Read a study that said 95% of people who lose weight on a diet gain it back within 5 years. That's from a UCLA review.

3 comments

3 Comments

Tbh that UCLA stat gets quoted a lot, but it's from a 2007 review of older studies. The actual regain rates are more complicated.

wyattrobinson1mo ago

Yeah, that's the whole thing with stats. They get stripped of all the real life details and turned into a scary headline. It happens with everything, not just weight loss. People hear a number and just stop thinking. They don't ask where it came from or what it actually means. Makes it easier to sell a quick fix, I guess.

logan7051mo ago

Know that stat is super discouraging, but @felixramirez makes a good point about it being old data. The real trick is not going on a crazy short-term diet. You have to pick small changes you can actually keep doing forever, like swapping soda for water or adding a vegetable to dinner. Most people fail because they try to overhaul everything at once and then just quit. Find one or two things to fix, get used to that, then maybe add another. It's slow, but that's how you keep the weight off for good.