A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition revealed, long-term weight loss maintenance is only successful for about 20 percent of those who had lost a significant amount of weight. 

That's a disheartening statistic to anyone who has given their all to the process of losing weight -- oftentimes a lot of weight -- only to be told the chances of keeping it off are low.

It leads one to wonder, why exactly is it so hard to maintain weight loss?  

Turns out, returning to the bad habits that initially packed on the pounds may be attributed to, "the misfiring of an appetite hormone," according to a study published in The Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM) on August 20, 2013.

The study suggests, the appetite hormone, ghrelin doesn't get the signal to reduce hunger from another hormone, glucagon, which is secreted in the pancreas. If the two aren't working together, you keep feeling hungry. 

The study focused on three specific groups: obese people, participants with type 1 diabetes and lean individuals; the results suggested that lean individuals and type 1 diabetics who were given a glucagon injection did experience the feeling of fullness that should be induced by the hormone. 

Other than injections to induce a sense of fullness for the rest of your life after every meal in order to maintain your weight loss, what can you do? 

The University of Chicago Medicine suggests support systems, physical activity and paying close attention to your diet. 

In light of this new information that confirms physiological deficits as major contributing factors in regaining weight after initially winning the battle of the bulge, behavior modification takes on a whole new significance.