Have You Heard About the Successful Losers?
Have You Heard About the Successful Losers?
July 12, 2001 (New York) -- Most people know firsthand that losing weight is easy; it's keeping it off that's tricky. But don't be discouraged, it's doable, says James O. Hill, PhD, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver.
Most "successful losers" have several healthy habits in common, Hill says at an American Medical Association-sponsored conference held here on obesity. They eat a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet, eat breakfast every day, weigh themselves frequently or keep a food journal (as long as 20 years after the weight loss), and exercise for about an hour a day.
Through the National Weight Control Registry, Hill and colleagues have been tracking about 3,000 successful losers who have lost an average of 66 pounds and kept it off for 5.5 years.
Most experts consider losing just 10% of body weight and maintaining that loss for one year as successful, and using this gauge, about 20% of dieters succeed in this endeavor.
Three-quarters of registry members weigh themselves once a week, Hill says. "They use their weight as an early warning system that gives them an indicator that 'I am gaining weight, I'd better do something.'"
Some also like to keep food diaries, he says. "By focusing on what you eat, you can modify food intake," he says.
Successful losers tend to eat five small meals throughout the course of the day, he says, and they never skip breakfast. Less then 1% ate low-carbohydrate diets for maintenance, most ate low-fat, high-carb diets to maintain a weight loss regardless of what type of diet they consumed while losing the initial weight.
Registry participants tend to exercise for about an hour a day, burning about 2,700 calories per week. That's about 12,000 steps or five to six miles a day of walking, he says.
Many people who are successful at maintaining weight loss have actually tried -- and failed -- several times before. "They tried all the wrong ways until they figured out the right ways," Hill says.
Have You Heard About the Successful Losers?
Most "successful losers" have several healthy habits in common, Hill says at an American Medical Association-sponsored conference held here on obesity. They eat a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet, eat breakfast every day, weigh themselves frequently or keep a food journal (as long as 20 years after the weight loss), and exercise for about an hour a day.
Through the National Weight Control Registry, Hill and colleagues have been tracking about 3,000 successful losers who have lost an average of 66 pounds and kept it off for 5.5 years.
Most experts consider losing just 10% of body weight and maintaining that loss for one year as successful, and using this gauge, about 20% of dieters succeed in this endeavor.
Three-quarters of registry members weigh themselves once a week, Hill says. "They use their weight as an early warning system that gives them an indicator that 'I am gaining weight, I'd better do something.'"
Some also like to keep food diaries, he says. "By focusing on what you eat, you can modify food intake," he says.
Successful losers tend to eat five small meals throughout the course of the day, he says, and they never skip breakfast. Less then 1% ate low-carbohydrate diets for maintenance, most ate low-fat, high-carb diets to maintain a weight loss regardless of what type of diet they consumed while losing the initial weight.
Registry participants tend to exercise for about an hour a day, burning about 2,700 calories per week. That's about 12,000 steps or five to six miles a day of walking, he says.
Many people who are successful at maintaining weight loss have actually tried -- and failed -- several times before. "They tried all the wrong ways until they figured out the right ways," Hill says.
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