absorber, our natural mechanism is to try and keep a bit on, so the appetite naturally screams at you to gain that adipose tissue back once it's gotten used to having it there. As I mentioned, we don't actually *need* the fat, but the natural desire is present.

2. Once the body has lost fat, your brain is under the impression that food is scarce and starvation is a threat. To conserve your resources, the body naturally decreases your metabolism so that you burn less calories during the day. As your metabolic rate decreases, it becomes tougher to burn calories, and more exercise becomes necessary.

3. An enzyme called lipoprotein lipase actually increases in individuals who have lost weight. This enzyme promotes storage of adipose tissue, especially in the abdominal regions. This means that if you consume any extra calories, they are that much more likely to be stored as fat rather than burnt as energy.

4. Your body naturally burns a mixture of carbohydrates and fats. While this mixture varies from person to person, an individual who has lost weight tends to *not* burn as many fatty acids as part of the mixture. Again, this is just a natural mechanism to retain storage fat, but it can be quite inconvenient when you're trying to keep the pounds at bay.

Combine these mechanisms with the fact that your body never actually gets rid of fat cells once they're there. The cells simply decrease in size, waiting for a chance to gobble up any extra calories you might throw their way so that they can grow back into well-fed fat cells. It really is true - individuals who used to be fat actually face a constant uphill battle once they've lost weight!

So how do you avoid the risk of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, and high cholesterol that accompany an expanding waistline? As long as you're sticking to the diet that got you lean in the first place, your best plan is to constantly keep your metabolism guessing with frequently changing activities. From week to week, change up your exercise routine, try new sports, alter your intensity, don't workout at the same time of day, and consistently attempt to throw a metabolic curveball at your body.

Often, individuals that I train in the gym or online will not repeat a workout for up to 8 weeks! They're simply changing exercises every single day, and they see much more consistent and noticeable results than the individuals who stay on the identical routine for 8 weeks before switching things up.

That's all for now. Feel free to e-mail me at elite@pacificfit.net with questions!

Until next time, train smart,

Ben Greenfield



Ben Greenfield holds bachelor's and master's degrees in sports science and exercise physiology (University of Idaho), Ben is the owner of Pacific Elite Fitness www.pacificfit.net online multi-sport coaching,personal training service and is director of sports performance for Champions Sports Medicine www.champsportsmed.com He is also available as a private wellness coach.E-mail elite@pacificfit.net