| Anecdote incoming. During my young adulthood I always gained weight, slowly but steadily until it evened out at around 103 kg. Around when I was in my early 30s, I got sick to the point I lost 15 kg weight in two weeks, and over the next 3 years I lost 8 kg more, and got down to a low of about 78 kg, mostly due to healthy eating and exercise. I started running half marathons, I became more social and happy and life was generally better. I'm positive that my sickness altered some chemistry in my body/brain. I didn't have any cravings, my sense of smell was altered and smelling food from McDonalds seemed repulsive to me, I was less impulsive and so on. Life was just easier, for about 3-4 years. As my sickness receded I slowly got back into my old habits. McDonalds started to become attractive again, snacks slowly creeped back into my daily routine and running became more and more difficult. This recession took about 6-8 years and I'm now back at around 103 kg. I often look back and wish I could recreate the effects of that period somehow. I've tried "putting down the fork" countless times. I've tried all kinds of weight loss strategies but it just seems so much harder than it was back then. The sickness I got was Sarcoidosis. Initially I was treated with adrenocortical hormones because I had unexplained high fewers, swollen knees and ancles and rapid weight loss. What eventually led to my diagnosis was a doctor "randomly" asking for a chest x-ray even though I was mostly hurting in my legs. That xray showed I had enlarged granulomas all over my lungs. The hormone treatment lasted for roughly 2 months. But I was going for scans and lung checkups for 3 years after my diagnosis, until everything settled down. My sarcoidosis was fairly mild and I don't have any lasting symptoms. Personally I'm convinced something happened in my body that made everything easier while I was "sick". I'm not sure if it was the rapid weight loss in the start, the adrenocortical hormone treatment or some other hormonal change caused by the Sarcoidosis itself that caused it. I just know that to me it felt like I was living the life of a thin person on the "other side" for a few years until I was back to my normal self again. |
There's evidence that shows major life events can lead to it being easier to adopt changes in behavior, like a new habit of healthy eating and regular exercise.
> I've tried all kinds of weight loss strategies but it just seems so much harder than it was back then.
If it's not too forward and you can adhere to it, I would suggest tracking everything you eat. Given some (1-2 weeks) of baseline data collection, make some tweaks to the macronutrient composition (protein/fat/carbs) of your diet. From that play with it until you find what you need to feel "full" in what you eat and in a way that is sustainable.
I may be strange in that I'm happy eating the same thing all the time. I don't think this is a simple or straight forward process, but approaching it with curiosity and rigor seems to have worked well for me.