Results suggest that restricting food intake increases the reward value of food, particularly high-calorie, appetizing food , and that the more successful people are at caloric-restriction dieting, the greater difficulty they will face in maintaining the restriction. Additionally, abstaining from food intake for longer durations of time also increases the reward value of food, which may lead to poor food choices when the individual eventually does eat.
The implications of this imaging study show that if people want to lose excess weight, it would be more effective to consume healthy, low-fat/low-sugar foods during regular meals, rather than go for long periods of time without any caloric intake. So, for those who do the cleanses, HCG drops, Protein Shakes all day long type of dieting, they are more likely to gain their weight back than those who do slower low-fat and low sugar/carb diets, which involve regular daily meals.
My daily food plan involves 6 protein based meals a day, with two small salads, four small servings of vegetables (not starchy ones) and two small servings of low carb fruits a day. I also exercise. I have maintained my weight loss for over a year now. This way of dieting is way more successful. It isn’t really a diet, it is just a new way to eat outside of the old stupid way that I ate, which got me fat in the first place. You just have re-train your brain to eat the right and healthy way.