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content and include author resource box as listed above. Why Does Weight Come Back? By Kim Beardsmore Copyright © August 2003
Before many Australians recently, a devastating story unfolded on a popular current affairs program.
We watched with compassion as a young man named “the fattest man in Australia”, told of his most recent, serious attempt to lose weight. Approximately 12 months earlier and weighing close to 300 kilos, he under went surgery and had his stomach stapled.
I doubt there would have been one person watching not moved by this man’s depression and plight. Despite undergoing surgery, today he could barely get through each day, both physically and mentally. He shared with us his sense of hopelessness and wanting to end it all.
It was not only his size that was causing his depression. He had to deal with a heart broken by disappointment.
You see, stomach stapling had been a success.
He soon lost well over 50 kilos post operation and he and his family rejoiced. But then unthinkable happened.
The weight came back. Today he weighs well over 300 kilos – more than before stomach stapling.
This is an extreme case, but nonetheless raises a question that so many people continue to battle with.
After a diet, why does weight come back so quickly?
To answer this we need to understand how much energy a body requires. For each pound you weigh, each day you need 12 calories to maintain your body weight. If you weigh 120 pounds you will need 120 x 12 calories, that is, 1440 calories per day to maintain that body weight. If you eat or drink more calories than your body requires, excess energy is stored as fat. It takes 3,600 excess calories to make one pound of fat.
