(by Karen Inge, Accredited Practising Dietitian & member of Jenny Craig's Medical Advisory Board)
The US National Weight Control Registry (NWCR) was established in 1993 to examine the key factors for successful weight maintenance. The register looks at people who have lost a significant amount of weight (more than 14kg) and have kept it off for more than 5 years. What's really interesting is that if you can maintain your weight loss for at least 2 years the chances of long term success greatly increases.
Here are the top 5 contributing factors if you want to maintain your weight.
- Eat Breakfast.....78% of successful weight maintainers eat breakfast everyday. For many overweight people this is a big lifestyle change...breakfast skippers are much more likely to be overweight compared with breakfast eaters.
- Commit to a Healthy Diet....losing weight is one achievement, but keeping it off is an even greater achievement and relies on choosing healthy foods most of the time. It's also important to exert caution with portions and balance how much you eat with how active you are...even when on holidays and when eating away from home.
- Be Even More Physically Active...90% of weight maintainers exercise on average for about 1 hour per day. In fact 94% of people actually increased their physical activity levels either in terms of duration or intensity. The most popular form of exercise is walking. As well as increasing physical activity, the majority of weight maintainers watched less than 10 hours of TV a week.
- Self Monitoring is Vital....weighing regularly helps people maintain their weight loss by allowing them to 'catch' weight gains before they escalate. Seventy five percent of weight maintainers weigh themselves at least once a week. Keeping food diaries can help identify high risk eating and drinking times and having 'buddies' to exercise with increases accountability and long term success.
- Keep Managing Stress and Be Happy. People who keep their weight off have lower levels of depression and lower stress levels than those who regain weight. A good support network whether a friend, family member or trained professional can often help in dealing with stressful situations.
