How long until we can exhale?

Hello,

Someone told me that when you diet, the fat cells don't go away, they
just shrivel up. Since a formerly fat person has a lot of hungry fat
cells begging for food, he/she will more easily gain weight than a
never-fat person will. I don't know whether that's true.

At what point in a diet (Atkins or otherwise) can the dieter "relax" a
little? Or must a formerly fat person always stay on guard?

Please respond to the newsgroup, and not to my email.

Thank you very much.

Ted Shoemaker

On 1/16/04 9:20 AM, in article
, "Ted Shoemaker"
wrote:

Hello,

Someone told me that when you diet, the fat cells don't go away, they
just shrivel up. Since a formerly fat person has a lot of hungry fat
cells begging for food, he/she will more easily gain weight than a
never-fat person will. I don't know whether that's true.

At what point in a diet (Atkins or otherwise) can the dieter "relax" a
little? Or must a formerly fat person always stay on guard?

Please respond to the newsgroup, and not to my email.

Thank you very much.

Ted Shoemaker

I've always heard that fat cells are formed in the body prior to puberty.
Once we reach puberty we have the number of fat cells we'll always have, and
they expand and contract as we gain and lose weight. I guess a fat kid would
make a fat adult, eh?

I found this link http://home.howstuffworks.com/fat-cell1.htm
With information that supports what I've always heard.

Cathy

I've always heard that fat cells are formed in the body prior to puberty.
Once we reach puberty we have the number of fat cells we'll always have,
and
they expand and contract as we gain and lose weight. I guess a fat kid
would
make a fat adult, eh?

I found this link http://home.howstuffworks.com/fat-cell1.htm
With information that supports what I've always heard.

Cathy


Well, that sucks. I was a fat kid and now I'm a fat adult. I don't plan on
staying that way too long.

I've heard that the number of fat cells in a body only goes one way... up.
You can lose fat and the fat cells will shrink, but never go away. The
fatter you get the more cells you'll generate. The skinnier you get, the
smaller the cells get, not lower in number.

-Dough

On 1/16/04 10:06 AM, in article , "DoughBoy"
wrote:


I've always heard that fat cells are formed in the body prior to puberty.
Once we reach puberty we have the number of fat cells we'll always have,
and
they expand and contract as we gain and lose weight. I guess a fat kid
would
make a fat adult, eh?

I found this link http://home.howstuffworks.com/fat-cell1.htm
With information that supports what I've always heard.

Cathy


Well, that sucks. I was a fat kid and now I'm a fat adult. I don't plan on
staying that way too long.

I've heard that the number of fat cells in a body only goes one way... up.
You can lose fat and the fat cells will shrink, but never go away. The
fatter you get the more cells you'll generate. The skinnier you get, the
smaller the cells get, not lower in number.

-Dough


What you've heard is very similar to what I've heard ... With one exception.
The number of cells don't go up ... Just their "size" ... We don't generate
new fat cells, just expand them. The cells are there, it just depends on how
"full" they are as to how much "fat" we have. If we empty them, they don't
go away. But we don't grow any news ones.

Cathy

On Fri, 16 Jan 2004 07:20:13 +0000, Ted Shoemaker wrote:

Hello,

Someone told me that when you diet, the fat cells don't go away, they
just shrivel up. Since a formerly fat person has a lot of hungry fat
cells begging for food, he/she will more easily gain weight than a
never-fat person will. I don't know whether that's true.

At what point in a diet (Atkins or otherwise) can the dieter "relax" a
little? Or must a formerly fat person always stay on guard?

Please respond to the newsgroup, and not to my email.

Thank you very much.

Ted Shoemaker

Approach like AA people do.

-Cheers

I've always heard that fat cells are formed in the body prior to puberty.
Once we reach puberty we have the number of fat cells we'll always have,
and
they expand and contract as we gain and lose weight.

This is incorrect. You are born with a number of cells. You have a
different number of cells at puberty. Then if you gain a bunch of weight as
an adult fat cells can multiply when the current number of cells can not get
any bigger. Now, to answer the first question. If you have been lets say
300 lbs and you should weigh 150 you have way more cells than a person that
was 150 all their adult life. At first, it was thought that the fat person
kept those extra cells for life and some people believe that it is true
still, but some new studies have shown that fat cells can die off if cells
get too small. I have done a bunch of research on this topic. I have been
as high as 250 and should weigh 180-5. Since I have been up to 250 I added
extra fat cells at that time. Do I still have them? Well, it seems
inconclusive, but I suspect I would have more than a person that stayed at
180-5 all his life. I would agree that if a person was fat, it is easier
for them to become fat again due to them having more cells and it is easier
to gain. On the other hand, you can change all that by exercise. If you
carry more muscle, then your body burns more fat.

I like to believe that fat cells can die. I am trying to become what you
call ripped. I was to have a washboard stomach at the age of 39 or 40. If
I carry all a bunch of extra cells it may be harder for me to attain this.
Keep in mind fat cells are tiny. Microscopic

Hope this helps,
Curt

The bad news is that research suggests that once you lose a significant
amount of weight you can never relax.

In fact, during maintenanceyou can't eat many more calories after you reach
goal than the number you were eating at the end of the weight los phase of
your diet --maybe 300 calories a day more, which doesn't work out to too
much extra food.

