Your Burning Weight Loss Questions Answered: A Top 10 Countdown

James Hill:
Welcome to Weight Loss And, where we delve into the world of weight loss. I'm Jim Hill.

Holly Wyatt:
And I'm Holly Wyatt. We're both dedicated to helping you lose weight, keep it off, and live your best life while you're doing it.

James Hill:
Indeed, we now realize successful weight loss combines the science and art of medicine, knowing what to do and why you will do it.

Holly Wyatt:
Yes, the “And” allows us to talk about all the other stuff that makes your journey so much bigger, better, and exciting.

James Hill:
Ready for the “And” factor?

Holly Wyatt:
Let's dive in.

James Hill:
Here we go.

Holly Wyatt:
Today's episode is going to be fun because we're finally tackling the questions we get asked the most, Jim. This is what I love to do, like put all those questions and put them in one place. The ones that come up in our clinics, in our programs, and emails, on social media, when we're in the grocery store, everywhere.

James Hill:
Oh, yeah. The “do I really have to give up bread” questions. The “what do I do when the scale isn't moving” questions. And a few that you probably didn't expect.

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah, we're going to answer the questions that make us laugh. The ones that make us think. And the ones we know you're probably quietly, not maybe even admitting it, but getting up Googling at like 11 p.m. and looking up things like, do I really need to eat breakfast if I'm not hungry? Can I drink wine and still lose weight? Or is there actually a fat-burning zone at the gym, or is that a myth?

James Hill:
Yeah, and we'll also tackle the big ones. How do you stay motivated during your weight loss journey? How do you avoid weight regain? And how do you handle those tough emotional eating moments?

Holly Wyatt:
So buckle up. We're counting down the top 10 questions we get asked the most. And you might be surprised by which one lands at number one.

James Hill:
Aha. All right. You want to go first? You want me to?

Holly Wyatt:
You go first. Let's start with you.

James Hill:
All right. As usual, we're counting down the number 10. This is a good one, Holly. We get it all the time. How often should I weigh myself? Oh, yeah. And people feel strongly. There's some people that feel like they need to weigh themselves a lot. You hear other people say, oh, no, the scale's not your friend. Get rid of the scale. We've always been proponents of regular weighing because it's really your awareness and feedback. If you want to avoid regaining weight, you need to know what your weight is, and you need to see when it's creeping up before it gets to the point where you say, “Oh, to heck with it.” The other thing that we always talk about, the scale is a tool. Do not give any emotional importance to the scale. It's simply a tool. We find that a lot of the people that we've looked at in the National Weight Control Registry weigh themselves frequently. And we generally recommend weigh yourself in the morning when you get up. Weigh yourself every day. Don't worry if you miss a day here or there. And you're looking at trends, not individual weights, because your weight can vary four or five pounds from day to day. And that's not a change in fat. That's a change in water.

Holly Wyatt:
I think that's a great point. One of the reasons why we like or we say weigh every day is so you can have a bunch of data points so you can look for trends. We actually average. I'll have people average the week out. And if you don't have multiple data points, if you're just someone that maybe weighs yourself once a week, you really can't get an average. And I think the average takes out some of that water weight and takes out, you know, you can do so much more with the data, the more data points you have. Now, this is definitely not only a question we get a lot, Jim, I think people feel strongly about this.

James Hill:
Oh, very strongly.

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah. So what would you say to someone who says, “I get on the scale and it dictates the rest of my day, whether I feel good about my day or whether I feel bad about my day. Yeah, you want me to get on the scale and get this data point, but then I don't feel good if the scale hasn't gone down or if the scale shows me something I don't want to see.”

James Hill:
Well, I would say that you need to work on your mind state because that's so critical. How are you approaching this? Approach it as simply it's a tool. It's giving you one measurement that you use in your whole planning, but it shouldn't affect your whole day. So you get on the scale, you're up a couple of pounds from yesterday. Well, look at your trends. Are you going up in general? Are you bouncing around? It simply gives you information and allows you to plan ahead. Do not give it any greater importance than simply being a tool to provide feedback.

