Here's a thought...

[rivenriver]

From a 2007 UCLA metaanalysis of weight loss studies:

It is also possible that weight regain leads to health problems of its own. An analysis of the benefits and harms of dieting must consider the potential harms of weight cycling. Weight cycling, the repeated loss and regain of weight, is commonly observed in dieters (Brownell & Rodin, 1994; National Task Force on the Prevention and Treatment of Obesity, 1994). There is evidence from largescale observational studies that weight cycling is linked to increased all-cause mortality (Blair, Shaten, Brownell, Collins, & Lissner, 1993; Lee & Paffenbarger, 1992) and to increased mortality from cardiovascular disease (Hamm, Shekelle, & Stamler, 1989). In addition, weight cycling is associated with increased risk for myocardial infarction, stroke, and diabetes (French et al., 1997), increased highdensity lipoprotein cholesterol (Olson et al., 2000), increased systolic and diastolic blood pressure (Kajioka, Tsuzuku, Shimokata, & Sato, 2002), and even suppressed immune function (Shade et al., 2004).

It has often been suggested that the harmful effects of weight cycling result from unintentional weight loss (i.e., from smoking or illness) rather than from intentional dieting (French & Jeffery, 1994; National Task Force on the Prevention and Treatment of Obesity, 1994). However, at least two large-scale studies that controlled for unintentional weight loss still found that intentional weight loss is linked to mortality risk (Andres, Muller, & Sorkin, 1993; Pamuk, Williamson, Serdula, Madans, & Byers, 1993), and the balance of evidence does seem to implicate intentional weight loss in adverse health outcomes.

Notice that all those health concerns there are the ones that tend to be linked with obesity?

Well, what do obese people tend to do more than non-obese people?

Diet.

Makes you think...

[Jisgone]

There are more citations than text very frustrating to read haha

[EvilWombatQueen]

From what I've read a big problem with weight cycling (or yo-yo dieting) is that when you lose weight you lose muscle as well as fat. If you lose weight quickly and/or without taking care to build muscle with exercise this loss is even more pronounced. When you gain weight back you're gaining more fat than muscle. So each time you lose weight unhealthily and regain that weight you're actually increasing your body fat percentage and decreasing your muscle percentage.

And yes, the in-text references in the original text are very distracting. Probably because there are simply too many authors listed in the citations. I've yet to encounter a referencing style that allows five authors rather than using et al.! It makes you wonder how many authors were behind the papers that did warrant the abbreviation!