Lose weight for Life

by Pieta Cedaro APD - (Consult Dietician)

With Spring just around the corner many of my clients seem to want to know how to drop that bit of winter padding to fit back into the summer wardrobe and of course the dreaded bathing suit. So what is the trick to losing weight and indeed keeping it off for good? Firstly we are fast to forget that it took some time for the kilos to creep on so unfortunately we can't expect it to drop off overnight. So generally my advice sounds somewhat like a Pantene shampoo commercial-it won't happen overnight but it will happen!!! However for most of us the art of weight loss really lies in the ability to keep the weight off in the long term. Unfortunately the facts are that only one in five people manage to maintain significant weight loss in the long term. So what's the secret?

Recent research in the US followed 4000 people who on average lost 10 per cent of their body weight or more (~13 kilos) and were able to keep it off for at least a year. The aim- to discover what strategies were at the root of successful weight loss.

Not surprisingly, eating patterns were critical. Almost all the weight loss winners ate a fairly low-fat diet, and limited their overall intake to an average of around 7500 kilojoules (1800 calories) a day. Eliminating high-energy foods, watching portion sizes, and sticking to a similar eating pattern, regardless of weekends, social occasions or holidays were central strategies used. Approximately half the participants also counted kilojoules to make sure they didn't over-consume energy day to day.

Furthermore breakfast was almost always eaten and it wasn't a protein rich, low carb feast.Instead good old carb-rich breakfast cereals and fruit were the daily staples, once again supporting the persistent advice of us dietitians that fuelling the tank first thing helps reduce binge-eating episodes later in the day.

However dieting alone was not the only secret to success. In fact almost every participant exercised daily and on average sessions lasted for an hour. But it seems you needn't bust your gut (so to speak). A large number relied on nothing more sweat-raising than brisk walking- surprise, surprise.

And for all you gadget guys and girls out there, the research certainly supports the use of at least one piece of equipment to assist you trimming the kilos. Surprisingly it isn't expensive either.

It would seem that the pen is not only mightier than the sword when it comes to changing societies but also for helping individual's change health related behaviours too. Recording daily food and beverage intake and exercise patterns was a crucial step for most weight loss winners. Awareness it appears may just be the key. After all it's harder to ignore bad habits when you know they will be written there in black and white. In contrast the logging process can also reinforce good eating and exercise habits. In fact, the simple act of tracking what you do - even if it's just from time to time - is a proven method for helping achieve lasting behaviour change.

Furthermore almost all of the biggest 'losers' weighed themselves frequently- at least weekly-reporting that they benefited from early detection of any weight gains ensuring they could nip them in the bud.

As for sustaining weight loss research suggests that it's the first two years post-loss that seem to be the riskiest time for stacking the kilos back on. Sustain the loss for that period and the evidence is that you will dramatically increase your odds of keeping the weight off - for good.

So again the advice is the same-there is no magic bullet-just watch what goes in the jaw and be sure to put your foot to the floor!!!