Weight loss is an elusive science. People try everything and anything to lose weight and to keep it off. The battle can last all of our lives, and can put people through some pretty hard work. But there are plenty of concepts that most people do not understand, or are just not aware of. Things like caloric balance, losing fat versus gaining muscle, the weight loss plateau effect; all are very central concepts to weight loss, yet many people just don't get it. Many people are still under the assumption that refusing to eat anything but one salad a day and drinking only water will help them drop the pounds! This is a major fallacy, as our bodies are made to survive, and have plenty of methods of avoiding weight loss. Losing weight is very dependant on learning these tricks of the body and working with the body's metabolism in order to achieve maximum results while maintaining that weight loss well into the future.
There are many misconceptions. The first I would like to address is the classic concept of the diet. This is such an important one as it branches off into so many of the problems people have losing weight, and is a lie that many people have ingrained into their perception of weight loss and gain. For the longest time, before the boom in weight loss information and fad dieting crazes, the idea most people conjured up about diets was eating a salad for lunch, drinking only water, and skipping all other meals in the day. This is very unhealthy, and for the longest time was maintained as the major and most effective method of dieting. Unfortunately, people did see results when they embarked on this diet; however no one ever focused on the long term success rates of skipping meals and dramatically cutting calories.
The problem with skipping meals is twofold. Firstly, your body is designed to avoid starvation. At the first signs of starving, your body will decrease your calorie requirements. Any decrease of more than 200-300 calories per day is noticed by your body and instigates it to decrease your metabolism. It will slow down, resulting in the "plateau" effect, which is the phenomenon where your metabolism slows down and your body refuses to lose any more weight. Reaching this point is rather unhealthy, as your body will be using much less calories than it actually requires, and will begin to lag behind. Your reflexes will diminish, and you will definitely be below your necessary nutrients, vitamins and minerals.