Research in labs has shown that the ody has a weight set point and it does
not go down even when your weight does, but instead the body does what it
can to push your weight back up to the set point. Even exercise does not
make a significant change in that setpoint, alas. also

It is because people don't understand this that they tend to achieve their
weight goals on diets but then increase their eating, thinking that there is
more leeway than there really is. This makes for great repeat sales for
diet-related firms, but bad news for dieters.

-- Jenny - Low Carbing for 4 years. At goal for weight. Type 2 diabetes,
hba1c 5.2.
Cut the carbs to respond to my email address!

Low carb facts and figures, my weight-loss photos, tips, recipes,
strategies for dealing with diabetes and more at
http://www.geocities.com/jenny_the_bean/

Looking for help controlling your blood sugar?
Visit http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org/...0Diagnosed.htm



"Ted Shoemaker" wrote in message
om...
Hello,

Someone told me that when you diet, the fat cells don't go away, they
just shrivel up. Since a formerly fat person has a lot of hungry fat
cells begging for food, he/she will more easily gain weight than a
never-fat person will. I don't know whether that's true.

At what point in a diet (Atkins or otherwise) can the dieter "relax" a
little? Or must a formerly fat person always stay on guard?

Please respond to the newsgroup, and not to my email.

Thank you very much.

Ted Shoemaker

IMO, exercise is even more important after a major weight loss than during &
here is why --

As you lose weight, you will lose muscle along with fat. You can compensate by
eating sufficient protein & exercising, but some will be lost.

Plus prolonged caloric restriction will cause your bosy to compensate by
lowering your burn-rate which means that if you start eating more, you will
regain fat even faster (the yo-yo diet effect.)

If, however, you reach your goal weight & exercise to build muscle, you can
work to reverse both of those states.

I don't remember the exact figure, but each pound of muscle burns a certain
number of calories every day even when you are not active.

This added to the calories burned while you are active can mean the difference
between having to weigh, measure & count every bite of food that goes into your
mouth for the rest of your life & just having to keep an eye on your intake &
not pig out too often.

It can be disconcerting to watch the numbers on the scale stay the same/raise
while you are adding muscle, but as long as you remember to look in the mirror
& be mindful of how your clothes fit, it shouldn't be that bad.

My Dad just gave me some pictures that he had taken several months apart & I am
noticably leaner in the later picture in which I weigh 7.5 pounds more.

Robyn

curt wrote:
::: I've always heard that fat cells are formed in the body prior to
::: puberty. Once we reach puberty we have the number of fat cells
::: we'll always have, and they expand and contract as we gain and lose
::: weight.
::
:: This is incorrect. You are born with a number of cells. You have a
:: different number of cells at puberty. Then if you gain a bunch of
:: weight as an adult fat cells can multiply when the current number of
:: cells can not get any bigger. Now, to answer the first question.
:: If you have been lets say 300 lbs and you should weigh 150 you have
:: way more cells than a person that was 150 all their adult life. At
:: first, it was thought that the fat person kept those extra cells for
:: life and some people believe that it is true still, but some new
:: studies have shown that fat cells can die off if cells get too
:: small. I have done a bunch of research on this topic. I have been
:: as high as 250 and should weigh 180-5. Since I have been up to 250
:: I added extra fat cells at that time. Do I still have them? Well,
:: it seems inconclusive, but I suspect I would have more than a person
:: that stayed at 180-5 all his life. I would agree that if a person
:: was fat, it is easier for them to become fat again due to them
:: having more cells and it is easier to gain. On the other hand, you
:: can change all that by exercise. If you carry more muscle, then
:: your body burns more fat.

Carrying more muscle does not imply that your body burns more fat. Your
body can burn different kinds of fuel. So, it may need more energy, but it
might burn carbs or protein or fat to supply that energy. It depends.

::
:: I like to believe that fat cells can die. I am trying to become
:: what you call ripped. I was to have a washboard stomach at the age
:: of 39 or 40. If I carry all a bunch of extra cells it may be harder
:: for me to attain this. Keep in mind fat cells are tiny. Microscopic
::
:: Hope this helps,
:: Curt

Jenny wrote:
:: The bad news is that research suggests that once you lose a
:: significant amount of weight you can never relax.
::
:: In fact, during maintenanceyou can't eat many more calories after
:: you reach goal than the number you were eating at the end of the
:: weight los phase of your diet --maybe 300 calories a day more, which
:: doesn't work out to too much extra food.

Well, that depends, I think, on your rate of loss. If it is really slow,
that is probaby true. However, if you get there fast, that is probably not
true. I would have to do with the amount of calorie deficit used and the
kind of rate of loss it generated. All IMO, of course.

::
:: Research in labs has shown that the ody has a weight set point and
:: it does not go down even when your weight does, but instead the body
:: does what it can to push your weight back up to the set point. Even
:: exercise does not make a significant change in that setpoint, alas.
:: also

I've been trying to google this, but I've not found much yet.

::
:: It is because people don't understand this that they tend to achieve
:: their weight goals on diets but then increase their eating, thinking
:: that there is more leeway than there really is. This makes for
:: great repeat sales for diet-related firms, but bad news for dieters.
::

Well, I think they just blindly go back to eating the way they did before
(ie., quit trying to control weight). If you're not acting blindly, you
simple can stand on the scale frequently. if you see you're gaining -- you
cut back. etc.