SubscribeMaintaining Weight: Find Someone To Talk To
New research into weight maintenance shows some (slightly) promising results.
After 30 months - the majority of participants were able to keep their weight below the initial level.
Maintaining weight loss is not a popular topic. Books sell much better if you can claim "10 pounds in 4 weeks". However most research into long-term weight maintenance shows a very depressing outcome - many many people rebound and end up worse than when they started - lending credence to the statement: "Diets don't work".
The full text of this research is available.
The short story is that just over 1,000 individuals were monitored.
- They went on a weight loss program for 6 months and lost 8.5kg / 18.7 lbs.
- Researchers carried on weighing them for another two and a half years.
- Participants were split into three groups; one group was left to their own devices (self-directed). One group used a web site to track their changes. The third group had personal contact:
The personal-contact intervention consisted of a case management approach with monthly person-to-person guidance and support. Participants had telephone contact with an interventionist for 5 to 15 minutes each month,
In terms of regain, the personal-contact group were the winners - regaining 8.8 lbs.
- The group using a web site regained 11.5 lbs.
- The control group regained 12.1 lbs.
If you're curious about the website model:
Interactive features allowed participants to set personal goals and action plans for the next week and to graph personal data over time. Modules addressed problem solving and motivation, and a bulletin board facilitated social support but did not provide in-person counseling.
Nothing beats having a "buddy" or close-knit supporters that you can call on for help, motivation, or simply someone who will listen.
So, the winners "only" gained back half of what they had lost. How terribly encouraging. :/
ReplyNo kidding... But I suppose it's better than gaining back 18 + some.
ReplyI've found that people really do not want to hear the reality about weight maintenance. All the books out there are about weight loss. However - if you managed to maintain any kind of loss over 2 years or more - you are doing very well.
ReplyThe number of postings to this blog from people eager for a magic bullet to lose x pounds in y days.... they leave me convinced that most people don't even understand that maintenance is a huge issue.
ReplyI've found that talking to other people that have lost weight or are losing weight definitely keeps me motivated to keep my weight off. A lot of people sort of look to me as an inspiration for them, so I get encouraged by encouraging others who may be in the beginning stages of weight loss or who don't know where to begin.
ReplyNo fad diets ever work...only realistic lifestyle changes. Personal contact will always help most people but there still has to have a level of personal responsibility for one's own health.
ReplyI think most people mindlessly eat in times of stress and anxiety. Could it be that regular personal contact simply lowered that? Sort of like talking to a therapist, just talking to someone, keeps people happier and perhaps less prone to binges and mindless snacking.
Cool post.
Thanks,
ReplyJosh
I've had 2 "rebounds" since my 110lb weight loss - even considering that I didn't mean to lose 110lb and would have been ok with 90-95lb (90lb puts me at the top of the HWR, and 110lb puts me at the bottom at a weight I wasn't even at 15 years old...). I had 2 regains of 20-25lb *over* the most I'm comfortable with in the past 6 years. I always considered myself a failure at maintainance because of those, but I guess this article makes me feel better about myself now.
ReplyI really don't like the way these studies give such a bleak outlook on permanent weight loss. The National Weight Control Registry is made up of thousands of people who were successful, so there's no reason for anyone to believe that it's hopeless, which is essentially the conclusion of most all of these studies. I lost 70 pounds "left to my own devices" and haven't gained anything back. It wasn't that I had "no" support, but I didn't have a specific support system, other than myself. And personally, I think that if I had been relying on anyone else to get me there, it would have been tougher.
ReplyI think goal isn't to say it's hopeless, but rather to identify what it takes to make weight loss sustainable. i think mike od and nomorefatdad (great handle!) are right, but "realistic lifestyle change" is very hard to do.
This study certainly selected people who would be strongly motivated for lifestyle change:
(The study had to impute some data, which is troubling.They didn't give enough data to determine if this could have introduced any biases)
So, the result of this study is promising, if it doesn't provide the long desired magic bullet.
ReplyHowever, most of the people on the National Weight Control Registry admit that they have to make weight maintenance their job. They have to exercise far more than the average person (60-90 minutes a day), and eat far less (1200-1500 calories). Many of the weight maintainers I've talked to readily admit that they go hungry a lot of the time.
