What Happens After Weight Loss?

Dr Suganthi Kumaran highlights the changes that take place in our body after initial weight loss and provides tips to maintain body weight

Dr Suganthi Kumaran

Case study

Mr Mohan is a 40-year-old gentleman who walked into my clinic with complaints of excess weight. He is 163 cm (5.35 feet)tall and weighs 100 Kg with a BMI of 37.6. His weight was 70 kg about 15 years ago, at the age of 25 when he joined an IT company as a software engineer. His job involves sitting in front of a computer for about 8 to 10 hours a day. He does not find time to exercise. He eats a late dinner which is usually heavy and ends up watching TV for a couple of hours or spending time on social media as he finds it relaxing at the end of long hours of work. He drinks alcohol usually during weekends and spends his Sundays mostly sleeping to catch up on his weekday sleep deprivation. He sleeps only 5 hours every night during the week. He has the habit of munching on chips or other sugar-rich bakery items while watching TV at night. With the COVID pandemic and lockdown, his working hours have increased from 10 to almost 12hours as he is working from home. Sometimes he has to do night shifts as his clients are based abroad.

The gentleman described above is a typical person that most physicians encounter in their practice on a day-to-day basis. Some are serious about following a healthy lifestyle to shed weight while others find it very hard to change. Few are successful in losing weight by following the right balanced healthy diet, however soon fall off the wagon and end up regaining the few lost kilograms. This article will briefly discuss the basics that one should know to lose weight, including what happens after initial weight loss and tips to maintain a healthy weight in the long term.

Determining the bodyweight

Excessive eating is a common problem worldwide. Body mass index or BMI is calculated using the height (in meters) and weight (in kilograms) of an individual. It is expressed as weight in kilograms divided by height in square meters. For Asians, a BMI of 22.9-27.5 falls under the overweight category and a BMI of 27.5 and above falls under the obesity category.

The risks ahead