Dieting results in long term changes to hormones and muscle fibers.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. I've heard about this effect before.

And I believe that it's more likely to happen when the dieting is extreme, when the calories are cut to very low levels. The body gets the message that the person is literally starving, and then these effects happen.

I wonder if the same thing happens when the dieter goes about cutting calories in a more moderate way.

I've been working on getting my weight down for about 15 years now, and the weight is coming off, though very slowly. I've lost over 50 pounds in this time. I did it by eating what I always eat, but less. And I've been working out.

The weight comes off the way it went on: slowly. I'm doing what I can live with, and it has worked for me. Even though it's been slow, it has worked, and I don't really feel the cravings the way the dieters in that study did.