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah. I think you can learn not to give your power to the scale. So you've learned, you know, from your past experiences, when you get on the scale and you emotionally feel attached to the number you see or when it dictates your day, you're giving your power. That's how I think. I just gave my power to the scale, to my weight, which is not the way that we succeed. And if you want that to be different, I think you can work on changing that. And the way to change it is to do it every day. Start to make it a habit. A lot of reasons, you know, why people give emotions to it is they do it episodically. But if you start to do it every day, like brushing your teeth, if you start to think about it, this is just something I do. It does not have an emotional piece to it. It changes. And doing it every day allows you to start to experiencing it that way. So at first it's uncomfortable and you have to recognize what's going on. And maybe, yeah, do a little self-talk about it. But the more you do it, the easier it gets. So, I say, weigh every day. Get like brushing your teeth. Don't skip a day.

James Hill:
Yeah, I agree with that. And the reason is it's an early warning system that allows you to plan ahead. We're big fans of regular weighing. My suggestion is get up in the morning first thing before you do anything, weigh yourself.

Holly Wyatt:
And one more thing, because this is another question, I get the days you don't want to get on the scale. And I just had one this morning. We're taping recording this on a Monday morning. And I don't know, I had a little bit, I kind of had some indulgences over the weekend. And part of me said, “Holly, don't get on the scale this morning. Let's wait to Tuesday or Wednesday, because I know there'll be some water weight gain. And I know it'll probably be gone by Wednesday.” But I said, “Nope. Getting on the scale because that's where my power sits.” That's my data. I'll understand that. I'll see that my way went up, and I'll see that it goes down. So the days you don't want to weigh are the days to get on the scale.

James Hill:
And if you do it every morning, it becomes a routine. You don't even think about it. You just, boom, go in and get on the scale.

Holly Wyatt:
So I would just say, do an experiment. Try it. Do it for 30 days and see how it starts to change. If getting on the scale every day is uncomfortable for you right now. All right, Jim, number nine.

James Hill:
What's number nine?

Holly Wyatt:
Number nine. This is a good one. You're going to like this one. Is it better to focus on diet or exercise first? And this is a question we get, and I like when I get it because that means they're thinking about strategies. They're thinking about weight loss versus weight loss maintenance. They're already thinking about it like we think about it. So I like this because it shows they're in tune with what we think. And this is a question you kind of have to unpack. Both of them matter. Absolutely. You need to focus on your diet or nutrition. You need to focus on exercise. Which do you focus on first? And one answer, and the answer I would usually give if I only had a few minutes, is focus on nutrition first. It's doing the heavy lifting for weight loss if you're wanting to lose weight. We've talked about that many times in our show, how it's almost impossible. It's not impossible, but it's very, very difficult to lose weight without modifying what you're eating. You can't do it with exercise alone. And we talk about it driving the bus and it has to be there. And then when it gets to weight loss maintenance, the further along you are in your journey, then I think exercise becomes more important. So if you were saying, which is first and you're wanting to lose weight, I would say diet. But here's the kicker. And here's where people have got to understand. I also say you need to start thinking about exercise from the beginning so that you can get it up to the level that you need it to be at by the time you're ready to maintain. It's a tricky question. I would say if I had to answer it, I'd say diet first, but really both of them, but for different reasons. What do you think?

James Hill:
Yeah, one of the most important point here is that you need both. Thinking you're just going to do it with diet or just going to do it with exercise isn't going to work. We have decades of research showing that doesn't work. You have to do both. I generally agree if you're undecided, go for nutrition first, but don't forget the exercise. But if you're out there and say, boy, I'm really motivated to start exercising and you want to try that first, go for it. But at the end of the day, you got to do both.

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah. And exercise, it's hard to just turn it on and turn it off. So you kind of got to build up. Let's say you're very sedentary.

James Hill:
You got to ramp up slowly.

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah. And that's why sometimes you need to start early so that you can slowly add exercise, little bit 10 minutes and 10 minutes and 10 minutes to get up to that level that we know is required for weight loss maintenance.

James Hill:
All right, Holly, number eight. This is another good one.

Holly Wyatt:
Okay.

James Hill:
Should I eat three meals a day or smaller, more frequent meals? The whole idea of is there a best pattern for how you take your calories in? Independent of the number of calories, does it matter how you take them in?

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah, hot topic. This is a hot topic.

