Q: I have lost 40 lbs. I am now at my goal weight... The problem is I have done this more times than I can remember.. I know how to lose weight, its very easy for me to gain weight I just don't know how to stay at a weight and mantain I have never stayed at a good weight I tag it and then start gaining it back I am 41 years old now and just want to live my life without the struggle.

A: Your problem is extremely common and is very easily fixed with some knowledge and discipline. What happens is probably this... You seriously cut down the calories to low levels, probably around 1000-1500 calories per day, your weight drops dramatically immediately (water loss) and then continues to drop for a few months (losing both fat and muscle). As time goes on weight loss becomes slower and slower, even though you continue to eat less and less, but eventually you reach your goal of losing 40 pounds. Sounds about right?

What happens in scenarios like this, which is how vast majority of people approach weight loss, is that by the time you are done losing weight you have lost a lot of muscle and your metabolism is in the pits because you've essentially been starving yourself for months. Now as you increase your calories back to usual, your body does not have any way to burn the extra calories (because you have less muscle and low metabolism) and they turn into new fat and you go right back to the point where you started!

So the key to successful weight loss AND keeping it off afterwards is to preserve (or maybe even increase) your muscle mass and keep your metabolism high. Good news is that for somebody who is quite a bit overweight and had not previously weight trained, both of those things are quite easy to do with just a bit discipline. The way you accomplish it is: healthy balanced diet that creates only a small caloric deficit and slow gradual weight loss (about 1 pound per week) + weight training + some cardio. I recommend you carefully read both of the articles I linked and then go and fill out the Fitness Guide to get a complete training and diet program along with tips on how to customize it for yourself. Choose 'Tone and Maintain' as your present goal since you've already reached your target weight.

Following a healthy diet like that along with starting training will boost your metabolism and increase your muscle mass and ensure that the fat doesn't come back. And look around my site -- you'll find a lot of useful info! Good luck!