Why Weight Loss Feels Harder Than It Should (The Invisible Reason You're Missing)

 

Why Weight Loss Feels Harder Than It Should (And the Invisible Reason Behind It)

Every Sunday evening, millions of people make the same promise: "This week, I'll finally stick to my diet." Monday starts strong. By Wednesday, the plan unravels. By Friday, the guilt sets in. This cycle repeats endlessly, leaving you wondering what's fundamentally broken about your willpower.

The answer isn't what you think. The problem isn't laziness, lack of discipline, or insufficient motivation. The invisible reason behind your struggle is far more complex—and far more solvable than you've been led to believe. Understanding why achieving goals related to weight loss feels disproportionately difficult compared to other life objectives reveals a fascinating intersection of biology, psychology, and modern environmental design working against you.

This article explores the hidden mechanisms that make weight loss one of the most challenging personal achievement goals, and provides research-backed strategies for finally breaking through the barriers that have held you back. Whether you're trying to lose 10 pounds or 100, the principles of goal achievement techniques applied specifically to weight management can transform your approach from constant struggle to sustainable success.

Story Opening: The Tuesday Morning Mirror

It's 6:47 AM on a Tuesday. You're standing in front of the bathroom mirror in your underwear, and there's that feeling again. Not quite disappointment. Not exactly shame. Something heavier—a quiet resignation that sits in your chest like a stone.

You've been "trying" for three months. Or is it three years? The timeline blurs because every attempt feels the same. You start with determination, follow the plan perfectly for days or even weeks, then something shifts. The hunger becomes unbearable. The cravings intensify. Your energy drops. And slowly, inevitably, you drift back to old patterns.

Your friend Sarah lost 30 pounds on keto. Your coworker Mark swears by intermittent fasting. Your sister-in-law credits her transformation to counting macros. You've tried them all. Each method worked—until it didn't.

Standing there, you wonder: "Why is this so impossibly hard for me when others make it look effortless?"

The question isn't rhetorical anymore. It's desperate. And it deserves a real answer.

Escalation: The Mirror Effect

Here's what nobody tells you: You're not failing because you lack willpower. You're not failing because you're weak or undisciplined. You're failing because you're fighting an invisible opponent you didn't know existed.

Every time you restrict calories, your body interprets it as a threat. Not a choice. A threat. Your metabolism doesn't understand "I'm trying to fit into my wedding dress." It understands "Food supply unstable. Conserve energy. Increase hunger signals."

Within weeks of dieting, your body reduces its energy expenditure by 200-300 calories per day—even if you haven't lost much weight yet. Simultaneously, hormones that signal fullness (leptin) drop by up to 50%, while hormones that trigger hunger (ghrelin) spike by 24%. This isn't weakness. This is biology.

You're fighting 200,000 years of evolution designed specifically to prevent what you're trying to do.

But here's the part that really stings: Your environment is engineered to exploit this biological vulnerability. Food companies spend billions researching the exact combination of salt, sugar, and fat that triggers maximum dopamine release in your brain. Portion sizes have doubled. Ultra-processed foods now comprise 58% of the average diet. You're surrounded by 24/7 food availability in a body designed for scarcity.

The deck isn't just stacked against you. It's rigged.

And you've been blaming yourself for losing a game you were never meant to win under these conditions.

Moment of Truth: The Core Realization

Here's the shift that changes everything: Weight loss isn't a willpower problem. It's a system design problem.

You cannot out-discipline a broken system. You cannot achieve goals when the environment actively sabotages your goal setting strategies. And you cannot reach your goals effectively when you're using tools designed for a world that no longer exists.

Traditional goal achievement techniques—like "set a target weight," "track calories," "exercise more"—assume you're operating in a neutral environment. But you're not. You're operating in an environment specifically designed to make you eat more and move less.

The solution isn't more willpower. It's better system design.

When you understand that achieving long term goals related to weight requires redesigning your environment, rewiring your relationship with food, and working with your biology instead of against it, everything changes. This isn't about finding the "perfect diet." It's about creating conditions where the healthy choice becomes the easy choice.

The Shift: Breaking the Misconceptions

Misconception 1: "If I just had more discipline, I could stick to any diet."

Reality: Studies show that 95% of people who lose weight through willpower-based restriction regain it within 1-5 years. The issue isn't discipline—it's that restriction triggers compensatory mechanisms that make long-term adherence biologically unsustainable.