James Hill:
And here's where research is really kind of changing how we think about that, right? Traditionally, it's been, well, you either do three meals or six small meals. And I think what we're learning now is different people respond differently. And now we're talking about intermittent fasting and time-restricted feeding. So I think what we've learned is there are more options on how you take in your calories. And everybody's different. We're in the area of precision nutrition, which means the way you take in your calories might be different than the way I take in my calories. So really, one of the things we often suggest is that people try these things. Try intermittent at fasting. Try time-restricted feeding. Try the smaller meals, three larger meals. There's no right number here. Major thing is the number of calories. Once you're comfortable with the number of calories you're taking in, experiment a little bit with how they come in. We’re big fans of time restricted eating. Try time-restricted eating where you eat during a certain number of hours during the day. So this is where individual differences may come into play here.

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah, so let's bring in the breakfast question, because this kind of fits with this topic. Should you eat breakfast?

James Hill:
From work with the National Weight Control Registry, we've been recommending breakfast, but I think we're beginning to rethink that in that if you look at in the National Weight Control Registry, successful people ate breakfast, but they did a lot of other things, too. So, it's difficult to put it onto one thing. And I think we're a little bit open to say, you don't have to eat breakfast. Maybe if you think about your first meal of the day, whenever it comes, it's different. So if you're time-restricted feeding and you're eating later in the day, you might eat at 10 o'clock. That might be your first meal, and that could be seen as your breakfast. So it really is individualized here, and there's no one size that fits all.

Holly Wyatt:
We've changed. I remember publishing a paper about you need to eat breakfast. We had some data to support that. But I think as the science and the field is evolving, we're saying not everybody needs to eat breakfast. I think there's some people who breakfast is an important meal for them. I think the habit of eating breakfast may be important for them, but not for everybody. And in our new book, Losing the Weight Loss Meds, we now talk about an appetite reset meal, but you start your day off with a meal, you break your fast with a meal, but we don't talk about that you have to do it when you first get up. And so that the timing of when that first meal happens and then how many meals happen after that, way more flexibility. And like you said, individualizing it is maybe more important than we initially understood.

James Hill:
So if you're not someone that likes to eat when you first get up, that's okay. You can still manage your weight. You can still fit your calories in in a reasonable way during the day.

Holly Wyatt:
A question that goes with this I get asked is when should I start my first meal? I tend to say when you start to feel hungry, not when you're starving, not when you're going to be out of control, but when you start to feel those first kind of hunger pains, that may be an indication for you as an individual person when the best time is for you to start that first meal. Unless you're doing fasting and then you might want to push it a little bit if you're looking for time eating or something. But I now say, let's rely on our body cues a little bit. Let's not just eat a meal when we're not hungry. Like we used to say, get up, eat it. I don't care if you're hungry or not, eat breakfast. Let's now get up. And if you're hungry, let's eat breakfast. If you're not, let's push it out a little bit and see how that does. All right, Jim, what are we on? Number seven.

James Hill:
Oh, yeah. This one we get all the time.

Holly Wyatt:
We get all different variations of this one. Do I need to avoid carbs to lose weight? So this is the, do I need to eat? Can I give up bread? This is the different kind of questions around the carbs. The idea out there for so many people is carbs are the enemy. And I just don't think that's true. I think that we have to not think of any one food group as the enemy. Fat isn't the enemy. Carbs aren't the enemy. Protein's not the enemy. We've got to eat something. And I think we're designed to eat all those foods. However, I think there's certain people who are more sensitive to carbs and restricting them a little bit or combining them with protein or making sure they're higher in fiber, that's something we talk about in our new book so that they sit in your stomach longer and do some other things, may be important for your success during weight loss and in weight loss maintenance. But to say I have to avoid carbs to lose weight, I don't think is a true statement.

James Hill:
I totally disagree with that statement. You do not have to avoid carbs to lose weight. And it's very important to realize that carbs and exercise go together. If you're moving your body, the best fuel for moving your body, for engaging in physical activity and exercise is carbohydrates. So if you're not doing any exercise, if you're totally sedentary, you don't need as many carbohydrates. So one of the things that we see is if you're overweight, if you're sedentary, you're out of shape, yeah, reducing carbs might be important because you don't really need them. You're not moving your body. So there's a trade-off here. If you want to be physically active, and what we're saying is you have to be physically active to succeed, what you're going to find is your body gets really good at using carbs for fuel, and they're not a problem. They're actually something you want to take more in.

Holly Wyatt:
Agree. You do not have to avoid carbs to lose weight. I do think there are people, and I'm one of them, that are sensitive to carbs, and so I am careful about how I consume them. I always consume carbs and a protein together. If I eat something that's pure carbohydrate, I can tell it impacts my appetite. So it's being smarter about the carbohydrates and how you feel. And if pulling them out or avoiding them, especially when you're losing weight, is working, I think that's okay. But the idea that they're the enemy, the idea that you have to restrict them. And most people cannot go without carbs forever. That is not a weight loss maintenance strategy for most people.

