“The interesting and uplifting
news in this study is that if you
are able to maintain your weight
loss for a longer period of time, it
seems as if you have passed the
critical point,” says the study’s
author, Associate Professor
Signe Sorensen Torekov.
“After this point, it will actually
become easier for you to
maintain your weight loss than it
was immediately after the initial
weight loss. Thus, the body is no
longer fighting against you, but
with you, which is good news for
anyone trying to lose weight.”W
eight loss is just the start of the journey – it’s keeping the kilos off
that’s the real challenge.
Having reached your Goal weight, it’s true you’ll need to sustain your
new lifestyle habits to maintain it. But if you’ve hit Goal, you’ve shown
you can successfully lose weight – you’re eating better, moving more and
maintaining your goals. So don’t be put off by media reports suggesting
all your efforts are for nothing and the lost kilos will creep back to you.
There’s plenty of science that shows you can lose weight and keep
it off – including a 2008 US study of over 900 Weight Watchers
lifetime members. The study showed that 94 per cent remained
below their initial weight at one year, 90 per cent at two years and
75 per cent were below their start weight at five years.
A decades-long project, the US National Weight Control Registry,
tracked more than 10,000 people who have kept weight off for more
than 10 years. Researchers have combed through the habits of the
registry members to reveal the key behaviours behind their success.
Using that data, a 10-year study of 2886 of the registry members,
published in 2014, shows that more than 87 per cent were still
maintaining at least a 10 per cent weight loss at years five and 10.
Here are the five habits of effective long-term weight losers.EAT HEALTHILY
It sounds obvious, but continuing to keep watch on the kilojoule
and fat content of their diet is a consistent behaviour among registry
participants. Researchers say they continue to eat a low-kilojoule,
low-fat diet to maintain weight loss.
And the good news from a recent Danish study is that once you’ve
followed a healthy diet and watched your food intake to lose weight,
it may get easier after a year – so hang in there! The findings suggest
that if you can maintain your Goal weight for 12 months, your
hunger and appetite hormones return to levels that will help you
maintain your new lower weight.
In the study, researchers measured the hormone levels of 20
obese people, including the hunger hormone grehlin. They were
all on a low-kilojoule diet for two months, losing an average of
13 per cent of their body weight.“
It will
actually
become
easier for
you to
maintain
your weight
loss.
24 weightwatchers.com/nz