Successful Losers
July 26th, 2005 by Georganna HancockNew research from the National Weight Control Registry — a database of 4,000 people who have shed an average of 73 pounds and kept it off for more than five years — is revealing the secrets of keeping the pounds at bay. One surprise was that scientists discovered that it gets easier over time!
“It’s a very positive message,” said Suzanne Phelan, assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University’s Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center in Providence, R.I., and a co-author of the study. People who maintain their new weight for two years “have a greater likelihood of keeping it off for two more years. Those who maintain it for five years have even greater odds of maintaining their weight loss. With time, the odds of regaining weight go down and down and down,” she said …
“We know that they are working very hard to keep off the weight,” Phelan said. “They’re exercising very hard. They eat fewer calories. They’re monitoring their weight. I think it may be kind of akin to brushing your teeth. Once you have the habit, you wouldn’t think of not doing it.” Successful losers, she said, “just do these things and have adopted them as part of their lifestyle. Maybe it doesn’t take as much conscious effort over time.”
The research is reported in The Washington Post,and the article contains a long list of tips and tricks the successful losers use to maintain their new weight levels.
Georganna Hancock wrote this on July 26th, 2005 and filed it under Dieting, Healthy Eating, Weight Loss |
