Discouraged by weight loss study

I've heard of many studies that show that very few people maintain their weight loss long term. If I remember right, the idea is that in almost all cases people just find it too hard to keep up the dieting and exercising long term. But don't let this discourage you. It's far better to try and fail than to never try. Even a small increase in fitness will have significant health benefits, even if you don't ever quite get the washboard stomach back.

This one? http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3164042/Majority-people-pile-pounds-never-lose-them.html

OK, as a medical provider (PA), and one who used to work specifically in preventative medicine and wellness, it's a terrible article as those numbers (only one in 210 obese men and one in 124 obese women achieving successful weight loss) only counted people as successful in the first place if they achieved a BMI under 25 and maintained it there permanently.

First thing to note is that while BMI is a useful and very accurate tool for measuring the health risks of populations, it is not necessarily applicable to individuals, you need to figure out what is an appropriate weight for you based on your individual body composition and it may be either lower or higher than the recommended limits.

Also health risk rates are not a straight line, at 25.1 you don't magically become super prone to weight related morbidity and mortality, the increased risks tend to be negligible (again as measured across populations) until you reach 30, where they start to increase much more rapidly, the reason this is the cut off for obesity as opposed to simple overweight. So reducing your BMI from say a 34 to a 29, and maintaining that weight loss is very successful dieting from a healthcare point of view, but would not have been counted at all under this headline.

You would also be considered "unsuccessful", if you had a 50 pound weight loss that got you down to say, a 24.9 (meeting their definition for success) but gained back 5 of it and went to maintaining, say, a 25.5 (their definition for "putting it back on", while sane folks (and your PCP) would likely consider this a major success.

Yes, folks who lose weight often regain it, lifestyle changes can be difficult to maintain, particularly for those of us who are emotional eaters. So what? Do we tell smokers to keep smoking because they will probably have to quit multiple times before it sticks permanently? If you fall down, get up and try again,

I lost 50 pounds, maintained that weight within a 4 pound range for 5 years (though my BMI fluctuated between just under 25 and 25 and a bit then, so it probably doesn't count, sigh) and then regained about 80% of it since 2010, half of that in the last year. I'm still better off than I was (and in much better health regardless of the weight because the exercise habits stuck even when the eating ones didn't) and now I'm on my way back in the right direction because I know I feel better when I eat right and am carrying less weight around. So on the whole I have benefited even if I didn't meet their ridiculous standard.

Weight losses of only 10% of body weight are frequently adequate to make a significant difference in underlying health issues (particularly Type II DM), so don't give up based on a questionable study conflated with really bad reporting.

Its not impossible but its true that most people who try to lose weight, give up. The above people talking about lifestyle, i think are referring to exercise. I maintain you have to change your diet. For me this is the key. Much more so than exercise. Of course if you want to be very thin, then exercise is probably essential but I am not being very thin is sustainable for most people.

Since i lost the weight i wanted to lose last year, i have regained - but only a little and I lose it again. I am down from 80kg to inside my healthy weight range. My goal was 60kg and I am currently under 66kg (my healthgy weight range is 55-68kg). I have been less than 1kg away from my goal a couple of times this time. In the past i have been down to 55kg and I cannot sustain that without lots of exercise.

What i have changed permanently is the way i eat sugar and therefore the way i eat vegetables. I eat hardly any sugar now and i eat a lot of vegies all the time.

Many people who go on a diet are unwilling to change the way they eat and adopt healthy eating patterns permanently. I know it takes some time to accept that permanent changes have to be made but most of the people who fail have not arrived at the notion of giving up the foods that make them fat.

The people above probably believe that you have to take up exercise permanently. I am unable to do that. Every time i take up exercise, i stop. So many times i've taken up intensive exercise in the past and for this or that reason, there comes a point when i stop and the weight comes back. So since i started this last weightloss stint, in January 2014, i have made it on the basis of no particular exercise program. I just have to lose weight with my diet. At the moment I am doing a little exericse. About 3km mostly walking, but not every day. The rest of the time i am not particularly active. I know i should be a bit more active than i am but i'm not. When i do more intensive exercise these days, its just for fun. I like to things doable.

The bottom line is if you are willing and able to make permanent changes you will not be able to sustain your weightloss. I can tell you though, there's quite a bit to working out what works for you and i suspect many people need to go through the cycle a few times before working it out.

There are many pitfalls and obstacles along the way. You have to work out how to deal with those. You have to eat to a sustainable plan - ie not eating 1200 calories a day because that will make you hungry which will make you over eat and then you will feel guilty and then you will quit. …. This is the usual pattern with most people.

My way is to not cut calories severely. Enjoy being on a diet. Enjoy your food but make it healthy. Monitor everything and don't think you can forget about it once you reach your goal. The moment you take your foot off hte pedal, is when the weight starts to come back on. That's not a big problem if you call a halt before it gets out of hand but if you've given up and can't find the wherewithall to start again, you're in trouble.

So you have to start with the right attitude and never forget it. Get a big picture in your mind and commit. But be realistic. You, like the rest of us, are not going to be able to do this perfectly. So you need to find a balance between forgiving yourself when you screw up and being strict enough with yourself so that you can keep to the program. I make rules for myself and I stick to them. I have had to tweak the rules a little as I go along as I find out some rules are too lenient and others are too strict.

The right attitude to diet is its not a diet its a change for life. Most weight loss is done through food management. Once you stop the diet you stop the food management. Exercise is a change that helps burn up the food intake but ultimately its the quantity and quality of food you eat that will keep your weight off. The more processed easy to digest food you eat the more you will weigh. If you return to eating this way your weight will slowly creep back up. That is all the report is saying. Change is for life not just for now.

A study telling me I can't do something only makes me more determined to prove that study wrong !

oocdc2 wrote: »

Strange-there's a ton of people on these forums that seem to do it...

These forums are also filled with people that have lost a significant amount of weight...and they are back to lose that same weight again.

During my time here...many people have started...they disappear. Look how many threads are started with the following words in the title...I'm Back...HELP...I need motivation...tell me what to do...I am discouraged...etc...etc.

Yes...there are successful people here. I am not sure they are the majority of people that join MFP however. Most of those successful people IMO will tell you that their weight management phase is on going. It is a balancing act between CICO. They no longer eat at a deficit...IMO...at this stage that was the easy part. Keeping it all in balance takes just as much if not more work than losing it did.

Is there a ton of successful people on MFP...I think that estimation is a little high...but yes...thankfully for the rest of us trying to become successful there are some.

The reason why they fail: they used a diet program to lose weight. They didn't ADAPT to a HABITUAL change of reduced calorie intake over a LIFETIME. Math still applies. CICO is still the reason for weight gain/loss/maintenance and most people who go on a crash or fad diet AREN'T willing to quit their desired eating lifestyle before the program. Same thing happens at bootcamps for the US services year in and out.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I saw a ton of stuff like this when I quit smoking. I just went back to the forum I used successfully six years ago to quit to let folks know if I can quit, they can too.

bsctov wrote: »

I just read the scientific study (reported by most major news outlets) that says it's next to impossible for people who are overweight to maintain their weight loss long term, this has really dashed my hopes of looking good again..

They're misreporting the results. 65% of people regained. 35% didn't. The ones who didn't exercise a lot and continue to carefully monitor their food.

I'm in that study. Getting into that study was motivational to me because you had to lose more than 30 pounds and get it off before you could enroll. Staying in it and being in that 35% is important to me.

I've kept that weight off 3 years.

People who regained their weight within 4 years went back to their old habits. Almost anyone can lose weight. It's harder to keep it off.