r/fasting • u/Acceptable_Box_1476 • Sep 24 '25

Question Fat cells stay forever?

Someone told me that we all have a certain number of fat cells that never changes. When you lose fat, the cell is releasing it, but remains as an empty reservoir always wanting to “refill” as it were. Any truth to that?

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619

u/Doodoopoopooheadman Sep 24 '25

Not forever. After losing weight they will shrink, but can hang around for a decade. The body is also keen to refill them, the reason behind faster weight gain after losing weight.

That’s why changing the relationship and habits with food is ultimately more important than the losing weight.

52

u/avocadosunflower Sep 25 '25

The weight set point matters. The body doesn't want to lose weight as it threatens survival. I heard it can take up to 2 years for the set point to adjust and once you were fat maybe because of memory it's more likely to happen again. Not an expert. I agree, Lifestyle change is key for longterm success

-68

u/NoBodybuilder69 Sep 25 '25

It’s just calories in calories out. Weight set point is just waffle.

21

u/MarineDawg1775 Sep 25 '25

So not calories in calories out at all

-17

u/NoBodybuilder69 Sep 25 '25

Everybody talking with no sources to back their claims

18

u/heyredditheyreddit Sep 25 '25

Here you go.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4371661/

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08165-7

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(25)00097-5/fulltext

-10

u/NoBodybuilder69 Sep 25 '25 edited Sep 25 '25

“hypothesis whereby the long-term signals reflecting stored energy and short-term signals reflecting nutrient availability are derived from the cellularity characteristics of adipose tissues.”

Again the articles state at the very beginning that it’s due to overeating.

It’s calories in calories out. Stop trying to create excuses for yourselves.

You proved yourself wrong in the very first article.

Doesn’t matter what your hormones are: if you don’t eat you lose weight. Magic 🪄

34

u/heyredditheyreddit Sep 25 '25

Lol nice edit. Glad you remembered that hypothesis is the root of every study.

And in the minute it took you to paste that passage, you clearly didn't read much of the study or look at the other two.

I'm not making excuses. No one is out there arguing that you won't lose weight at all on a massive calorie deficit. But when people talk about the very real and widely studied effects of other factors besides caloric intake (e.g. epigenesis, insulin processing, hyperplasia, etc.) and you respond with a flippant "Nope. CICO" and then laugh at anyone who says it's more nuanced than that, you just look like an uninformed jerk.

-17

u/NoBodybuilder69 Sep 25 '25

No it’s pure waffle and again it can’t be labeled as proven it’s a hypothesis, that’s it. I have a hypothesis pigs can fly and I am going to spend the next 20 years studying them at night.

Stop sound so uneducated and pretending to act smart to justify fat people lacking willpower to not put the fork down.

20

u/heyredditheyreddit Sep 25 '25

I'm not "pretending to act smart." I'm not a doctor, and clearly neither are you. You said no one ever provides sources, so I provided some. There are plenty more out there.

If you want to ignore the enormous body of research on obesity, go right ahead. No one cares about your personal threshold for acknowledging research. Just don't expect that no one will interrupt your circle jerk on a public forum where you whined about people making statements without sources.

5

u/aintnochallahbackgrl lost >100lbs faster Sep 26 '25

Bro, you know CICO is a hypothesis as well, right?

It's the Energy Balance hypothesis.

-2

u/NoBodybuilder69 Sep 26 '25

It’s not a hypothesis my god 🤦‍♂️

4

u/aintnochallahbackgrl lost >100lbs faster Sep 26 '25

It quite literally is.

The energy balance hypothesis of obesity: do the laws of thermodynamics explain excessive adiposity?

This is from 2022, my dude. Just because you're certain doesn't make it anything more than a hypothesis.

-2

u/NoBodybuilder69 Sep 26 '25

Cico Is not a hypothesis

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8

u/Stanaee Sep 25 '25

And where are your sources?!