Why weight loss isn't just about willpower, and what I learned the hard way

One of the things I didn't know when I first gained weight was that this condition would follow me for the rest of my life.

All my life, I carried a little extra weight. You know, when someone is a bit chubby, but nothing major. Later, in my teenage years, that disappeared, and it stayed that way until my mid-twenties. Without dragging out the story or going into unnecessary details, due to life circumstances and poor choices, I allowed myself to gain a massive amount of weight in a very short time.

Try to imagine someone who is 180cm (5'11") tall going from 85kg to 130kg in just six months, with zero muscle mass and absolutely no physical activity. That is 45kg, and since I wasn't training at all, most of it was likely fat. The worst part is that while you're gaining the weight, you don't even notice how radical the changes happening to your body really are.

At the time, I knew nothing about metabolism, the human body, hormones, nutrition, or physical activity, so I didn't pay much attention to it. I thought it would just resolve itself. But it didn't.

The price of "successful" weight loss

Within two years after that, I managed to lose almost 50kg and get back down to 82kg. Yes, I was happy because the results were there. On the surface, everything looked great, but in the process, I had completely demolished my body.

Rigorous calorie restriction, training twice a day, sessions lasting 2 to 3 hours, endless cardio, and an intake of barely 1000 calories a day. I literally did everything you are not supposed to do.

Harsh biology: why the weight comes back

What I didn't know then is that once you gain an extreme amount of weight, your body develops new fat tissue (a process known as adipocyte hyperplasia). Research suggests that in adults the total number of fat cells stays fairly stable, even after major weight loss. The cells shrink rather than disappear, and old cells are gradually replaced by new ones, so the body keeps its capacity to store fat again. They just "empty out" and wait for the first opportunity to fill up with energy again.

Furthermore, your body pushes back. Long-term weight maintenance can be difficult. Some people regain much of the weight they lose; others maintain part of their loss. Weight loss can increase hunger and reduce energy use, but the size and duration of these changes vary.

I didn't believe it, but biology is unforgiving. And so, 10 years after my massive weight loss, I found myself in the exact same situation, back at 120kg.

The training fallacy and regaining the weight

However, the difference this time was huge. Now, I had developed strength and muscle mass. In the period in between, I became a personal trainer because I was deeply interested in everything related to fitness. I trained a lot and consistently: CrossFit, Olympic weightlifting, the gym.

While I was solely focused on training, I never thought much about nutrition. I thought training hard was the key to everything, but that simply wasn't true. Over time, I noticed that no matter how much stronger I got, how much more weight I could lift, or how many reps I could do, my body visually didn't change much.

Yes, I gained a lot of muscle, serious neuromuscular adaptations occurred, and my performance was moving in the right direction, but my visual appearance remained the same or very similar. Plus, my weight was going up again. When I hit the 120kg wall once more, I realized that you can't have one without the other. True, sustainable results are only achieved when absolute precision in nutrition matches your effort in training.

A new beginning and true transformation

About a year ago, I started working with my own coach, who is also my mentor, and we shifted to a completely different approach. We practically started from scratch.

Even though I was strong and could lift heavy weights, I realized I didn't have enough developed lean muscle mass for what I wanted to achieve. So, I completely shifted my focus to hypertrophy training, paired with nutrition that tracked my training process down to the gram. I eliminated all guesswork and switched to strictly weighing raw ingredients before preparation so I could track my intake more consistently.

I am still working on it, and I am still building my body. Through gradual and controlled "cuts" (fat-loss phases), my weight dropped to 110kg. But the most important part of all: it stayed there for a whole year. It didn't creep back up. Considering my past experience with regaining weight, maintaining this has been my biggest victory.

Now, I am entering another cut phase and continuing the process. There is a solution to this vicious cycle, but the system must be built gradually, patiently, and absolutely in both directions simultaneously, through smartly programmed training and consistent, well-planned nutrition.