"This research helps us understand why one person may lose weight faster or slower than another, even when they eat the same diet and do the same exercise."

~ Kevin Hall, Ph.D.,

So we aren't crazy...  Even if we copy our friends' workout plan and their meal plan many beginners have come to a heart breaking conclusion.  What works for my buddy doesn't work for us.  Now it's an official scientific fact.

Check out the awesomely interactive tool that Hall and his team have created to show how your body might change over time with your real life data being used. You can enter you height, weight, age, body composition, baseline caloric intake, goal weight and more.  Then you can see a visual graph based on your information.  The tool allows you to change the data and see the results in real time via the graph.  Very cool.

Dr. Kevin Hall recently released a new study that may trouble people trying to lose weight in Fresno.  The study indicates that most people fail after 6 months of dieting.  That in of itself shouldn't be too much of a shocker to most people who have tried to lose weight.  But now it's the offical conclusion of Dr. Kevin D. Hall and his colleagues at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. 

It turns out that a long-used rule of weight loss — reduce 3,500 calories (or burn an extra 3,500) to lose one pound of body fat — is incorrect and can ultimately doom determined dieters.

~ Jane E. Brody, NY Times

The computer simulations lead researchers to question if the standard assumption of 3,500 calories equal the loss of 1 pound of fat is overestimating the weight loss because it fails to account for how our metabolism changes. Researchers say these metabolic changes can significantly differ among people.According to their computer model, people respond to changes in their diet slower than first thought.  It can take a year to adjust to your new calorie intake with your greatest weight loss in the first year.  Interestingly the research shows that a heavier person will most likely gain more fat than a leaner person if they eat the same calories because of differences in their body compositation of muscles, bones and organs.  A heavier person will also experience greater weight change, loss or gain, with the same change in their diet. 

Here's another link to the interactive tool that may help you get fit, get lean and stay that way.

For more information check out the related links section.