One of the greatest challenges of losing weight is keeping it off, but some formerly overweight people do manage to stay slim for life. Now, research has shed some light on their secrets for success.
Perhaps not surprisingly, it has much to do with their beliefs and attitudes. The study published in the International Journal of Obesity found that those formerly obese people who succeeded in maintaining their weight loss tended to be older than less successful dieters; had weighed less to start with; had dieted for longer; and were originally motivated to lose weight for psychological reasons, such as improving their self-esteem and overcoming depression. People who kept the weight off were also less likely to attribute their obesity to medical factors.
These successful weight-loss maintainers reported that they ate healthy foods more often. But such strategies as avoiding certain foods, following a low-fat or high-fiber diet, exercising, and attending a self-help group seemed to make little difference in whether dieters lost weight or maintained the loss.
For the study, Jane Ogden, PhD, of Kings College in London, looked at three groups of people: 58 who had been obese for more than three years; 40 "weight-loss regainers" who had lost enough weight to be considered non-obese, but later regained it; and 44 who had lost weight and kept it off.
A successful weight loss program, she says, should emphasize on adopting behaviors such as healthy eating, and should encourage people to focus on the short-term psychological benefits of weight loss. "Such an approach would be considerably different [than] most current interventions, with their emphasis on health, symptom relief, and their use of group pressure to increase motivation," Ogden writes.
The study suggests that psychological factors play a strong role in maintaining weight loss. Yet "the search for a new wonder drug encourages a medical model. If such a drug is found to be successful, then all is well and good," Ogden says. "If it is not, then not only will many people’s hopes have been raised unnecessarily, but their beliefs may have been changed in a way that may actually be detrimental to their future attempts at weight loss."
About a third of Americans — approximately 58 million — are overweight, according to the most recent statistics.
Making a commitment to lifestyle changes and physical activity is the key for obese people who want to lose weight and keep it off, says Denise Bruner, MD, president of the American Society of Bariatric Physicians and a weight loss specialist in Arlington, Va. Bariatric medicine is the study of obesity.
"Regular physical activity needs to become a non-negotiable habit, like brushing your teeth," she tells WebMD.
And if family members are nurturing and supportive of weight loss efforts, a person has a better chance of losing weight permanently, she says.
"I think eating in ways that are inclusive of all food groups, and not setting up a deprivation cycle, where they engage in yo-yo dieting, starvation and binging, will help maintain weight loss," Bruner says.
