Anyone who has tried to lose weight knows that success doesn’t come easily. Cutting calories and exercising can make a big difference, but a study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism shows the importance of keeping tight control over your eating and training habits even after experiencing impressive results.

To help preserve muscle mass during weight loss, researchers had a group of obese subjects exercise vigorously while their caloric intake was cut back. This 30-week program helped reduce body weight by 33% on average. Approximately 17% of this weight loss was from muscle tissue while the remaining 83% was fat. Unfortunately, resting metabolic rate decreased significantly despite the successful effort to retain muscle mass.

True Strength Moment: On a typical diet, you’ll lose almost as much muscle as fat. This program incorporated vigorous exercise with calorie cutting and produced impressive results. Because of the drop in metabolic rate, these subjects will have to remain true to their exercise and diet program to keep the weight off. If you’re determined to look and feel your best, realistic physique goals are attainable.