Continuing Weight Loss

In 1999, I lost 135lbs in 11 months by sticking to a workout routine that involved weight lifting and cardio. I have now re-established that type routine and the results are great. I am down over 20-lbs since my new fitness focus that began in mid-december.

I have found the following articles represented in my earlier weight-loss efforts (that is, before I lost 135lbs and before I began my current regimen) :

THE FAILURE CYCLE
Conventional diets don't work because they are fauldy in design. They are based on weight-loss instead of fat-loss. You restrict yourself to a very low calorie diet or liquid diet and think you are reaching your goal because you are losing weight. But, because the diet is not designed to lose fat, you are mainly losing muscle weight. Consequently, upon resuming normal eating habits, you gain the weight back. So, as the cycle goes you start the same method all over again-only to fail again. It's called yo-yo dieting.

BUILT-IN SURVIVAL
So why do we retain body-fat? The answer goes back thousands of years. Early man ate anything and everything he could. He instinctively did so because it might be weeks before he found another meal. To survive, his body stored as much fat as possible to be burned as fuel later. We have not evolved from this state. We still are efficient fat-storing machines.

The built-in survival mechanism is strong. You body continually makes instinctive adjustments to stay alive. Dieting is no exception. In your mind you know you are simply dieting - however, your body believes you are starving to death - and instinctively seeks high calorie food in order to store and hoard fat.

YOUR BODY'S DEFENSE MECHANISM AGAINST DIETING OR STARVATION
1)Dieter Lowers Caloric Intake
2)Bodyweight Falls
3)Body tries to regain original weight by becoming energy efficient and slowing metabolic process.
4)Body senses reduction in body and perceives diet as starvation
5)Sensing starvation from lowered caloric intake, body slows metabolic rate; hoards fat for survival, and learns to function on fewer calories
6)Body begins to look for alternative source of fuel for energy
7)Body adapts by burning muscle for fuel, which in turn lowers metabolic rate
8)Dieter becomes tired and lethargic. Craving sweets and fats, body tricks dieter into increasing caloric intake
9)Body has learned to function on reduced calories. Any increase in calories will be stored as fat. Dieter regains all lost weight - and more.