Why losing weight is not just about willpower

Areas of the brain controlling appetite and satiation impact on your ability to lose / manage your weight – these aren’t within our control.

It’s unhelpful to those who are overweight or obese when diet and exercise (lifestyle) doesn’t work to suggest they should just try harder. For many of this group they cannot control their hunger or satiety.

Operation transformation and similar programmes internationally make for great TV but the evidence is clear that the vast majority of people following this approach will regain all the weight they have lost. 

NY Times article which did a follow up with participants in the Biggest Loser in the US and showed most of the weight lost was regained. 

TED talk by Dr Arya Sharma, Professor of Medicine & Chair in Obesity Research and Management at the University of Alberta, Canada explaining why weight loss maintenance is a challenge.