James Hill:
True. So, yeah, be careful. But the idea is carbs aren't your enemy. You have to know how to fit them into your lifestyle. You have to be physically active, take them in with protein, and carbs can be an important part of your lifestyle.

Holly Wyatt:
Agree.

James Hill:
All right. Oh, this one, Holly. Number six, can I drink alcohol and still lose weight?

Holly Wyatt:
And I think we did a whole episode on this.

James Hill:
We did an episode on this one, and this is not our areas of expertise, but we did a deep dive into the research and the research literature. And I think we were a little surprised that the data were a little mixed. I thought it was going to come out very clearly that the more alcohol you take in, the harder it is to lose weight. And it wasn't that clear. It was a little bit murky. And so, again, you and I both believe that alcohol can be an issue, particularly if you take in a lot of calories through alcohol. And alcohol actually, in some ways, it works as fat because you can't store alcohol. You have to burn it. So you burn alcohol for fuel, and it spares some fat that you would have burned. So theoretically, it should impact weight gain.

Holly Wyatt:
Right. I say it turns off the fat burners. I always think when I'm having a glass of wine in the evening, okay, but I'm turning off my fat burners because my body has to burn that alcohol in that wine first.

James Hill:
So I think where we're coming out is you don't have to totally give up alcohol to lose weight and maintain it. But you do have to be careful because it can be a trigger in many ways. It turns off the fat burners. Sometimes it leads to overeating. So a little bit of alcohol, you tend to be more disinhibited and you might eat more. So again, we're not saying you have to avoid it totally, but it is one of those things that you probably want to be careful with.

Holly Wyatt:
I would say if you're losing weight, you definitely want to do it in moderation and you want to monitor how it's impacting you. One of the things that I'm noticing, and this is new for me, I'm wearing this ring that monitors everything. When I have a glass of wine in the evening, I do not sleep as well. My sleep patterns change. I don't get into deep sleep. So I think it has that impact on me. And those types of are what you want to learn about yourself. And losing weight, it might be something I think that's good to pull back on, although the data did not support that as much as I would have thought.

James Hill:
You don't have to give it up totally. If you enjoy alcohol occasionally, it's okay, but it is a little bit of an area you need to be careful with.

Holly Wyatt:
Agree. All right, we are halfway. We are to number five, and this is a big one. And I'll start it, Jim, but I want your expertise in this. I know this is something you studied when we were at the University of Colorado. The question is, is the fat burning zone at the gym real? And I can remember when all this data came out and it was like, okay, I've got to get into the fat burning zone. And the fat burning zone was lower. It was exercising, but not at a high intensity. It was kind of a moderate. And there was a specific area or heart rate zone that you wanted to get in that we called the fat burning zone. And everybody was like, “Oh, if you do too much exercise, you get out of the fat burning zone. We want to just stay in this fat burning zone.” And I think we understand that's a little bit different now that there is a fat burning zone where you're burning fat. But when you look at over the whole day, it plays out a little bit differently that you will burn fat later in the day when you do exercise that burns more calories, when you do higher intensity exercise that may not burn as much fat. Actually during the episode or a high percent of fat during the episode, but you'll burn them later. Or it's a lower percentage of fat that you're burning at a higher intensity, but it ends up being more calories.

James Hill:
Yeah, Holly, I think that's the thing people miss. So there is a fat burning zone where you exercise at a moderate intensity.

James Hill:
And what research has shown is that at that intensity, you're burning proportionally more fat, but you're burning total fewer calories than if you exercise at a higher rate. So again, you may remember we had a postdoc in Colorado and I went in the gym one day and she was going at this very slow pace. And I said, “What are you doing?” She said, “I want to be in the fat-burning zone.” Well, she was in the fat-burning zone, but she's burning very few calories. So over the course of 30 minutes or an hour, she's burning proportionally more fat, but she would have burned more total fat had she exercised at a higher intensity. So the fat-burning zone is there, but I think people worry far too much about it. And the other thing that research is beginning to show, there is something about high intensity exercise that seems to be associated with success. Back in the National Weight Control Registry, we found that they do a lot more exercise, but they tend to do a little bit more high-intensity exercise. So there may be something about high-intensity. The last thing I'll say is we always suggest mixing it up. Do a little bit of moderate intensity, a little bit of high-intensity. Don't go in and think you have to go at this slow, moderate pace to maximize fat burning. Any amount of physical activity you do is going to burn calories.

