FatLossFactor.com

Sorry, I am not registered for Nutrition Action on line, so I can't copy and paste the entire article. I have the newsletter in front of me so will just type up the highlights here.

Rena Wing is a professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University Medical School in Providence, RI. In 1994, she co-founded the National Weight Control Registry, which is the largest ongoing study of people who have lost weight and kept it off. She spoke with Nutrition Action's David Schardt by telephone.

(I am not typing up the entire article, and will just type up the highlights).

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The study includes 6,000 successful weight loss maintainers. The average have lost 70 lbs and kept the weight off 6 years, and are mostly white women.

Q:How did they lose it?

Usually through some combination of diet and exercise. Only about 10% used diet alone, and just 1% relied on exercise alone. Half got help with their weight loss efforts, such as joining Weight Watchers or working with a nutritionalist. That's what the women preferred. The men preferred doing it on their own.

Q:How do they keep the weight off?

They do seven things primarily. They eat a low-caloried diet, they eat a consistent diet from day to day, they eat breakfast, they're very physically active, they weigh themselves frequently, they watch only a limited amount of tv, and they don't let a small weight gain become any bigger.

Q:What's the advantage of eating the same way every day?

We thought participants would give themselves a break and eat differently on weekends or holidays, but they don't. They (successful maintainers) eat a smaller variety of foods than, say, other people who have recently lost weight. Reducing the number of foods they eat may simplify their diet and make it more boring, which helps them eat fewer calories.

Q:How physically active are they?

More than most other people. They work their way gradually up to about 60 minutes a day of moderate intensity physical activity. Walking is their number one exercise.

Q:What other exercises do they do?

About half of the participants combine walking with something that's more planned, like aerobic class, resistance training, biking, or swimming.

Q:Why do registry participants weigh themselves regularly?

Three quarters weigh themselves at least once a day or once a week. It's part of an ongoing vigilance that lets them keep conscious control over their weight.

Although about 2/3 keep their weight stable or even lose more, the other third do gain 5 or more pounds during any given year. Those who are successful at preventing this relapse take action immediately when their weight increases even a little bit, by modifying their diet or stepping up their physical activity.

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(That's it, now it's me)
There is more, but my eyes are getting blurry from trying to read the newsletter and type it, and the rest is not that helpful. Just info on the study, etc.

If anyone is interested, this comes from NutritionAction newsletter, which you can register for at NutritionAction.com. I think you can get an online version if you want. It is a great newsletter that comes once a month.

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Personally, I disagree about the boring part. I believe one can eat very interestingly and keep their weight off, but it just takes training ourselves to like and appreciate healthy food. I guess, compared to donuts and ding dongs, it is boring, but those foods can become repulsive after eating good for a while, and then not wanted anyway. That's my opinion. I think it comes down to wanting to be healthy vs just wanting to be thin. The mindset is definitely different.

I also wonder about the 1/2 of the people who don't weight train. I'll bet their calories have to remain very low and they have to struggle more than necessary. Just my thoughts.

I'm never bored with healthy foods, either.

You can eat well.

I said in another thread, which is often visited by half the cost of books or in the library and spend hours watching cooking healthy. (One day for me)

I love to cook and create their own recipes.

I've seen, "may" be bored if they do not have time in the kitchen.

I still feel that there is a solution, British Columbia was more than 35 books on their own food, what can be done in 20 minutes or less, when I was on the books for half price!