A valid question given its prevalence and new findings about obesity.
The hypothalamus regulates energy levels. The gland only accepts your fattest weight as normal. Everyone trying to lose weight faces a lifetime of resistance from this gland. It will always ramp up appetite and reduce energy use levels to return to the fattest point you have ever been.
Until we learn to reset its method of signalling we need to get medical science and medical insurance to quit thinking of fat removal as cosmetic surgery.
....
Any coercion has to offer the surgical option in order to be realistic.
The Set Point theory was at full steam in weight research when I was in grad school in the early 90s and is still considered a theory of weigh homeostasis though as of 2018
"observational studies on large populations do not provide consistent evidence for a biological control of body weight, which, if it exists, may be overridden by the influences of the obesogenic environment and culture on personal behavior and experiences."
Yo yo dieters do tend to trend back to their highest weight, but those who lose gradually can lose and maintain loss for life per research and what I've observed with clients ...much less dramatic than any sort of weight loss surgery, but so much safer.
What is most promising to me for weight control and overall good health is current research into a healthy gut microbiome. The average American diet high in simple carbs, unhealthy fats and inadequate fiber along with overuse of PPIs, antibiotics do not promote anything approaching a balance of good gut critters. This microbiota imbalance promotes inflammation which promotes obesity which promotes further inflammation and on and on in a negative feedback loop.
Here's a lay overview starting point for anyone interested in learning more:
The key to weight-loss may be in the gut. The title is kinda "No ****, Sherlock" but does provide a starting point. More in depth is Gerard Mullin's
The Gut Balance Revolution: Boost Your Metabolism, Restore Your Inner Ecology, and Lose the Weight for Good!. Citations need updating and he and his editors would've better served those interested by not trying to make it a popular 'diet' book. Most negative reviews are because people bought it as such based on the title but found the science too difficult to understand. It does, however, offer a comprehensive overview of the topic, extensive references and mostly sound dietary plans organized into phases to restore gut health ...which is much more complicated than swallowing a probiotic supplement.
Interestingly, a healthy gut microbiome (eubiosis) strengthens the body's natural immune response to
infectious disease. The link provides a good overview of how and the importance of the first 1,000 days of life for gut eubiosis in children. A natural progression in my thinking to promote gut health and go very slowly with vaccinations before 2.5 years (none the first two months) after educating from birth the importance of a healthy gut and natural immune system development which will perhaps reduce or remove altogether redundant (often unstudied and possibly harmful) boosters.
But most of health promotion of any sort is a pipe dream in our culture due to apathy and a heathcare system wide tendency against adequate emphasis and staffing for health promotion education. I learned from teaching ServSafe years ago that more people than you would think do not even wash their hands after bowel movements. These people (and good many who do wash their hands) are not going to grasp the complexity of the topic, and if they do, simply will not care to do so for their children or for their own health. Health education is not a priority in our pharmaceutical driven health care paradigm. Instead, we encourage throwing ever increasing immunizations and pills into unhealthy bodies--some of which are beneficial, some of which do nothing and some of which are harmful.