James Hill:
So don't worry so much about the fat zone. Do what you can do. Do what you enjoy.cBreak it up. Do some moderate intensity. Do some high intensity. Do some resistance training. And resistance training burns fat too. So, again, there is a fat-burning zone, but people, I think, worry far too much about not being in the fat-burning zone.

Holly Wyatt:
One way I think about it is total calorie burn from an exercise. The amount of calories you burn trumps the intensity that you did the exercise in. It doesn't mean that intensity doesn't matter at all, but I think the biggest driver of fat burning is the amount of calories you burn. And the reason I like the variety and not always going high intensity is you don't want to get injured. Because if you get injured, then you can't do any activity. So it's a balance between making sure you can be consistent in your activity and not get injured and burn more calories. The more calories you burn, the more fat you're going to burn.

James Hill:
When you think about it, the number one thing you need to do is do something. It's more important that you do some physical activity than you worry about what type of physical activity. It's important that you find something you enjoy. If you don't enjoy it, you aren't going to do it over time. So these things are far more important than worrying about if you're in this fat-burning zone. Be active. Move your body. Do it on a regular basis and believe me, you're going to burn fat.

Holly Wyatt:
And I would just add, not get injured.

James Hill:
Not get injured.

Holly Wyatt:
Not get injured. Because that can change everything. So put that remain injury-free in there. All right. What's the next one?

James Hill:
Number four. Oh, this one is a toughie, Holly. What do I do if I hit a plateau? Just about everybody who tries to lose weight hits a plateau. Why is that? Well, we don't know totally. There are a lot of reasons. So you lower your food intake. Well, your metabolism slows down. So an amount of food that was once a high degree of negative energy balance is now a lower degree of negative energy balance. So your body is compensating. This is why you're not going to lose weight forever. Whatever number of calories you're on, you're going to reach a point now where your body has adjusted and calories in equal your calories out. The other thing that happens is you get a little tired of the behavior thing and you slip a little bit on the behaviors. So you may think you're sticking to your diet and your exercise, but oftentimes people get a little lax on that.

Holly Wyatt:
And they don't realize it.

James Hill:
They don't realize it. So these are real and these are probably the reasons they happen, but the question is what you can do. If you're at a plateau, you got to change something. If you want to continue to lose weight, you got to change something. Got to eat a little bit less. You got to move a little bit more. And the first thing we always tell people is go back and pay attention to your behaviors. Are you sticking with the diet plan? Are you getting in your activity? But again, when you reach the plateau, change something. And I think, Holly, you usually say first place you look is probably on your diet. That's probably the easiest way to disrupt the plateau. Take a look at what you're doing on your diet side.

Holly Wyatt:
I agree, because nutrition does the heavy lifting and the weight loss. And if you're not losing weight, let's look at the diet first. But it is tricky because people plateau for different reasons. So this question is a big question. And there's lots of what do I do? It kind of depends. First off, Jim, some people think they've plateaued when they haven't. So the first question you always say, is it really a plateau? Because I don't want to change anything if I don't need to. And sometimes people think, oh, I haven't lost any weight this week. Well, the needle not moving for one week is not a plateau. Trust me on that. That does not mean you haven't lost any fat. There's so many things that can keep the weight the same and you could still be losing fat. So first thing is it really a plateau. And then it's going to be being a detective to figure out what's going on for you. Yes, there's some adaptations that can happen, but a lot of times it's behaviors that have started to slip. And figuring that out and making strategic changes. This is such a big question, Jim, that we're going to tackle this in science in September for our State-of-Slimmers. This is the question they wanted us to tackle and really do a deep dive into the science and what they can do about it. So this is a big one. And I wish there was one simple answer. You've got to figure out what's going on in your own body and in your own life.

James Hill:
So don't think of a plateau as a failure. Think about it as a chance to readjust. And it's a wake-up call to be more aware. Take a look at what you're doing. Be aware. Maybe write down what you're eating, things like this. So it's not a failure. And if you're going through weight loss, you're probably going to hit a plateau one of these days.

Holly Wyatt:
Oh, guaranteed. It's a normal part of the process. which brings me to a lot of people when they feel like they plateaued, they want to start over. That's a mistake.