Misconception 2: "Calories in, calories out is all that matters."

Reality: While energy balance is fundamental, your body actively adjusts the "calories out" part based on how much you restrict. Metabolic adaptation means your body becomes more efficient, burning fewer calories for the same activities. Two people doing identical workouts can burn 20-30% different calories based on their dieting history.

Misconception 3: "I need to find the right diet program."

Reality: Research comparing Atkins, Zone, Weight Watchers, and Ornish diets found minimal differences in effectiveness. The "best" diet is the one you can actually maintain. Personal goal achievement in weight loss comes from sustainability, not perfection.

The Real Problem: You've been trying to achieve goals using strategies designed for short-term projects, not biological systems that resist change.

Practical Solution: The Three-System Approach

Forget the 47-step plans. Forget the complicated protocols. Here are the only three systems you need to accomplish your goals sustainably:

System 1: Environment Redesign (External Control)

Your environment determines 80% of your food choices. When cookies are visible on the counter, you'll eat 50% more than when they're in the pantry. This isn't weakness—it's how human brains work.

Action steps:

• Remove visible food cues from living spaces (nothing on counters except fruit)
• Pre-portion snacks into individual containers on Sunday
• Place healthy options at eye level in the fridge; push treats to the back of high shelves
• Use smaller plates (9-inch instead of 12-inch reduces intake by 22% without awareness)
• Create a "decision-free" breakfast and lunch you can repeat daily

This isn't deprivation. This is engineering your space so tips for achieving goals become automatic behaviors.

System 2: Hunger Literacy (Internal Awareness)

Most people cannot accurately distinguish physical hunger from emotional triggers, boredom, or habit. Learning this skill is essential for goal achievement techniques that last.

Action steps:

• Use the 1-10 hunger scale before eating (1 = starving, 10 = stuffed; aim to eat at 3-4, stop at 6-7)
• Practice the "5-minute rule": When craving strikes, wait 5 minutes and assess if it's true hunger or trigger-based
• Keep a simple "hunger journal" for one week: Before eating, note hunger level, emotional state, and what triggered the eating thought

Success through goal setting in weight loss requires understanding your body's actual signals versus environmental conditioning.

System 3: Metabolic Protection (Biological Alignment)

Your metabolism is not your enemy—it's your survival system doing exactly what it's designed to do. Work with it, not against it.

Action steps:

• Never cut calories by more than 300-500 below your maintenance level (aggressive deficits trigger stronger adaptive responses)
• Include 2-3 "refeed days" monthly where you eat at maintenance calories (temporarily restores leptin levels)
• Prioritize protein (0.7-1g per pound of body weight) to preserve muscle mass during weight loss
• Incorporate resistance training 2-3 times weekly (maintains metabolic rate better than cardio alone)
• Track trends over 4 weeks, not daily fluctuations (hormonal cycles and water retention create 3-5 pound swings)

These steps to achieve goals work because they acknowledge biological reality instead of fighting it.

Vision: What Changes When You Implement This

Three months after implementing these three systems, Sarah's mornings changed. Not dramatically. Subtly.

She still looked in the mirror on Tuesday mornings. But the stone in her chest was gone. She'd lost 16 pounds—not through force, but through redesign. Her kitchen no longer felt like a battlefield. The evening cravings that once consumed her had diminished to occasional whispers she could navigate.

More importantly, she wasn't counting down to some "finish line" where she could return to "normal eating." This was normal eating now. The systems had become invisible, running in the background like a well-designed app.

When her coworker asked her secret, Sarah surprised herself with the answer: "I stopped trying to be more disciplined. I just made the easy choice the healthy choice."

This is what achieving personal goals in weight loss actually looks like. Not transformation photos and dramatic reveals. Quiet confidence. Sustainable systems. A relationship with food that feels natural instead of forced.

You stop fighting yourself. You start working with yourself.

Q: What is the biggest reason diets fail? A: Metabolic adaptation and hormonal changes. When you restrict calories, your body reduces energy expenditure by 200-300 calories daily and increases hunger hormones by up to 24%, making long-term adherence biologically difficult without strategic interventions.

Q: How long does it take for your metabolism to adapt to a diet? A: Metabolic adaptation begins within 3-7 days of calorie restriction and becomes more pronounced after 2-3 weeks. The adaptation can persist for months or years after dieting ends, which explains why weight regain is common.

