Secrets of Lasting Weight Loss
Millions of Americans, including thousands of local Orlando residents, struggling to lose the weight and keep it off every year. But the American College of Sports Medicine in ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal announced that the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR) has identified methods that thousands of individuals have used to successfully maintain weight loss.
“By studying people who have succeeded in losing weight and keeping it off, we have identified many commonalities behind successful weight loss,” said James O. Hill, Ph.D., co-founder of the NWCR.
The NWCR has more than 6,000 individuals who have lost weight and kept it off. How did they successfully lose the weight? Almost 89% of them combined diet and exercise to achieve weight loss. And the majority of them didn’t even pay a hefty gym fee to do so! 98% of participants exercised at home and 40% of those exercised with a friend. For the NWCR participants, the most popular form of exercise was walking.
So what type of commonalities has NWCR identified as the most common ways that people successfully maintained their weight loss?
According to Dr. Hill, the executive director of the Anschultz Health & Wellness Center, “ One of the most important predictors of continued weight maintenance is sustained high levels of physical activity. Successful weight loss maintenance depends on sustaining the healthy lifestyle behaviors for which NWCR members are most known.”
What Should You Do to Maintain Your Weight Loss:
- Be more active. 54% of the NWCR members expend more than 2,000 calories each week through activity. Equating to about 200 minutes per week of moderate-intensity exercise.
- Give your TV some rest. About 63% of NWCR members watch less than 10 hours of TV per week. And if you must continue with all your TV shows, don’t be a couch potato. Invest in an elliptical, treadmill or stationary bike to use while watching or, if those options aren’t affordable, you can still be active. Do squats, lunges, push-ups, crunches, jumping jacks, plank poses, and other types of movements.
- Stick to a low-calorie, low-fat diet. The average NWCR member consumes 1,380 calories per day. Remember what you learned while on the Calla Slimspa weight loss program. Stick to those guidelines and use The Zone Diet books as references for how to balance your food.
- Maintain a consistent diet. Resist the urge to “splurge” as much as possible. Just because it’s a stressful Friday and Jody your co-workers birthday doesn’t mean it’s a splurge day.
- Eat breakfast. 78% of NWCR members eat breakfast every day! This gets your body going and helps curb hunger and overeating later in the day.
- Show restraint. NWCR members exert great control over their eating habits and rarely overeat.
- Don’t lose track of your progress. Weight in on a regular basis and keep a food journal to know exactly how much you are eating every day.
Don’t let all your hard work go to waste. You worked hard to lose weight. It’s far easier to regain the weight than you may think. Practice these tips to successfully maintain your weight loss. The Calla Slimspa patients who have had the most success with maintaining their weight loss have faithfully adhered to Calla Slimspa’s weight loss maintenance program.
For ACSM’s recommendations on long-term weight loss, view the 2009 “Appropriate Physical Activity Intervention Strategies for Weight Loss and Prevention of Weight Regain for Adults” Position Stand.
Source for partial article content: Medical News Today