Yes, You Can Lose Weight AND Keep it Off

YES, YOU CAN LOSE WEIGHT AND KEEP IT OFF

Every year millions of people go on diets and if they stick with them actually lose weight. However, the great majority of those millions of dieters will regain every pound they lost—and then some! Which shouldn’t be surprising, because a diet is something folks go on to go off. They will restrict themselves of this or that food to lose the weight but they aren’t going to eat that way forever.

Obviously, if we want to lose pounds and then keep them off, we need to find a better way.

I’m not a dietician or a nutritionist. But I’ve done lots of research into nutrition in writing these Generation Fit posts over the past three years.   And I’m working towards a certification as a Fitness Nutrition Specialist from ACE (American Council on Exercise). Let me share a little of what I’ve learned.

Set-Point Weight

In March 2018 I wrote the post Set-Point Weight—Why Lost Pounds Keep Returning. Set-Point is a theory that the body maintains its weight with internal regulatory controls. Some folks have a high setting, which means they tend to have a naturally higher weight as a set-point, while others have a low set-point and a naturally lower body weight.

Evidence for this is realized when folks go on a diet that is popular at the time and voluntarily eat less food, most are able to lose some weight. But as attention to maintaining the lost weight decreases, body weight slowly increases to about the same point as before the diet. This depressing outcome can occur several times over the years as persons keep trying out the “newest” diets without otherwise significantly changing their lifestyle.

Your heredity and your environment determine your set-point. Over the years too much food and too little exercise will override your body’s tendency to stay at its set point and lead to a higher one. Gradual weight gain—over decades for us seniors—will trick our bodies into thinking our set-point should be higher and in fact your set-point does reset. Then, when you try to lose weight, your body fights to keep that higher weight making weight loss much more difficult. When you go below your body’s natural set point, both appetite and metabolism adjust to try to return you to your set point.

There have been a number of clinical studies that support losing no more than 10% of your body weight at a time—this being the amount of weight you can lose before your body begins to defend itself. After a period of time—6 months to a year—at maintaining your new set-point and new lower weight you can lose another 10% and again reset your set-point. And so forth until you get to your desired weight.

National Weight Control Registry (NWCR)

The NWCR is a research study that includes people (18 years or older) who have lost at least 30 pounds of weight and kept it off for at least one year. There are currently over 10,000 members enrolled in the study, making it perhaps the largest study of weight loss ever conducted. Members complete annual questionnaires about their current weight, diet and exercise habits, and behavioral strategies for weight loss maintenance.

Here are a few facts from the NWCR website:

• We have started to learn about how the weight loss was accomplished: 45% of registry participants lost the weight on their own and the other 55% lost weight with the help of some type of program.

• 98% of Registry participants report that they modified their food intake in some way to lose weight.

• 94% increased their physical activity, with the most frequently reported form of activity being walking.

• There is variety in how NWCR members keep the weight off. Most report continuing to maintain a low calorie, low fat diet and doing high levels of activity.

 

• • 78% eat breakfast every day.
  • 75% weigh themselves at least once a week.
  • 62% watch less than 10 hours of TV per week.
  • 90% exercise, on average, about 1 hour per day.

 

Weight Loss Involves Behavior Change

Transitioning to a healthier diet and permanently losing weight involves behavior change and is thus challenging. One way a person can meet the challenge is to first get into a regular exercise routine and only later begin working at gradually reaching a desired weight

Smart eating needs to become part of a new lifestyle, not a quick-fix diet. The value of regular physical activity is not so much that it burns calories as it helps achieve a long-term sense of well being. A person who exercises regularly comes to depend on the positive effects it produces. A typical person will begin to identify him or her self as a fit, athletic individual, someone capable of making positive choices. New habits begin to substitute for old ones, making it easier to maintain healthier eating.

So how should we go about losing the weight and keeping it off? I’ll offer myself as an example: Over the years I slowly gained weight until in 2000 (at the age of 56) I weighed 205 pounds. I knew I should lose some of this excess but really didn’t work at it and my weight stayed at that level for another year. That’s when I decided I wanted to participate in a sprint triathlon and I began to regularly run, bike and swim.

I also began eliminating junk food, eliminating soda, eating less processed food and looking at meal portions more carefully. I didn’t actually run the triathlon until 2005 but did lose more that 20 pounds with the regular exercise I was doing and my change in eating habits. And over another 6 years my weight fell to 160 pounds where it has stayed since.

My message: If I could do it, so can you! And my advice: First, begin getting fit. Get into a regular activity routine. It doesn’t need to be complicated—heck walking for half an hour every day might be enough for you. (Later on you might want to add in other activities for variety.)

Once you’ve gotten into the exercise routine for a while you’ll very likely begin paying more attention to your eating habits. For instance, you might start keeping lower calorie (and healthier) foods like fruits and vegetables in sight and handy. Along with this, you’ll need to keep high calorie, less nourishing foods out of sight. (For me this is cookies!)

So, you don’t actually need to “go on a diet.”  Instead, focus on healthier living that includes more physical activity and better nutrition and the pounds should come off on their own. This should especially work if you lose only the 10% at a time supported in set-point theory.  In the long run you could find that these lifestyle changes can make weight loss sustainable for the rest of your life!

NEWS   I’ve begun making a series of YouTube videos. My channel name is Generation Fit! Senior Fitness and I’ll be covering the same topics as this Generation Fit blog. My first attempt is titled Senior Fitness in Coronavirus Time which is pretty much a video version of my March 19^th blog post Exercising in the Time of Coronavirus.  My second segment is Overcome Your Stumbling Blocks to Getting Fit   Check it out!