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How to Keep the Weight Off

Studies have been carried out to determine the secrets behind the success of slimmers who have achieved long term weight loss and subsequent weight maintenance.

Researchers have investigated how these people, who have lost at least 30lbs (or 13.6Kg) and maintained that weight loss for at least 1 year actually managed to do it.

The results of these studies are summarized below.

45% of people lost the weight on their own and the other 55% lost weight with the help of some type of weight loss program1.

This suggests that the possibility of achieving success, with or without help, is pretty evenly spread. If you wish to go it alone, you have as much chance of success as anyone joining a group.

98% of participants report that they modified their food intake in some way to lose weight2.

I think this is a no-brainer. It is essentially inevitable that if you want to lose weight and successfully maintain that weight loss you will probably have to make some modifications to your eating habits.

In addition to the modifications of their diet, 94% increased their physical activity, with the most common form of activity being walking, reported by 76% of participants2,3.

Walking is the cheapest, simplest form of activity you can do. It doesn’t matter how far, how fast, how good, if we are not wheelchair bound, we can all do something.

In order to keep their weight off, most of the participants reported continuing to maintain a low calorie, low fat diet and doing high levels of activity4,5.

As these studies were reported in 1998/99, many of the people within this group have maintained weight loss for a number of years, with some achieving success long before the New Diet Revolution promoted by Atkins. As more longer term success stories come to light, that balance of what people eat to maintain their success will evolve into a broader picture of food choices and not be restriced to low calorie, low fat6.

Outside of their food choices, there was a lot of diversity however. If we look at some of the broader statistics, we can see that:

62% watch less than 10 hours of TV per week7.

75% weigh themselves at least once a week1,3.

78% eat breakfast every day8. The typical breakfast is cereal and fruit3.

90% exercise, on average, about 1 hour per day3,9.

In other words about two thirds lost their couch potato TV habits to some degree. Note they do not watch no TV. I would hazard a guess that if you wrote down your favorite TV programs and stuck to watching only those shows and stopped sitting there channel hopping (as we all do to some extent), you would probably only watch about 10 hours of TV per week. Maybe even less.

Three quarters of the success stories weigh themselves regularly. Once a day at least for 44% of the people registered, and 31% at least once a week.

Many wannabe slimmers have a terrible relationship with their scales, clearly fearing to tread, but knowing exactly what you weigh is, I believe imperative to long term success as it automatically helps us to build in successful weight management strategies.

Over three out of four successful slimmers ate breakfast every day. Why is this important? Simply because it suggests that many spread their eating out throughout the day. Many wannabe slimmers will not be aware that a lot of people eat most of their calories in the evening ... probably sitting grazing unknowingly whilst watching TV.

Nine out of ten do on average 1 hour exercise per day ... wow that is high isn’t it! But I guess if we can all cut down the amount of TV we are watching then suddenly there is a lot more free time in the day.

If you are looking for some inspiration, studies into the effects of successful weight loss on other areas of life are incredible1.

95% reported increased quality of life.

92% reported improved energy levels.

92% also had greater mobility.

91% reported improvements in their general mood.

91% also reported increased self-confidence.

Many knockers of the slimming industry believe people should be left alone to do as they please, but these figures for the improvements in state of mind, quality of life and general levels of health and well-being of successful slimmers suggest that those people who desire weight loss are seeking to improve their lives and are probably correct to do so.

Bottom Line

The key strategies discovered to date for long term maintenance reported in the registry data are:

• consuming a low-calorie, low-fat diet.

• high levels of physical activity.

• frequent self-weighing.

• eating breakfast every day.

Sources:

1. Klem ML, Wing RR, McGuire MT, Seagle HM & Hill JO (1997). A descriptive study of individuals successful at long-term maintenance of substantial weight loss.American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 66, 239-246. PMID: 9250100. Full text.

2. National Weight Control Registry data.

3. Wing RR & Phelan S. (2005). Long-term weight loss maintenance. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 82, 222S-225S. PMID: 16002825. Full text.

4. Shick SM, Wing RR, Klem ML, McGuire MT, Hill JO & Seagle HM (1998). Persons successful at long-term weight loss and maintenance continue to consume a low calorie, low fat diet. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 98, 408-413. PMID: 9550162. Free full text not available.

5. McGuire MT, Wing RR, Klem ML, Hill JO. (1999). Behavioral strategies of individuals who have maintained long-term weight losses. Obesity Research, 7, 334-341. PMID: 10440589. Free full text not available.

6. Phelan S, Wyatt H, Hill JO, Wing RR. (2006). Are the Eating and Exercise Habits of Successful Weight Losers Changing? Obesity, 14, 710-716. PMID: 16741274. Free full text not available.

7. Raynor D, Phelan S, Hill JO, Wing RR. (2006). Television Viewing and Long-Term Weight Maintenance: Results from the National Weight Control Registry. Obesity, 14, 1816-1824. PMID: 17062812. Free full text not available.

8. Wyatt HR, Grunwald OK, Mosca CL, Klem ML, Wing RR, Hill JO. (2002). Long-term weight loss and breakfast in subjects in the National Weight Control Registry. Obesity Research, 10, 78-82. PMID: 11836452. Free full text not available.

9. Hill JO, Wyatt HR, Phelan S, Wing RR. (2005). The National Weight Control Registry: is it useful in helping deal with our obesity epidemic? Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 37, 206-210. PMID: 16029692. Free full text not available.

 

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