re: Do people still believe: dieting, starvation mode, body hold onto fat.

Gold rush that's not true. People lose the same amount of muscle regardless of the rate of fat loss, until BF is less than 5%, then without fat you will use more muscle. It's a gold standard for body builders to cut weight using ketosis where the body thinks it's starving and primarily burns fat. They also incorporate fasting, and find this is the best way to lose fat with minimal muscle loss. The idea is that when your body switches from glucose to fat that more muscle lost, so they steady burn fat and don't have a transition period.

Vor you say eating sensibly works for 90% but 62% of the u.s. is overweight or obese

This is a good post with a few studies, one suggesting that metabolism actually increases for 2 days with no food. [link=(www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/761810-the-starvation-mode-myth-again
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