Keep Weight Off

People who lose large amounts of weight and keep it off for a long time have four things in common.

The people in the study originally lost their weight, anywhere from 30 to more than 100 punds, using a variety of methods. The similarity and object of the study was in how they maintain it.

This research has been published in medical journals, most recently in the Annual Revie of Nutrition 2001. The authors were Hill and Wing from Brown University. They found that the people who were able to keep weight off the best had these habits in common:

··High-carbohydrat, low-fat diet:

This need not have been the diet they followed to lose the weight, but it is their long-term eating plan.

··Self-monitoring:

They weigh themselves and reord what they eat regularly. Important because it lets people catch weight changes early and act to correct them.

··Breakfast:

They eat breakfast, thereby spreading out their caloies over the day.

··Exercise:

They engage in a lot of activity. The average participant burns up 2,700 calories a week in physical activity, the equivalent of 1 hour of moderatelyintense activity every day.

The Bottom Line:

The researchers found the key to long-term weight loss is to set up rules for yourself about both eating and exercise, and to internalze those rules so they become second nature, like brushing your teeth every day.

Get it? They are saying weight loss and maintenance are processes that require a change in lifestyle to haveany long term benefit. Sound familiar? Health is a process...not an event!