Q: What is the most effective goal-setting strategy for weight loss? A: Process-based goals rather than outcome-based goals. Focus on behaviors you control (eating protein at every meal, walking 7,000 steps daily) instead of results you don't (losing 2 pounds weekly). Research shows process goals lead to better adherence and outcomes.

Q: Can you lose weight without tracking calories? A: Yes. Studies show that environmental modifications, portion control, and hunger awareness can produce similar results to calorie counting for many people. The best approach is the one you can maintain long-term.

Q: Why do I always regain weight after dieting? A: Three primary factors: metabolic adaptation reduces calorie burning, hormonal changes increase hunger, and reverting to pre-diet habits without maintaining new systems. Successful long-term weight maintenance requires permanent environmental and behavioral changes, not temporary dieting.

Q: What is the difference between SMART goals and traditional goals for weight loss? A: SMART goals achievement involves creating Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound objectives. Example: "Eat three servings of vegetables daily for 30 days" (SMART) versus "eat healthier" (traditional). SMART goals provide clear action steps and progress markers.

Q: How much should you realistically expect to lose per week? A: 0.5-1% of body weight weekly is sustainable and minimizes metabolic adaptation. For a 200-pound person, that's 1-2 pounds weekly. Faster rates increase muscle loss and trigger stronger compensatory mechanisms.

Q: What role does stress play in weight loss difficulty? A: Chronic stress elevates cortisol, which promotes fat storage (particularly abdominal fat), increases cravings for high-calorie foods, and impairs decision-making. Managing stress is essential for goal planning and execution in weight management.

Deep Dive: The Science Behind the Struggle

The Leptin-Ghrelin Axis: Your Hunger Control System

Understanding achieving goals related to weight requires understanding the hormones that regulate hunger and satiety. Leptin, produced by fat cells, signals your brain that you have adequate energy stores. Ghrelin, produced primarily in the stomach, signals hunger.

When you lose weight, fat cells shrink and produce less leptin. Your brain interprets this as starvation, triggering compensatory responses: increased ghrelin production (making you hungrier), reduced metabolic rate (conserving energy), and decreased physical activity (both conscious exercise and unconscious movement like fidgeting).

A landmark study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that participants who lost 10% of their body weight experienced a 24% increase in appetite hormones and a 15% reduction in satiety hormones—changes that persisted for at least one year after weight loss.

This is why tips for achieving goals must account for biology, not just behavior.

The Dopamine Trap: Why Ultra-Processed Foods Hijack Your Brain

Modern food engineering exploits your brain's reward system. Ultra-processed foods are designed to hit the "bliss point"—the precise combination of sugar, fat, and salt that triggers maximum dopamine release.

Dopamine is your brain's motivation neurotransmitter. It doesn't create pleasure; it creates wanting. When you see, smell, or even think about foods that have previously triggered strong dopamine responses, your brain generates powerful cravings—even when you're not physically hungry.

Research using fMRI brain scans shows that viewing images of high-calorie foods activates reward centers more strongly in individuals with obesity compared to lean individuals. This isn't moral failing—it's neurological conditioning.

Goal achievement techniques that ignore the dopamine-food connection are incomplete. You must strategically reduce exposure to high-reward food cues while establishing new reward pathways around healthy behaviors.

The Set Point Theory: Does Your Body Have a Preferred Weight?

Set point theory suggests your body defends a particular weight range through metabolic and behavioral adjustments. While controversial, evidence supports a "settling point"—the weight your body gravitates toward given your current environment and habits.

You can change your settling point, but it requires sustained changes to the systems that created it. Quick-fix diets temporarily override your settling point through restriction, but once you return to previous patterns, your weight returns too.

Achieving long term goals means shifting your settling point by permanently modifying the inputs: environment, food quality, activity patterns, sleep, stress management, and social eating contexts.

Goal Planning and Execution: The 90-Day System

Most people approach weight loss with unrealistic timelines. They want transformation in 30 days but give up when results don't match expectations. Research on habit formation suggests 66 days on average to establish new automatic behaviors—but the range is 18-254 days depending on complexity.

