For many people, on off dieting has become a part of their life. They lose weight, but fail to keep it off for very long. There is a scientific explanation for why this occurs, which proves that by making a few simple changes to your lifestyle, and dieting smarter instead of harder, you can lose the weight you want and keep it off.

When you crash diet but do not combine the reduction in food intake with appropriate physical activity, you not only lose fat, but also lose lean body mass and muscle tissue. When you start to gain weight again, you only add fat. Thus over time, your lean body mass drastically reduces, and you fat body mass increases significantly.

The truth of yo-yo dieting is that you do not end up back where you started, but actually you end up in a far worse position than when you started, because of this reduction in lean body mass. Your metabolism has slowed down, and you therefore burn less calories than before for the same level of activity. This makes it many times easier to gain weight again.

Not only does yo-yo dieting make you fatter, but it will also increase your risk of diabetes, heart disease, and strokes. There are no positive benefits to dieting in this way. The only way to lose weight healthily and effectively is to improve your eating habits, and exercise regularly. Weight training as part of this program is an excellent way to increase your lean body mass, and thus increase the amount of calories you burn.