James Hill:
Don't give up everything you've already done.

Holly Wyatt:
No. Make a small adjustment. Small adjustments. Plateaus are normal. It's part of the process. Don't throw up your hands and start over and say it didn't work. Small adjustments are key of getting through a plateau.

James Hill:
Okay, good.

Holly Wyatt:
All right. Number three, another big one, some variation of this question. How do I stop emotional eating or stress eating? It may be how do I stop eating when I'm mad or when I'm upset or when I'm bored? Some aspect of this. Ah, we don't just eat because we're hungry. A lot of us eat, almost all of us eat for emotional reasons too. And there's physiology involved in that. When you eat, certain hormones are released. And if you're feeling a certain way, you may be trying to use food to change that emotion or numb that emotion or get rid of that emotion if it's something you don't wanna feel. But we also eat for good emotions too. So very, very common. If you're wanting to change this, if you tend to be eating for an emotional reason and you eat a lot of calories and it's getting in the way of you losing weight or keeping weight off, the first step, and this sounds so obvious, but it's hard to do and hard is awareness.

Holly Wyatt:
This is the pattern I'm in. When I feel this way, I grab food that I don't necessarily, I grab food for this reason, not for the calories in it, but because I wanna feel differently, because I wanna numb the emotion, because I want the emotion to go away. And if you start to see these patterns and this awareness, then that gives you the power to make a different choice, to decide I'm not going to do it with food. What else could I do instead of grabbing the bag of chips or grabbing the chocolate or whatever food is kind of your favorite emotional food? Awareness is always the first step. Thinking about what triggers it, recognizing it, and then having a plan for when it happens again, because it will, what could I do instead? When you're in the moment, Jim, and you're emotional, that's not when you're very strategic. The strategic part of your brain doesn't function when the emotional part of your brain is going off. So you need to have the plan, the strategy at a different time, maybe written down, ready to go, so that when you're in that emotional state, it's already decided, I'm going to try this instead of reaching for the food that's not doing me any good or maybe is even getting in the way of my goals. So what other tools or strategies such as, I'm gonna go for a 10 minute walk. I'm gonna do deep breathing exercises. I'm gonna read my favorite book instead. I'm gonna call a friend. I have a list of them. And if I feel myself reaching for the chips, I really want them, but I say, “Okay, for 10 minutes, I'm gonna try one of these other strategies.” What have I done? I've stretched out the emotion from eating the food. I've stretched it out now instead of reacting with food, which might be what I do without thinking about it. I can be strategic and act, have action, not reaction, and that may allow me to move toward my goal, may not allow the food or this emotional eating to get in the way of where I'm wanting to go with my body weight.

James Hill:
Holly, I bet some people are listening or saying, that's not me. I don't have that problem. Is this something everybody experiences or there's some people that don't?

Holly Wyatt:
I think it's natural. I think everybody does it to some degree. Some people may be doing it where it's really impacting their body weight and some people may be doing it episodically and it's not that big a deal for them, but we all tend to do this. And if you don't think you're doing it, maybe make sure because if you don't have the awareness, you don't know. You don't know what you don't know. So I say, if you catch yourself wanting to eat something that's not on plan. Stop and say why. And is there an emotional reason? That may give you some awareness. Oh, I do do this. I just didn't know it.

James Hill:
All right. We're down to the top two, Holly. And number two is a really important one.

James Hill:
What do I do after I lose the weight so I don't regain it? One of the most important messages that we want to convey to our listeners is that weight loss is a very different process than keeping weight off. They require different skills, different amounts of knowledge, and I think it's one thing that people do not understand. They go into strategies for weight loss thinking they're going to continue those strategies forever. And it doesn't work that way. Weight loss, we've said over and over and over, is driven by food restriction. You have to do a lot of exercise to lose weight, and it's not real practical for most people. But weight loss maintenance is driven by physical activity, and that changes a lot. The other things that change in terms of behavior if you think about it, weight loss is a short-term process. You can do things like avoid parties and don't go to buffets and all these things.

Holly Wyatt:
Or cut carbs.

James Hill:
Cut carbs. You can do these things for a short period of time. Weight loss maintenance is forever. You have to figure out how to live your life in a way that you get everything else done. You can't cut carbs forever. You can't skip going out with your friends forever. So it's a whole different skill set. And you have to understand that the strategy for weight loss is great. And it involves eating less. It involves gearing up for physical activity. The major reason being so that you have enough physical activity that you can keep it off. Diet drives the bus in weight loss. Physical activity drives the bus in weight loss maintenance.