ReplyYes, that is true for a lot of members. But not for all, including myself. I workout 2 or 3 times a week (mostly lifting weights), average about 2000 calories a day, and I weigh around 120 lbs. Even when I wasn't exercising regularly I didn't have a problem maintaining--of course I also was not eating as much then, but still 1700-1800 calories a day. I think part of it was that when I started losing, my caloric intake was lowered so gradually that my metabolism never took a nosedive. And I lost it very very slowly (about 1 lb every 2 weeks). I know it isn't so easy for everyone--maybe I am lucky, I don't know--but it's certainly doable.
ReplyThanks ayse76... good to hear that it isn't hopeless. I'm losing slowly, but I'm hoping this time I can keep it off. I'm trying to be very careful not to nosedive calories too far.
ReplyI don't go hungry now or when I was losing weight. I am also not still on a strict diet (I watch portions, but I don't obsessively count calories anymore - and every week I eat something like chocolate mousse). I have stopped exercising in the past 45 days, too, due to going back to school.
And I've lost weight. I'm back to the low-end of my personal weight range now.
Both times when I regained, there were health issues involved (needed an increase of thyroid medication when the rest of my thyroid stopped working the first time, then changed brands of medication and that affected the dosage again). Otherwise my weight is pretty stable, I think. I also went 9 months without exercise due to an injury in 2006 and didn't gain weight (I lost a ton of muscle, of course).
So I don't know, if someone with 3 strikes against her like me (hypothyroidism, PCOS, and a family where almost everyone is obese) can maintain without a lot of stress, I don't think it is that hard. I don't deprive myself in terms of food and while I'm pretty active when I do exercise, I had the long total stop with no gain.
ReplyCheck out some of the posts about some of the "magic pill" diets - ie. go back to the Special K diet and you will find girls still posting about this over a year later because they want to lose a lot of weight in a short time for their prom or to become a model or some such thing. Some of them have decided to eat cereal three times a day, crap-filled cereal at that, and little else. They have no goal beyond this prom and are going to damage their health the way they are losing the weight and then with the way they will inevitably put it right back on. If you mentioned maintenance to them they would have no idea what you were talking about. They are all great at supporting each other in ridiculous goals like trying to lose 5 or 6 pounds a week, it's too bad they can't put their support to good use.
ReplyI really think that in order to be successful, long term, the focus should be on living a healthy, sustainable lifestyle with weight loss being one of the many benefits you receive from living that way.
ReplyI don't know that I make weight maintenance my "job", but it's just that it's now a part of my lifestyle where it wasn't a part of it before. So yeah, I DO work out and eat a decent diet and I try to stick with as much of my healthy eating plan as I can, but I don't have to be as strict as I did when I was actively losing weight. Now, I actually like working out, so of course I'm going to be doing it more than I did when I was heavy. And yes, I've lost ~90 lbs and kept it off for almost 7 years now.
ReplyNo more fad diets for me, it's on to try and live a healthier life. It's these late night binges that kills me, because I see myself eating my daughter's candy in the pantry some nights. Going to the gym at 6am isn't so hard anymore ever since I started about a month 1/2 ago, and I try to keep it at 5-6 small meals (chicken, salad, fruits, veggies, protein shakes, etc.) a day which I must say is pretty healthy compared to what I used to eat. Thats why when my buddy who drives an 18 wheeler cross country calls me every now and then, it makes me stay motivated and 'keep on keepin on'...
ReplyHey! Settle in, enjoy the ride, don't sweat the rough spots, and keep your lunchclaws off your daughter's candy...
ReplyWe can`t just lose the weight we have to figure out why we eat and what we eat that makes us gain and then it must be addressed or we are all doomed to regain.
ReplyActually Zach, some schools of psychotherapy believe the same thing. The problem can be however, that one will remain in therapy forever with the illusion that they are doing something for themselves. Change is everything and sometimes a leap of faith is required. I say, lose the weight and perhaps by doing so you will understand things you didn't before making the change. Or if you prefer, do both at the same time. Just my opinion in a challenging area.
Replyhi
Replyim 13 year old and i am FAT. im getting bullied because of it,i even tryed to kill myself but it didnt work, i dont want to feel like this anymore
all of my best mates are stick thin and im known as the fat one and im fed up.
everytime i try to go on a diet i just cant either because my mum always buy's fatty foods from tesco and ill just eat what ever is in the cupboard i tell her to stop buying it or to hide it from me but she wont, i also eat when im bored its like a horrible horriblre hobby if you like have you got any adivce at all
i would be very happy if you could help me
thanks for everythink
Leanne x