Nine out of every 10 individuals who lose weight gain it back.Given this fact, it would seem that engaging in a weight lossprogram is a gamble in which the odds of winning are very slimto none. Before you become frustrated and give up, you shouldrealize that one out of those very ten people did succeed. Whatthat means is that it can be done. The trick is knowing how theydid it.

Years ago I embarked on a journey to study how individuals whosucceeded in losing weight for the long term did it. I thenresearched the science behind how the body regulated weight. Icame to understand that most programs fail becausethe programs are designed to disrupt the body’s naturalmechanisms. It is this disruption that creates the battle wherethe individual eventually gives up.

To lose weight safely and permanently, you have to understand aconcept in body functioning called homeostasis. In simple words,homeostasis means balance. The body always tries to maintain aconstant environment. Your weight, just like your blood pressureor body temperature, is kept at a constant level. This level iscalled your set point. If you changed your external environment,your body will adjust to keep the internal environment stable.That is why a person in Alaska in the middle of the winter hasthe same body temperature as when they go to Arizona in themiddle of the summer.

How then can you change your weight? First by understanding thatthere are certain food elements that your body needs,carbohydrates, fats, proteins, minerals and vitamins and water.If you deprive your body of any of these, it will start fightingyou. Second, that your weight is kept in balance mostly by theeffects of two opposing hormones, glucagon, that causes fatbreakdown and insulin that causes fat buildup. You lose weightsafely and permanently by giving your body all the essentialfood nutrients (not by dieting) and by shifting the balance infavor of glucagon over insulin. You achieve this by adjustingthe foods that affect the production of these hormones. Thiseliminates cravings and constant hunger.

Also when you decrease the amount of food you eat, as indieting, your body also decreases the amount of calories itburns to try and maintain the balance. This is why you mustincrease your activity level to maintain your body’s rate ofburning calories.

Most plans fail because they do not take thepowerful effect of homeostasis into account when the program wasdesigned. When you are told, for example to avoid carbohydratesor fats, your body, through homeostasis, will create cravingsfor those foods and that’s what causes that uneasiness that leadthe individual to eventually give up on the program.

The good news, again is that by shifting the balance in agradual fashion without trying to completely disrupt it, you canobtain safe and permanent weight loss.

About the author:Dr. David Nganele is a noted medical education expert and hisbook "The New Set Point" explains why most plansfail and how you can fix yours. You can learn more from his website at http://www.thenewsetpoint.com