results of 20year study reveal weight loss is unattainable

Why do so many people here automatically assume all the studies done around weight loss and maintenance are based off participants who lost weight with pills/fad diets/cleanses/etc?


I've never seen a single person here post anything to back this assumption up. So it really just sounds, at this point, like wishful thinking.

I was looking through pubmed for some citations to address that claim, and am not finding much to back it up. One study I found that looked at fast, moderate and slow losers one a 1200 calorie diet + behavioral therapy + extended care had pretty unimpressive maintained losses at 18 months (max was 5 lbs or so for the fast losers), and less (though not a statistically significant difference) for moderate and slow losers.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20443094

I would question the assumption that if only they looked at people who "made a lifestyle change" or counted calories we would see a higher success rate. The people in this study were prime candidates for "making a lifestyle change", given the behavioral component and extended care, and still could only maintain a 5 lb at most loss by 18 months.

What does research actually say?

There is a general perception that almost no one succeeds in long-term maintenance of weight loss. However, research has shown that ≈20% of overweight individuals are successful at long-term weight loss when defined as losing at least 10% of initial body weight and maintaining the loss for at least 1 y.

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/82/1/222S.long

The majority of weight lost by NWCR members is maintained over 10 years. Long-term weight-loss maintenance is possible and requires sustained behavior change.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24355667

What success factors matter?

Weight maintenance: self-regulatory factors underpinning success and failure.
McKee H1, Ntoumanis N, Smith B.
Author information

Abstract
OBJECTIVES:
To investigate the differences in the contributing factors involved in weight maintenance success and failure.
DESIGN:
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with both successful and unsuccessful weight maintainers. Eighteen participants were recruited (16 women), nine of who had lost 10% of their body weight and maintained this weight for a minimum of 12 months (Maintainers), and nine individuals who met the above criteria for weight loss but had subsequently regained their weight (Regainers). A thematic analysis was employed to compare the differences between the two groups.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS:
Two main themes highlighted the differences between the two groups, these were: goal regulation and self-control. Within these overarching themes, successful weight maintenance was related to the following subthemes: long-term, realistic goal setting, consistent use of routines and self-monitoring, avoiding deprivation and effective coping skills. Unsuccessful maintenance was related to short-term unrealistic goal setting, inconsistent routines and self-monitoring, experiencing deprivation and poor coping skills. These factors are explained in terms of the interrelationships that they have on one another and their subsequent impact on weight maintenance success or failure.

Yeah, weight loss is unattainable.. People like me who lose weight and keep it off clearly don't exist.

As have I (for 12+ years). We're the 5%.

Keeping it off is a challenge. You have to be ready to do almost exactly what you did to lose, and then be ready to tweak it as your metabolism and/or hormones change with age.

HOW i keep it off at 49 is different than HOW I kept it off at 39.

A few months ago there was a thread asking how many regained all their weight and were back. We need a "who's kept it off for 5+ years" thread, where folks can talk about how they've kept it off. Most folks are good at losing it. Folks should be sharing the secrets of keeping it off for years and years (not just months).

I should have remembered the link but there is a study that was just recently released stating that obesity is here to stay. a 20 year study proves that dieting at any level is not going to help you lose weight if you are overweight. The study goes on to state that only 5% of dieters are successful in losing weight and keeping it off.
The other 95% may lose the desired amount of weight but in every case they regain that weight and sometimes more over a period of 5-10 years.

I think you've misunderstood the study. That's true to the extent that people don't make permanent lifestyle transformations. Dieting doesn't work, this is true. Lifestyle changes do work!