Losing weight feels great! Just ask anyone who achieves a weight loss goal. For many folks, however, the weight comes back and then some.
The good news is that despite the talk of “yo-yo dieting,” it is possible to lose weight and keep most of it off, according to new research on 3,000 participants in the National Weight Control Registry.
Investigators evaluated questionnaires completed by people who had been in the registry, which tracks successful dieters, for at least 10 years. The dieters reported that they’d kept off an average 51 pounds of 69 pounds lost. The study, presented at a meeting of the Obesity Society, identified strategies shared by those who succeeded in maintaining weight loss, including:
* Eating breakfast regularly.
* Walking about an hour a day.
* Tracking food intake, calories and fat grams. Easy steps and free software to do this are provided in Y.E.S. – Your Eating Solution.
* Limiting eating out and food variety, with little splurging.
* Watching fewer than 10 hours a week of TV.
* Weighing yourself at least weekly, preferably with body fat scale.
* Averaging about 1,800 calories a day, less than 30% from fat.
