But if it was that easy, no one would be obese. Dieting is such an American obsession that diet programs and books are multi-million dollar businesses. Some of these programs use a high-protein diet that provides initial success due to lost water weight. Fad diets that call for eating one type of food at a time or only one food for a day or days are nutritionally unbalanced. These diets should also be balanced for other nutrients such as protein, vitamins and minerals.
Many people do lose weight by dieting and exercising but then gain it back.
Some people go through cycles of weight loss and weight gain called yo-yo dieting, which some studies have shown to cause further weight problems since more weight is gained back and less is lost in the subsequent cycles. Some of this lack of long-term success is because the RME is lowered when calorie intake is reduced. Although it recovers somewhat, it stays reduced after normal calorie consumption is resumed. In some ways, increasing activity is a better solution to the problem than is dieting, since exercise burns calories, increases lean body mass and energy expenditure. Exercise also contributes to cardiovascular health and a general sense of well-being.