[bsder]

Liposuction is no answer. Your body puts back the removed fat cells in other places.

The human body has VERY strong setpoints about weight. Fat cells "remember" the weight that you had when they were created. You have to hold your weight at a point for something like 3-5 years before your body relents enough that the setpoint moves.

[JamesBarney]

> You have to hold your weight at a point for something like 3-5 years before your body relents enough that the setpoint moves.

Is there any evidence of this? I've never seen any evidence the setpoint ever moves down.

[npongratz]

How do fat cells encode the information about one's weight when the cells are created?

[bsder]

Maintenance of lipid concentration when formed.

The aggregation of the tiny setpoints creates your larger setpoint by either drawing out from or pushing into your bloodstream the lipids that they have.

This is one of the most infuriating things about the "you just need to eat less" crowd. That's simply the first step. But you somehow need to maintain that for years while your body readjusts since fat cells turn over fairly slowly in your body (about 20-25% per year).

Maintaining a lower body weight while your body is actively fighting you for years is a superhuman level of willpower that very few of us can muster.

[Firmwarrior]

Damn, I wish I'd known this decades ago

I specifically asked doctors and they were like "I dunno. Well, that was a fun 5 minute conversation, give me $300"

I guess it's never too late, though. I've been slacking off on getting in shape, since it does take raw willpower 20 times a day every day in order to get there and stay there, and it's not that compelling to think that I'm going to be stuck rolling willpower checks all the time forever.

If I just have to get in shape and force myself to stay that way through raw willpower for ~4 years in order to stay that way for free afterward, though, that sounds like a more worthwhile goal

[bsder]

It is never too late. And please don't beat yourself up when you fail. Simply sigh, dust yourself off, and try to do better. Given that you have to maintain this for years, you will sometimes fail--it's inevitable.

There is increasing amounts of science behind this stuff, but it's also buried behind a gargantuan pile of crap.

Good luck.

[JamesBarney]

It's probably not the fat cells, it's much more likely the hypothalamus.