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah. And I think the field has traditionally, people are thinking that way, thinking that whatever they do to lose the weight, they've got to do to maintain it. Because we've said that. People have said that before. Whatever you do to lose the weight, be ready to do that forever.

James Hill:
And we know people can't do that. And Holly, the other thing in weight loss maintenance that becomes important is your environment, your physical environment, your environment around your home, your environment in your neighborhood, your social environment, who you're hanging out with, how you monitor your everything, and a big one is how you see yourself. What's your identity? And what we find is people that are the most successful change their identity away from being a formerly obese person or someone struggling with their weight, and they define themselves in a totally different way. And we call that a Voyager mind state.

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah, and that new self-identity that's so important for the weight loss maintenance phase. But the first thing is think of it separately. I'm going to do these things to get the weight off, and then I'm going to do these things for weight loss maintenance. And yes, there's a transition period. You may be building up your physical activity. You may be working on your identity during the whole process. But I say begin with the end in mind. Know where you need to be for weight loss maintenance, but recognize what you're doing to lose the weight is not what you're going to do to maintain it. It just doesn't work.

James Hill:
And Holly, our new book is all about weight loss maintenance. It's geared for people that are stopping the, that lose weight on the weight loss meds and then want to keep it off without meds, but it fits with anyone who's lost weight. However you've lost weight, this is a great plan for how you keep weight off.

Holly Wyatt:
That's right. So people who are on the weight loss meds, this book is perfect for them and they're wanting to get ready to go off the meds if that's something they want to try. But really, anybody who's losing weight, this book would work for. These are the behaviors you want to have in place to keep the weight off, whether you lose it with medications or whether you're losing it with a low-carb diet or any kind of diet or meal replacements or anything. Thinking about, okay, where do I need to be for weight loss maintenance, which is where I'm going to be forever.

James Hill:
Right. Absolutely.

Holly Wyatt:
All right. We're to the number one question. I think we'll both have a lot to say about this one.

Holly Wyatt:
This is the one we get all the time. Why do I regain weight even when I'm trying so hard? So variation of this, “Holly, I'm really trying, I'm doing everything and I still regain the weight.” A lot of times they'll come and they'll say, “I was successful for six months, and then I started regaining the weight.” What's going on? Why does this happen? And the first thing I want to say before we talk about why it happens is we need to change our definition of success. And part of the problem is you think if I regain and I'm trying hard, I'm failing. And you can just hear it in their voice, Jim. They're saying, you know, this isn't working. I'm failing. I'm regaining. Regain is part of the process. What if that was the case? What if regain is part of the process? You regain some weight, you lose it again, you maintain for some period of time. Something may happen, big curveball comes, you get an injury, your job changes, you go through a divorce, you regain a little bit of weight for many reasons. You catch yourself because you're weighing yourself every day.

Holly Wyatt:
You lose it again. That's success. And that's part of the problem and why people ask this question, and I'm trying so hard and I'm failing is what it feels like, and you're not. But there is definitely a biology, a physiology, and environment that's pushing us to regain the weight. So I don't like to say it's hard, but there are factors that are making it more difficult. And we need to combat those factors, and we do. The physical activity is a big one in creating that metabolic flexibility that really pushes back against some of the things that normally would push you toward regain. And that's why sometimes when you see your exercise go down is when you see that regain happen. But there's appetite signals, there's metabolism changes, there's life stressors, you move, your environment changes. So there's lots going on that explain why you're regaining. To me, that's not that as important as catching it, not beating yourself up over it, recognizing it's part of the process. We understand that that's going to happen and then knowing exactly what to do to get back on track.

James Hill:
Yeah, I go back to work we did with the National Weight Control Registry where these people are maintaining about a 70-pound weight loss and on average, at least four or five years. And first thing is almost to a person, they say that their quality of life is better now than it was before they lost weight. But they also talk about it takes a while. It takes a while to get into a lifestyle that they're comfortable with and they can do. And they get to the point after some time, usually it takes maybe a year or two, and then they say, I've got it. Now I've found a lifestyle. I've found routines. I've found rituals that allow me to maintain this. And they do it without thinking about this all the time. They learn to live a lifestyle that makes them happy and keeps their weight off.

