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Theres this statement that I tend to here alot which goes along these lines. 'The faster you lose it, the faster it will come back'. What exactly is the science behind that which causes that to happen. There has to be a way for you to lose fat and keep it off. Can someone explain this and whats the key to keeping it off?

I'll take a stab at it. I think it all has to do with metabolism. If you go into starvation mode, your body's natural response is to store as much energy it can next time there is a surplus of calories. Additionally, you body will rob muscle for energy when it goes into starvation mode. Thus, you have less muscle, lower metabolism, and your body's natural response. I'm sure the smarter faction on this board can explain it more scientifically and hopefully correct me if I am wrong.

I think those are the 2 main reasons. In order to lose weight and keep it off, habits need to change. The main factor among successful losers is eating breakfast. Building muscle and eating the right foods are next. The actual diet, high carb, low carb, etc is less important. There are a lot of routes to get to the same place. Exercise helps with keeping it off. In fact it's virtually impossible without it. You need both strength and cardio training. Having a support group is also helpful.

My personal opinion in this as well is that you get your people who diet and then can't help themselves but go on a world class eating binge.

So basically what needs to happen is that the amount you eat after dieting has to get reduced to a lower level than what it was previous to dieting. So time is needed then for adjusting to higher caloric intake?

I think the key is balancing the caloric intake with caloric need. The trick when losing weight is to reduce the caloric intake just enough to stimulate weight loss without the negative effects of loss of muscle and reduced metabolism. I like the caloric need calculator on this web site and the basic recommendation that you reduce your calories by 500 below your need for five days and then go above 500 calories for two days. Example of a simple 7 day split:
500 below
500 below
500 above
500 below
500 below
500 below
500 above

I think the next biggest problem is people tend to overestimate the caloric needs. People then have a problem eating the right foods. I actually struggle with getting enough calories when eating healthy. It is easy when you eat junk food.

We Americans are pathetic when it comes to nutrition. It is just too damn easy to eat crap. I am just as guilty as the next guy and I hate myself for it. Nutritionally we are set up to fail. Hell all the crap they taught us when we were kids is now found to be wrong. Beef is actually good for us, but the way we finish cattle makes it bad. How easy is it to supersize our junk food for just $.49 more? I mean why the hell not supersize it? If you don't eat it just throw it away, but we never do. Sorry, just about went off on a rant. There was a method to our madness. I think the crux of the problem is that our society makes it too easy to get fat. The irony is that most want to be skinny. So we get skinny on a quick fix, screwing up our bodies and then fall back into our old habits and get even fatter than we were. Society has basically made it okay to be fat. Look at our portions, look at all you can eat buffets, look at our selections at the grocery store. It is just too easy and socially acceptable to be fat.

With my personal experience with this, the hardest part is post-diet routines and motivation. I have lost both 80 pounds in 3 1/2 months and about 20 pounds in one month. Like it was stated earlier, going into starvation mode was the biggest part but after the weight has come off or the feeling that you look good, a major binge eating time comes into place. My metabolism had increased some but not to the point where it could handle my random meals. After each weight loss I gained a lot of it right back, while it does give results quick, a lot of muscle is lost and you HAVE to change your eating habits or keep on the same routine of exercise.

If I were to guess, its because the person losing the fat isn't building a sound diet and exercise plan. They're binge dieting, and when the weight is gone, they go back onto the regular way of eating, and back comes the weight. And you kill your metabolism binge dieting, and the fact that you're probably killing off alot of muscle at the same time.

It's called yo-yo dieting down then up down then up down then up. People get happy with progress and think because they lost weight they're healthy and they can eat what they want. Wrong most yo-yo diets are because people diet and then stop get fat again get motivated diet... then stop. It's really that simply being healthy and dieting is more a lifestyle than a trend or something to do. A lot of people do not know that. I have a friend who lost 110 lbs he was morbidly obese and he's healthy now doesn't drink soda or really eat candy very healthy. No yo-yo dieting for him but now he needs surgery to get rid of excess skin.

Why resurrect the dead...