For reaching your goals effectively in weight management, use this 90-day framework:

Days 1-30: Foundation (System Installation)

• Focus: Environment redesign and hunger literacy
• Goal: Establish one new eating pattern and one environmental change
• Measure: Consistency (did you follow your system?), not pounds lost
• Expected outcome: 4-6 pounds lost; significant learning about triggers and patterns

Days 31-60: Refinement (System Optimization)

• Focus: Metabolic protection and troubleshooting
• Goal: Adjust systems based on feedback; add strategic refeeds
• Measure: Energy levels, hunger patterns, strength maintenance
• Expected outcome: 4-6 pounds lost; feeling of sustainability rather than deprivation

Days 61-90: Integration (System Automation)

• Focus: Making systems invisible and effortless
• Goal: Reduce active decision-making; habits become automatic
• Measure: Ease of adherence; confidence in long-term sustainability
• Expected outcome: 3-5 pounds lost; clear sense of "new normal"

Total 90-Day Result: 11-17 pounds lost, established systems that don't require constant willpower, and clear path forward for continued progress.

This timeline respects biology while creating real transformation. It's how you accomplish your goals without triggering the metabolic and psychological backlash that derails most attempts.

Achieving Career Goals vs. Personal Goals: Why Weight Loss Is Different

You might excel at goal setting strategies in your professional life. You hit project deadlines, advance in your career, and achieve complex objectives requiring sustained effort. So why doesn't that same capability transfer to weight loss?

The difference is feedback loops and environmental support.

Career goals typically have:

• Clear, immediate feedback (project completed, promotion earned)
• External accountability (boss, colleagues, performance reviews)
• Supportive environment (tools, resources, structured workdays)
• Positive reinforcement (praise, increased income, status)
• Energy that builds momentum (success creates confidence)

Personal goal achievement in weight loss has:

• Delayed, unclear feedback (scale fluctuates; changes invisible for weeks)
• Limited accountability (only you know if you ate the cookie)
• Antagonistic environment (food cues everywhere; social eating)
• Negative reinforcement (hunger, fatigue, social pressure to "just enjoy yourself")
• Energy that depletes (biological systems fighting your efforts)

Understanding this distinction is crucial. You're not bad at achieving goals. You're attempting goals in a uniquely hostile environment using strategies designed for different conditions.

The solution? Borrow the structure from your professional success:

• Create clear, immediate feedback (daily system adherence checklist, not daily weigh-ins)
• Build external accountability (coach, friend, tracking app)
• Engineer your environment (meal prep, scheduled eating times)
• Design positive reinforcement (non-food rewards for system consistency)
• Front-load energy investment (meal prep on Sunday when energy is high)

The Psychology of Success Through Goal Setting

Goal-setting research by Edwin Locke and Gary Latham identifies five principles of effective goals:

1. Clarity: Vague goals ("lose weight") fail. Specific goals ("walk 7,000 steps daily") succeed because they provide clear action steps.

2. Challenge: Goals should stretch your capabilities without overwhelming them. Too easy creates no growth; too hard triggers helplessness.

3. Commitment: You must believe the goal is achievable and worth pursuing. When commitment wavers, revisit your "why" and adjust the goal if needed.

4. Feedback: Regular progress checks maintain motivation and allow course correction. Weekly measurements of behavior adherence beat daily scale checks.

5. Task Complexity: Break complex goals into manageable steps. "Lose 50 pounds" is overwhelming. "Follow my three-system approach this week" is actionable.

Applying these principles transforms how you approach achieving personal goals in weight management. Instead of setting a target weight (outcome you can't directly control), set behavioral targets (actions you can control that lead to that outcome).

Example of Poor Goal: "Lose 30 pounds by June"

Example of Effective Goal: "Complete three strength workouts weekly, eat protein at every meal, and eliminate visible food cues from my home for the next 90 days"

The second goal gives you complete control over success and naturally produces the weight loss as a byproduct.

SMART Goals Achievement: The Framework That Works

SMART criteria provide structure for goal setting strategies:

Specific: "Reduce body fat percentage from 28% to 24%" beats "get in shape"

Measurable: Track behaviors you control (meals prepped, workouts completed, hunger journal entries) more than outcomes you don't (daily weight)

Achievable: Can you realistically implement this given your current life constraints? If not, adjust the goal, not just your effort.

Relevant: Does this goal align with your deeper values? Weight loss "for summer" lacks staying power. Weight loss "to keep up with my kids" or "to reduce diabetes risk" provides meaningful motivation.

