Understand that anyone can lose weight for a time, but done the wrong way they run the risk of gaining it back. Think about the contestants on one of the biggest weight loss shows ever, "The Biggest Looser." Of course you have seen the countless times that articles came out showing a high percentage of weight regain. Sometimes they regained more body fat than what they started with.
Unfortunately, we have a flawed way of thinking about weight loss. But I'm going to clear up some of the confusion a bit.
There are two things required for sustained, lasting fat loss.
1. A calorie deficit.
2. A balanced metabolism.
True weight loss works by gaining a balanced metabolism first. Only then can a reduction in calories happen with the result being weight loss.
Most weight loss diets teach you the exact opposite. They start off by cutting calories at an extreme rate and call for high amounts of exercise. Yes, you will create a calorie deficit, but you'll also create an unbalanced metabolism.
Adaptive Thermogenesis is a funky science term to explain how the body likes to stay in balance. This is typically how it would work. You decided you wanted to lose weight so you take the simple caloric approach and cut your calories by 500 per day through some combination of eating less and exercising more. You stay disciplined and for the first few weeks you are losing weight. Then you start feeling hungry all the time. Your energy falls and becomes less predictable. You start getting late night cravings for salty, fatty and sugary stuff. But you have an iron will, so you suck it up. But now adaptive thermogenesis kicks in. Now you not only stop losing weight, but you may even start gaining it. Not to mention you are awaiting the moment to eat everything in sight because your metabolism is making you crave and desire salty, fatty and sugary foods rich in calories.
At this point you have a few choices. You can grind it out harder on your efforts and make things worse. You could just give up and go back to eating normally, which will cause you to blow up like a balloon. Or you can try to do things a little more intelligently by trying to balance your metabolism first.
Here's what you need to know.
1. The idea that calorie excess always leads to fat gain and calorie reduction always leads to fat loss is not entirely accurate.
2. The standard of eat less and exercise more leads to about 20-50% loss of lean tissue. Which is not good for long term fat loss.
3. Balance the metabolism first. Learn more about food quality and how that effects your metabolism. Hunger, energy and cravings are real and you need to understand how to work with it rather than against it.