Lessons from National Weight Control Registry

zen1910

Hello All!

I don't normally post on these Community sites, but I found this cool article from the National Weight Control Registry and it was extremely helpful to me, so I felt it was important to share it with others who are losing weight and never ever want to regain it.

The National Weight Control registry collected data from thousands of people who have successfully lost weight, they then present their findings on the common strategies and behaviors of these "successful losers" and "successful maintainers." Successful losers are people who have lost at least 10% of their body weight and successful maintainers are those who have kept it off for at least a year.

This article shares the lessons they learned by studying successful losers, they identified 4 common behavior traits among people who have (on average) kept weight off for 5.5 years. They include:

1) eating a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet;
2) eating breakfast almost every day;
3) frequent self-monitoring of weight; and
4) participation in a high level of physical activity.

If anyone wants to read the full article that includes all of the statistics and data, along with extra tips, you can visit this link to the NWCR site and they even include a free pdf download of the study. Here is the link: http://xnet.kp.org/permanentejournal/sum03/registry.html


This was really helpful for me to read, I hope it can help making sure we never ever regain the weight we worked so hard to lose!

pkw58

Thanks for posting!

kluvit

Very interesting reading about the patterns of others who are successful in their maintenance journey.

I lost almost 22% of my body weight and have maintained a little over a year, but I must be the exception:
1) eating a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet; (my fat intake averages 36% whereas their group was 23-24%)
2) eating breakfast almost every day; (I've eaten breakfast only 18 days in the last 6 weeks or 39% of the time)
3) frequent self-monitoring of weight; and (THIS, I DO!!! I weigh almost daily and a gain of 2-3 lbs that stays 3 days prompts action)
4) participation in a high level of physical activity. (on average I only burn about 1062 cal per week < 1/2 of their participant burn of 2,500)
If it were to become necessary, I would consider some changes to decrease the fat and increase the burn to continue to maintain, but my philosophy is "not to fix what isn't broken."

Happy Maintaining MFP Community!

potluck965

Well, things like high levels of physical activity simply aren't feasible for some of us with age related or health related problems. I don't believe that means we will be any less successful as long as we put in the other work involved.

In my mind, the most significant finding would be the frequent self monitoring of weight and I would add that food logging should go hand in hand with this.

Breakfast, yeah, if that's what it takes to put you on the right path for the day as far as avoiding cravings and binging and maintaining a good energy level. However, everyone is different and some people may not be able to eat first crack out of the box. Personally, my breakfast isn't usually until I have been up and around for a while.

I eat pretty decently, but somehow my fat intake always manages to be higher than recommended. I have still been able to lose the weight I needed to and maintain it for a couple of years so far.

Except for the monitoring process I believe you have to find your own path to balance calorie intake, calorie burn and happiness.

norrisski

I do all of it except I do low fat, low carbohydrate. Most of my carbs come from vegetables. I also try to stay away from lots of processed foods.

waldo56

I just need to send back the paperwork to join (lost 75 lbs ending a little more than a year ago)

But....

All of those things are true with me.

1) Low fat/high carb is better for exercise performance.
2) I eat something for breakfast every day, though I don't see this as being all that important, more of a coincidence.
3) I weigh myself every day and log it in a spreadsheet that calculates trends. I've done this since the very beginning of losing weight and is the one thing that absoltuely guarantees that I will not gain any of it back (not on purpose, bulking is different than gaining it back). Some people can't handle the scale when losing, but repairing that relationship is vital for maintaining.
4) I exercise every day for at least an hour, 7 days a week.

zen1910

Congrats Waldo!

It's good to keep in mind that the exercise they log can be anything that "made them sweat" or raised their heart rate. Additionally, the most common exercise used by participants was walking, which is friendly to people of all age groups.

Reading through some of their studies was really helpful to me, especially the ones discussing the habits of people who kept the weight off long term vs. those who gained the weight back. I'm terrified of eventually being fat again, but it's helpful to remember that maintaining the healthy habits used to lose weight is also what makes sure you keep it off. That doesn't make it easy though :P

Rayman79

Interesting as those facts may be, I don't think they gel with a lot of successful members here...

I have personally lost over 30% of my body weight and only fit into one of those categories (the last). I have also lost or maintained weight for over a year.

I rarely eat a regular breakfast, I don't weigh myself regularly (any more), and I eat relatively low carb.

Guess I must be a special snowflake

tjthegreatone

All fits me quite well except daily weighing (I found that too psychologically debilitating!)
I've been 'maintaining' with hiccups for two years now so I think they're probably right.

AleciaG724

Great info - thanks for sharing!

I have a fear of gaining back the weight too, since I've seen it happen with so many people I know. I am determined not to be one of the statistics. When I started on MFP I conceded that I will probably be doing this for the rest of my life at one level (losing) or another (maintaining). I weigh myself every day, and it doesn't discourage me when the numbers go up and down, it keeps me focused and motivated to keep working at it until I reach my goal weight!

Seesawboomerang

I lost 20%+ and have kept it off for 2+ years.

I eat/drink full fat PLUS lots of carbs.
I often skip breakfast.
I weigh weekly.
I exercise for about 30 mins 3 or 4 times weekly.

I neither fulfil all the criteria, nor go directly against it. I'm just one person like each of you, hehe.

mlogantra76

Some people can't handle the scale when losing, but repairing that relationship is vital for maintaining.

I totally agree. After losing 120 lbs 12 years ago and maintaining for 9-10 years, I allowed myself to regain an estimated 40-50 lbs. Last January when I said enough was enough, I refused to get on the scale. I just went by how my clothes fit. August 1st when I decided I was either at goal or very close, I stepped on the scale and I now weigh in every day. I record it and chart it on a line graph. It is super helpful in maintaining.

I eat low carb/high protein. I try to avoid processed foods most of the time. I eat plenty of veggies and fruit and lean protein with full fat cheese thrown into the mix.
I eat breakfast. I have eaten 6 egg whites with an ounce of cheese and a massive amount of veggies(summer squash or spinach) every day for years. It fills me up. I'm a bulk eater.
Exercise helped me lose and maintain both times when I lost. I stopped exercising due to bad knees and when they got better I didn't continue. Big mistake. Right now, I'm running and loving it.

takumaku

I became part of the registry after the encouragement from my doctor.

What has worked for me.

1) Eating a moderate carb, low-moderate fat, moderate protein lifestyle. It's not a diet, but a lifestyle! ^_^

2) Eating breakfast almost every day.

3) Once a week monitoring of my weight. Daily weight monitoring didn't take into account, to me, normal weight fluctuation.

4) Daily exercise. At a min., 30 minutes of daily walking.

5) Tracking what I eat.

6) Splurging once a week.

7) Dropping the all or nothing attitude. Recognizing, acknowledging, and accepting accountability for my actions and willing to try something new ("unorthodox") to me.

8) "Shopping the parameter" ... clean eating, i.e. not eating packaged food.