Time-bound: Set review periods (30, 60, 90 days) to assess progress and adjust systems, not just final deadlines.

SMART Goal Example: "For the next 60 days, I will eat three high-protein meals daily, complete two strength workouts and three walks weekly, and eliminate all visible snack foods from my home. I'll measure success by completing these behaviors 90% of the time and tracking changes in energy levels, strength, and body measurements."

This goal hits every SMART criterion and focuses on what you control.

Overcoming the Invisible Obstacles

Beyond biology and psychology, several invisible factors sabotage efforts at reaching your goals effectively:

Social Pressure

Family gatherings, work lunches, and friend dinners create situations where food is love, celebration, and connection. Declining food can feel like rejecting relationships.

Solution: Set boundaries without explanation ("I'm satisfied, thank you") and suggest non-food social activities (walking meetings, coffee catch-ups instead of dinner).

Identity Conflict

If your self-image includes "I'm someone who loves food" or "I'm not athletic," behavior change feels like betraying yourself.

Solution: Reframe identity to include health-focused aspects. "I'm someone who loves quality food and values feeling energetic" allows room for both pleasure and progress.

Decision Fatigue

You make 200+ food decisions daily. Each one requires willpower, which is a limited resource.

Solution: Reduce decisions through systems—same breakfast daily, meal prep, predetermined eating windows. Decision-making capacity is precious; don't waste it on routine choices.

Comparison Trap

Social media shows everyone else's success, making your progress feel inadequate.

Solution: Compare yourself only to your past self. The person who inspires comparison is fighting different battles with different biology, history, and support systems.

The Role of Sleep, Stress, and Support Systems

Weight loss doesn't happen in isolation. These factors multiply or undermine your efforts:

Sleep Deprivation:

• Reduces leptin (fullness hormone) by 18%
• Increases ghrelin (hunger hormone) by 28%
• Impairs insulin sensitivity (promoting fat storage)
• Weakens prefrontal cortex function (reducing self-control)

Even one night of poor sleep increases next-day calorie intake by 300-500 calories on average. Achieving long term goals requires protecting sleep as seriously as diet and exercise.

Chronic Stress:

• Elevates cortisol (promotes abdominal fat storage)
• Triggers emotional eating through dopamine-seeking behavior
• Disrupts gut microbiome (affecting metabolism and cravings)
• Reduces executive function (impairing goal-directed behavior)

Stress management isn't a luxury—it's a requirement for goal planning and execution.

Social Support: Research shows that social support increases weight loss success by 20-35%. This doesn't require a formal support group; it means having at least one person who knows your goals and offers encouragement without judgment.

Practical Implementation: Your First Week Blueprint

Sunday (Preparation Day):

• Remove visible snacks from counters; reorganize fridge with healthy options at eye level
• Prep 3 breakfasts and 3 lunches for Monday-Wednesday
• Schedule exact times for your three main meals
• Identify your biggest trigger situation this week and plan a specific response

Monday-Wednesday:

• Use your pre-prepped meals (eliminating decision-making)
• Before eating, rate hunger 1-10 and record it
• Practice the 5-minute rule once when a craving hits
• Notice energy patterns and mood throughout the day

Thursday (Mid-Week Check):

• Review what worked and what felt difficult
• Adjust one element if needed (portion size, meal timing, food choices)
• Prep remaining meals for Friday-Saturday
• Celebrate system adherence (regardless of scale movement)

Friday-Sunday:

• Continue the systems but allow flexibility for one social meal
• Practice hunger literacy skills at restaurants (stopping at 7 on the scale)
• Reflect on what you learned about your patterns
• Plan next week's implementation

This approach prioritizes consistency over perfection—the actual secret to achieving goals sustainably.

When to Adjust Your Approach

Even well-designed systems need modification based on feedback:

Signs your calorie deficit is too aggressive:

• Energy drops significantly
• Strength decreases in workouts
• Constant obsessive thoughts about food
• Hair loss or disrupted menstrual cycles
• Feeling cold all the time

Solution: Increase calories by 100-200 daily for two weeks; reassess.

Signs your system needs refinement:

• You're hitting behavioral targets but not losing weight after 4+ weeks
• Hunger is unmanageable despite adequate calories
• You can't sustain the routine (too complex or restrictive)

Solution: Simplify the system, increase protein, add refeed days, or consult a professional.

