Discouraged by weight loss study
bsctov
Posts: 3 Member
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..
0
Replies
-
What study? I'm pretty sure it's because they fall back into their routine instead of changing their lifestyle.0
-
Not sure if I'm allowed to link it here, can be found by googling "impossible weight loss" and hitting news
0 -
Seriously its annoying if you wnat to raise a point and talk about an article then its considered polite and helpful if you link it so we know what you are talking about. Its not hard to just post a link. I did indeed google under your suggested words and all sorts of stuff came up .
If its impossible then how come there are so many impossible examples on these forums who have lost and maintaining. It just sounds like a limp excuse not get get down to it and put in the consistent effort to achieve the weight loss. You put weight on by eating more than you burn, its your choice about how much you choose to eat.
If you wnat to be dramatic that its dashed your hopes, then why even bother to start... meanwhile other people will get on with maintaining becayse they had more determination and didnt talk themselves into defeat before theyd even started.-7 -
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.0
-
The gist is that people (in general!) don't change. If you like chickfila for lunch every day, you will return to eating it after you are done with your active phase of dieting. There are more than enough stories around here of people who have lost weight and maintained that weight loss to show that it is not impossible.
Weight loss is not a success when you just lose pounds. It is a success when you learn to consistently make the changes you need to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Different people have differing needs and definitions of "healthy lifestyle", and that is okay. Most dieting programs focus more on losing and less on change. Once people lose weight, they ask, "Now what?" A comprehensive program, fostering the necessary change in an individual, will teach the answer so the question isn't even asked.0 -
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.0 -
You can give up or just stop listening to the subtle sirens of failure.
Up to you.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/EvgeniZyntx/view/subtle-sirens-of-failure-730440
0 -
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.0 -
I lost 110 pounds when I was 25 yrs old gained the weight back because I gradually stopped watching what I was eating, fooling myself into believing that I could eat how I wanted and eventually putting all of the weight back on. I kept it for awhile and then when I was 36 years old I decided to lose weight again, it took awhile but I lost 145 pounds in about two years, exercised, ate healthy everything right. I started gaining to weight back and right now I weigh 265. I was reluctant to lose weight yet again but I am going to because I am worth the effort. Now I realize that I can not eat everything I want because there are things that I can not control. I know plenty of people that eat right and exercise daily and that is how you maintain a healthy lifestyle. Pretty simple just hard to start the habit. Anyway I hope this helps you. Quitters never win and Winners never quit. Don't believe everything you read0
-
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.0
-
kahler2008 wrote: »What study? I'm pretty sure it's because they fall back into their routine instead of changing their lifestyle.
This. Change your lifestyle. Don't go back to old habits. You'll keep the weight off.0 -
A study telling me I can't do something only makes me more determined to prove that study wrong !
0 -
Strange-there's a ton of people on these forums that seem to do it...0
-
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.
0 -
These studies are often a blanket for some, providing warmth from the coldness of failure. Self doubt moves people to wrap themselves in the blanket before the journey even begins.
Cast the blanket aside and begin changing your life.
0 -
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
0 -
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..
Your attitude is exactly why most people aren't successful. You haven't even gotten where you want to be and you're already talking yourself into a failure that hasn't even had a chance to happen because you won't even let yourself be successful in the first place. And the results weren't that it was impossible, just that it's unlikely. And it is unlikely- look around we are getting bigger on average not smaller.
Don't be mad when you don't get the results from not doing the necessary work you aren't willing to perform. If you want to look better, stop moping about a generalized study and go work on yourself. Be the outlier if you want to be instead of just accepting that you'll never be able to do it because some study found the most people aren't. You do you though.
0 -
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.0
-
The Daily Mail? Hardly a good source for dieting articles (or for anything else, without double checking the facts).0
-
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.
0 -
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.
TRUTH.
0 -
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..
it's all in your hands. i've maintained for over two years no problem...because I changed the way I was living. people talk a good talk about "lifestyle" change, but rarely truly implement such a change and as soon as they're done "dieting" they just revert back to their old habits to include eating like *kitten*, eating too much, and not exercising.
you're in control...
this is why it's very important to adopt a diet (noun) that you can work with into perpetuity, not something you're just going to do to lose weight...it's also important to adopt a fitness regimen that you can carry on with into perpetuity..."binge" exercising for hours on end to lose weight is not the way to go...regular moderate exercise is...and finding exercise you enjoy is immensely important.0 -
redkitten25 wrote: »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.
Great post; thank you. It is ALWAYS valuable to at least try!!
0 -
Those studies just annoy me... I'm sick of people telling me I'll never make it. It's my life and my choices and I'll make it if I want to. I don't know what those studies are trying to prove anyway? Do they want to make people so hopeless that they'll just continue to over-consume food that they don't need?0
-
To me - impossible is just another excuse. Long-term weight loss requires long-term healthy habits.0
-
If your intention is to lose weight and stay at a healthy one, there's nothing to say you can't be that one person in 124 that loses the weight and keeps it off!0
-
if you believe you can do it then do it! ignore the study!0
-
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..
What? Why? You read a research study and give up ...has nobody ever told you you can't before, feck that ...do it anyway and prove them wrong
Although I will guarantee the study (please link it) is flawed and the tabloid coverage is ridiculous extrapolationThe 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
This is the reason anyone fails ^^^
Maintenance is something you work at too, until it becomes natural
0 -
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..
If you search "Impossible Weight Loss", of course you're gonna find articles that support that view. How about searching "Successful Weight Loss" & reading those articles? Unless you're looking for reasons to not undertake the journey there's no reason to buy into that. If you really DO believe that it's impossible, how about taking on the challenge of proving it wrong? I know I've maintained the weight I've lost because I've made permanent changes to my activity level & eating....
That said - weight loss has not been my priority, health & fitness has. That doesn't mean I'm not proud of the weight I've lost, because I am - but my overall health has gotten SO much better & that's what I got into this for. I could stand to lose another 30 or so lbs., if it happens that's great & if it doesn't that's fine too. I feel so much better than I have since I was a teenager, my cardio health is fantastic & all the #'s they check with bloodwork are right where they're supposed to be. At 51 years old, that's a relief & a good sign that I can live a long healthy life (as long as I stay out of the way of buses & trucks)....
If you're serious about what you want, stop with the defeatist mentality of searching out how hard it will be & start looking for the successes so that you can add your story to that list.......0 -
Be a statistic, or be your own person. Studies don't determine my success or failure--I do.0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.6K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.3K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 431 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.6K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.8K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions