Abs Are Made In the Kitchen, but This is the Key to Long-Term Weight Loss.

Losing weight isn't quite as difficult as keeping it off.  When we need to trim off a few pounds, we know what to do.  We modify our diet and the pounds start coming off.  That's because we're creating a calorie deficit.  Meaning that we consume fewer calories than we burn.  Simple enough, right?

Maybe not.

Because often times, the weight we lost months ago starts to creeps back. I've experienced this personally and most others have too. Why? Because long term weight loss is nearly impossible unless one major puzzle piece exists.
Everyone claims that changing how we eat is the key losing weight.  And they're right.  But they forget to include one important piece of information....that in order to maintain your new weight, you must develop a new, more active lifestyle.

Most people think that overweight people have a slow metabolism.  The truth is, the heavier you are, the more calories you burn.  Your body requires more energy to operate than if you weigh less.  So if you lose 25lbs, your body doesn't require as much daily energy expenditure as when you weighed more.  At the start of a weight loss journey, you might cut out soda, eat more veggies, and quickly drop a few pounds.  That's because your heavier body has a greater calorie requirement.

Once most of the excess weight is reduced your calorie needs decline.  Basically, the slimmer version of yourself needs to eat less than your heavier self to maintain the new weight.  Most of us don't realize that. We assume that the changes we made while heavier will continue to work for ur slimmer selves.   If you lost weight through diet only, you'll have to modify your eating habits once again to match your new (even lower) calorie expenditures.

But, here's the thing, cutting calories as a long term weight loss strategy is a losing battle.  Especially if you aren't carrying around excess body fat.  Once you've lost weight, cutting more calories may trigger your body to go into the dreaded "starvation mode."  This is where your body tries to convert most of what you eat into stored fat.  Also, calorie restriction is hard to sustain long term so when you splurge a little, you immediately put the pounds back on.

So what's the solution?

The answer might be found in a recent study that involved three groups of participates.

• Group #1:  (WLM) Weight Loss Maintaining.  These individuals lost 30 or more pounds and maintained their new weight for over a year.
• Group #2:  (NC) No Change.  These individuals are similar in body mass to the weight loss maintaining group but were never overweight. 
• Group #3: (OC)- Overweight group. They're similar in weight to Group #1 before they lost weight.