A recent study from Florida State University (FSU) is shedding light on a frustrating question that haunts many who have lost weight: Why, after weeks or even months of dieting, does an uncontrollable urge to overeat suddenly appear?
The research, published in Psychological Medicine, suggests the answer isn’t laziness or lack of discipline — it’s biology. When you lose a significant amount of weight, your body doesn’t see it as a triumph, but as a potential threat to your survival.
Your Body Remembers Its Highest Weight
This phenomenon is known as “weight suppression” — the difference between your highest past weight and your current weight. The greater this gap, the more likely your body is to activate defense mechanisms aimed at restoring the lost weight. One of the main responses? Increasing your hunger signals.
The researchers studied women with eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa, a condition often marked by cycles of restriction and binge eating. They found that individuals who had lost more weight showed lower levels of leptin — the hormone responsible for signaling satiety — and a weaker GLP-1 response (glucagon-like peptide-1), another key signal that tells the brain when to stop eating.
More Hunger, Less Control
What makes these findings so significant is that they offer a biological explanation for why relapse is so common after weight loss. The hunger these individuals feel isn’t just emotional or psychological — it’s chemical. With less leptin and a blunted GLP-1 response, the brain receives fewer signals to stop eating, making binge episodes more likely, especially in those already prone to anxiety or guilt around food.
What Can Be Done?
Although the study focused on women with bulimia, its implications extend to anyone trying to lose weight. Understanding how the body responds to weight loss could change how we approach both nutrition and mental health care — not just for those with eating disorders, but for the general public.
“This model helps us understand that physical processes — not just emotional ones — contribute to the binge-restrict cycle. And that understanding can help reduce the stigma around these behaviors,” said lead researcher Pamela Keel.
In short: if you’ve lost weight and now find yourself on a rollercoaster of hunger and guilt, it’s not a personal failure. Your body is simply trying to return to what it perceives as a safe zone. Recognizing this is not only empowering — it’s essential for building a more compassionate and realistic approach to health.
Source: Cambridge University Press
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