I saw the movie “Shallow Hal” tonight. I didn’t think too much of it, but a certain line stuck with me. Rosemary the overweight character played by Gwyneth Paltrow says, “No matter what I eat I stay the same weight, so I just eat whatever I want.” This wasn’t the first time I had heard a statement like that, and my question is how is that physically possible? On some level regardless of how slow one’s metabolism is there are basic equations taking place; work requires energy and in any given day if there is insufficient caloric intake that energy has to come from somewhere and the first place the body looks is the fat stores. So even if a person is genetically predisposed to obesity how can diet not matter?
I don’t know if this is what you mean, but I read in a Prevention article that, after a long time at a particular weight, your body can get accustomed to that particular intake of calories and output of energy… so that, if you’ve weighed in at 190 for 20 years, it’s going to take a lot to jump start your metabolism working at another rate, even if you start eating many less calories.
I think the science is that the body notes the decrease in calories and, in order to maintain comfortable equilibrium, reacts by decreasing metabolism. This is, IIRC, why fad diets don’t work- it takes a substantial period of time and a combination of diet AND exercise to lose weight and keep it off.
(I can try to find a cite to the article if anyone wants it)