Holly Wyatt:
And they say, because we ask them, will you never regain the weight? “Oh, I may regain some of the weight, but I know what to do.”

James Hill:
It's learning the skills.

Holly Wyatt:
So there's that confidence, that's empowerment, right? I know what to do. If I gain a few pounds, I'm catching myself early. That's where that weighing, not waiting, you know, weighing yourself daily. I have the skills. I know the difference between weight loss and weight loss maintenance. I know what to do to get those few pounds up. I don't beat myself up. It's part of the process. I put those systems, routines and rituals, environmental changes, habits, my mind state, I know how to make it work. And it does get easier. I don't think it ever becomes completely where you don't think about it at all. And I have people all the time saying, “When will I no longer have to think about this?” And I say I think we will you will always have to think about it to some degree, but it will get easier You can make it easier, and it actually can be fun. It doesn't have to be a struggle.

James Hill:
It's a lifestyle you enjoy. It doesn't have to be drudgery. And these people in the weight control register say, “Life is definitely better. My life is better now.”

Holly Wyatt:
Right. We did one about willpower and things that are more important than willpower, a whole episode of podcast on what's better than willpower in terms of being successful. And this is where it comes in. You've got to set yourself up where you're not relying on the willpower because the willpower is the hard part. And so if you can set yourself up where it's not just about the willpower and it's not very much about the willpower, that's going to make this easier and not feel like you're having to try so hard.

James Hill:
All right. 10 great questions, Holly.

Holly Wyatt:
I like it. But you know, we have 10 more.

James Hill:
Oh, yeah.

Holly Wyatt:
There's 10 more. So I think we can do a part two to this probably.

James Hill:
We'll do another one on the next 10.

Holly Wyatt:
The next 10. So, be writing them down. We get tons of questions. We love it. All right. So, let's do a little bit of a vulnerability segment. I'm going to ask you a question first. Which one of these questions do you or did you used to ask yourself? Was there one that was something that you maybe would think about more than the others?

James Hill:
Yeah, there are a couple actually. But I would say the alcohol one. I enjoy a cocktail every now and then, going out with friends and everything. And I had to be a little bit more aware of that to say, “Am I taking more, is one cocktail enough? Am I going to enjoy it and that's enough?” Because sometimes you go out and you start and it's hard to stop. And so I've thought about that and thought about making sure that alcohol is not derailing my efforts to keep my weight where I want it.

Holly Wyatt:
Yeah, that's a good one. I think a lot of people probably are thinking about.

James Hill:
Okay. So Holly, share which one you secretly dread because it's never a quick, easy answer.

Holly Wyatt:
This is, well, a lot of them aren't easy answers, but it's the plateau one because people want to know what to do. And I want to give them the answer to what to do because that's really what they want. And I can explain what a plateau is and that's important, but then they want the solution and it's not a one size fits all. It's not an easy answer. We've got to go through as, are you really in a plateau? And then we've got to think about all the reasons why you could be in a plateau. Then there's a bunch of strategies that we could use to get you out of the plateau. You really need to try it, see what happens. So there's a lot of pieces to it. So it's never a quick answer for me to satisfy what they really want.

James Hill:
Okay, good. All right. Well, these are questions that everyone asks. As you see from our episode, there's rarely a one size fits all because on many of them, we've talked about, well, it depends. There are some options. And I think we see this over and over and over. In your weight loss journey, you have lots of options. You have lots of different strategies you can use. And what we want you to do is to learn these strategies, learn these tools so that you can apply them to your situation. So reflect on our 10 questions, which ones are most important for you, and send us additional ones. We'll do some more episodes on questions that our readers want to know. So thanks, everybody, and we'll see you next time on Weight Loss And.

Holly Wyatt:
Bye, everybody. Thank you. See you soon.

James Hill:
And that's a wrap for today's episode of Weight Loss And. We hope you enjoy diving into the world of weight loss with us.

Holly Wyatt:
If you want to stay connected and continue exploring the “Ands” of weight loss, be sure to follow our podcast on your favorite platform.

James Hill:
We'd also love to hear from you. Share your thoughts, questions, or topic suggestions by reaching out at weightlossand.com. Your feedback helps us tailor future episodes to your needs.

Holly Wyatt:
And remember, the journey doesn't end here. Keep applying the knowledge and strategies you've learned and embrace the power of the “And” in your own weight loss journey.