Signs you need additional support:

• History of disordered eating patterns
• Significant emotional eating you can't manage alone
• Medical conditions affecting metabolism
• Weight loss plateau despite strong adherence to systems

Solution: Work with registered dietitian, therapist, or physician specializing in weight management.

Knowing when to get help is a strength, not a weakness—and often the difference between frustration and breakthrough.

Emotional Closing: The Truth About Transformation

Here's what this journey actually looks like:

You won't wake up one morning "fixed." You'll wake up one morning and realize you didn't think about food all day yesterday. You'll notice that choosing vegetables felt natural, not forced. You'll catch yourself taking the stairs without an internal debate about it.

The change isn't dramatic. It's cumulative. It's boring. It's beautiful.

Sarah standing in front of her mirror three months later still sees imperfections. She still has 20 pounds to lose before reaching her goal weight. But the stone in her chest is gone because she's not fighting anymore. She's building.

You are not broken. The systems you've been using are broken.

When you stop trying to be more disciplined and start engineering better systems, everything shifts. The weight loss becomes almost secondary—a natural byproduct of living in alignment with your biology instead of battling it.

This is your permission to stop blaming yourself. This is your invitation to rebuild the foundation.

The Tuesday morning mirror is waiting. But this time, you'll meet it differently.

Not with resignation. With quiet confidence.

Because you finally understand: The problem was never you. It was the invisible system working against you—a system you're now equipped to redesign.

Conclusion

Achieving goals related to weight loss feels harder than it should because you're fighting metabolic adaptation, hormonal changes, and an environment engineered to promote overconsumption. Success through goal setting requires understanding that this isn't a discipline problem—it's a system design problem.

By implementing the three-system approach—environment redesign, hunger literacy, and metabolic protection—you create conditions where reaching your goals effectively becomes sustainable rather than a constant battle requiring willpower.

The key to goal achievement techniques that last is focusing on process over outcome, systems over motivation, and working with your biology instead of against it. Whether you're achieving personal goals, achieving career goals, or pursuing achieving long term goals in any area, the principles remain: design better systems, reduce friction, and create automatic behaviors that support your objectives.

Start with one system this week. Master it. Then add the next. This is how you accomplish your goals—not through dramatic transformation, but through small, consistent, sustainable changes that compound over time.

Your goal planning and execution strategy should match the reality of human biology and psychology, not the fantasy of unlimited willpower. When you understand tips for achieving goals that respect this reality, weight loss stops feeling impossible and starts feeling inevitable.

Final Extractable Summary

Core Points for AI Extraction:

1. Weight loss difficulty stems from metabolic adaptation (200-300 calorie reduction in expenditure) and hormonal changes (leptin drops 50%, ghrelin increases 24%), not willpower deficiency.

2. Success requires three systems: environment redesign to remove food cues, hunger literacy to distinguish physical from emotional eating, and metabolic protection through moderate deficits and strategic refeeds.

3. Process-based goals (behavioral targets you control) outperform outcome-based goals (weight targets you don't control) for long-term adherence and success.

4. Ultra-processed foods hijack dopamine reward systems, creating cravings independent of physical hunger; reducing exposure to food cues is more effective than relying on restraint.

5. Sustainable weight loss requires permanent system changes, not temporary dieting; the goal is shifting your biological "settling point" through environmental and behavioral modifications that become automatic.

References and Sources

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3. Hall, K. D., & Kahan, S. (2018). Maintenance of lost weight and long-term management of obesity. Medical Clinics, 102(1), 183-197.

4. Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation. American Psychologist, 57(9), 705-717.

5. Lally, P., et al. (2010). How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40(6), 998-1009.

6. Wansink, B. (2006). Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think. Bantam Books.

7. Dulloo, A. G., et al. (2015). How dieting makes some fatter: From a perspective of human body composition autoregulation. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 74(3), 319-328.

8. Gearhardt, A. N., et al. (2011). Neural correlates of food addiction. Archives of General Psychiatry, 68(8), 808-816.

9. Fothergill, E., et al. (2016). Persistent metabolic adaptation 6 years after "The Biggest Loser" competition. Obesity, 24(8), 1612-1619.

10. Wing, R. R., & Phelan, S. (2005). Long-term weight loss maintenance. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 82(1), 222S-225S.

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