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Long-term success rates by approach or type of diet?
Replies
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gwynethsomeday wrote: »Stanford study - low carb (atkins) came out on top both for amount of weight initially lost and amount kept off long term.
No link handy but google is your friend
You mean this one?: http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=205916
I haven't seen anything more than a year, which isn't meaningful, and it doesn't correct for protein or include the non "specific diet" approaches. Also, even the best results (with Adkins in the study) aren't good at all -- 2-5% or about 8 lbs for overweight and obese women over a full year. Given that I did much better with MFP (not low carb), I am hardly going to conclude from this that low carb is some better way.
But I'm sure you didn't mean to suggest that or be misleading! ;-)4 -
It's not the diet or the approach. It's the person and how they are willing to adhere to a change in habitual behavior. Regardless of how they do it the key factor is usually going to come down to if that person can adhere to a new habitual behavior. If not, then failure is likely. If so, then success is more imminent. Problem is, it may take 2-5 attempts to figure out which behavior they can adhere to.
For me and what I try for my clients is the moderation approach. Based on my clients success/failure rates, this approach seems to have the most consistent results of success. But I'm willing to help any client even if it's a different approach (Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, etc.)
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I don't consider anyone that loses weight & then gains it back, plus more; a failure because what if they didn't lose anything, at all & just continued to gain? I figure overall I've possibly lost 100 pounds, even though I've never been more than 1 pound away from obesity; at a time! If I never lost those 100 pounds; I'd be morbidly obese currently. True failure isn't failing to succeed, it's failing to try! Also because of my disability, lifestyle change has been impossible; long term. I go through periods of remission, where my health improves enough to focus on my health; beyond day to day survival but when I am bedridden and/or can't concentrate, weight loss/maintenance; isn't a priority & no my CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) wasn't caused by my weight gain, my CFS caused the weight gain. So even if I lose all of the weight, that I gained; I'd still have CFS. So I just do what I am able to do, when it's possible to do it & have been successful enough, to just remain within; my overweight range.2
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Where people fail is they view loosing weight as a temporary thing and go right back to treating their bodies like dumpsters and pick back up old habits once they loose some.
Those who treat it as a permanent lifestyle change, keep it off.
Certainly this happens a lot, but it is not always the case. I see people on this site talking of their success and how they've kept the weight off for a year or a few years as if they've learned some great secret. And perhaps they have. But having done that many times myself I know they may not be as safe from regain as they imagine. The statistics on high rate of weight regain are usually based on 10 years. So unless you've lost and kept it off for > 10 years you might just be in that statistic yet.
The problem with a permanent lifestyle change is that no matter how intent you are on making it permanent, life changes. Marriage, kids, death, illness, injury, relocation, etc. It's just as often some change in lifestyle outside of weight control that causes weight gain.3 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Where people fail is they view loosing weight as a temporary thing and go right back to treating their bodies like dumpsters and pick back up old habits once they loose some.
Those who treat it as a permanent lifestyle change, keep it off.
Certainly this happens a lot, but it is not always the case. I see people on this site talking of their success and how they've kept the weight off for a year or a few years as if they've learned some great secret. And perhaps they have. But having done that many times myself I know they may not be as safe from regain as they imagine. The statistics on high rate of weight regain are usually based on 10 years. So unless you've lost and kept it off for > 10 years you might just be in that statistic yet.
The problem with a permanent lifestyle change is that no matter how intent you are on making it permanent, life changes. Marriage, kids, death, illness, injury, relocation, etc. It's just as often some change in lifestyle outside of weight control that causes weight gain.
Yeah, this was my experience. I lost, kept it off about 5 years, regained. I think I learned some stuff in the process and don't think it makes the prior weight loss a failure (or that I did it wrong), but it does make me conscious that stuff happens and I can think I won't let something happen again and yet do it -- I'm focused on how to make sure I catch some of the issues sooner this time, but I am aware that things change.
I do think learning that I could lose weight and how to do it before made it easier this time. (In my head I knew how it worked, but not having ever lost weight before -- I never dieted while growing up -- it was easy to think that I ate without thinking about it and was normal weight and then stopped being that way do to something outside my control until I made myself think it through and did what I needed to do to lose.)0 -
gwynethsomeday wrote: »Stanford study - low carb (atkins) came out on top both for amount of weight initially lost and amount kept off long term.
No link handy but google is your friend
There's actually a SNP that determines whether an individual will lose weight faster on a low-carb vs. low-fat diet, and the magnitude is quite significant. So you can't just make a blanket statement regarding which is superior, as genetics play a major role.
To speculate, I would expect that there would be an edge for low carb for obese people since their insulin and leptin sensitivity is completely screwed, but as soon as they have restored normal hormone responsiveness that would go away. On the other hand, people in very good shape would likely have an edge towards low-fat as they are already more efficient at utilizing carb substrates. Both of those seem to be born out anecdotally in my experience.1 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Where people fail is they view loosing weight as a temporary thing and go right back to treating their bodies like dumpsters and pick back up old habits once they loose some.
Those who treat it as a permanent lifestyle change, keep it off.
Certainly this happens a lot, but it is not always the case. I see people on this site talking of their success and how they've kept the weight off for a year or a few years as if they've learned some great secret. And perhaps they have. But having done that many times myself I know they may not be as safe from regain as they imagine. The statistics on high rate of weight regain are usually based on 10 years. So unless you've lost and kept it off for > 10 years you might just be in that statistic yet.
The problem with a permanent lifestyle change is that no matter how intent you are on making it permanent, life changes. Marriage, kids, death, illness, injury, relocation, etc. It's just as often some change in lifestyle outside of weight control that causes weight gain.
I am always saying I regret waiting until my 50's to get my a** moving...but maybe now I am glad so I dont have to worry about regaining it since I will probably reach my pull by date (croak) before the blub comes back. Just kidding of course but seriously....I am already worried about the regaining possibilties and trying to research maintenance techniques. It is, as near as I can tell, a real phenom. and to that I say: boo.0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »gwynethsomeday wrote: »Stanford study - low carb (atkins) came out on top both for amount of weight initially lost and amount kept off long term.
No link handy but google is your friend
You mean this one?: http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=205916
I haven't seen anything more than a year, which isn't meaningful, and it doesn't correct for protein or include the non "specific diet" approaches. Also, even the best results (with Adkins in the study) aren't good at all -- 2-5% or about 8 lbs for overweight and obese women over a full year. Given that I did much better with MFP (not low carb), I am hardly going to conclude from this that low carb is some better way.
But I'm sure you didn't mean to suggest that or be misleading! ;-)
Here's the lecture with the study results:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eREuZEdMAVo
Pretty good lecture. Likewise a good study in that participants were simply given a certain diet book - really just the same diet books that anyone else would read and then left to do their own thing and just check in.
Readers Digest Version: Participants (like the rest of us) stayed true to these diets for a while before either totally abandoning them or putting their own spin on them. None were an astounding success, but where there were successes, Atkins took the lead.
Worth a watch.
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So the one I linked and commented on?0
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