Looks like low carbers are joining the National Weight Control Registry.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_relea...l-eho063006.php

Individuals maintaining weight loss report consuming more fat and less carbohydrates

Providence, RI –A recent study suggests that the fat intake of successful weight losers entering the National Weight Control Registry has increased over the past decade, while carbohydrate intake has declined. This is the finding of a research paper appearing in the April 2006 issue of Obesity Research by researchers at The Miriam Hospital and Brown Medical School, and University of Colorado.

The National Weight Control Registry is a national study tracking individuals who have lost at least 30 pounds and kept if off for at least one year. On average, the nearly 5,000 members in the Registry have far exceeded these requirements, losing over 70 pounds and keeping the weight off for nearly six years.

"Our findings suggest that to successfully maintain weight loss, dieters may be able to vary their diet over time," says Suzanne Phelan, PhD, lead author of the study, staff psychologist at The Miriam Hospital and assistant professor at Brown Medical School. "When the National Weight Control Registry was created 10 years ago, members reported consuming a low-calorie, very low-fat diet and engaging in high levels of physical activity to maintain weight loss - what we wanted to determine in this study is whether the eating and exercise habits of participants enrolling in the Registry had changed over the past decade."

Researchers studied the dieting behaviors of the more than 2700 individuals who enrolled in the National Weight Control Registry during the years 1995 to 2003. Evaluations of diet and physical activity were conducted as participants entered the Registry and were monitored over intermittent periods of one year.

"We found that participants who enrolled in the Registry in more recent years, reported consuming an increased number of calories from fat, and fewer carbohydrates compared to those who enrolled in 1995," says Phelan.

From 1995 to 2003 - the daily percentage of calories consumed from fat increased from 23.8 percent to 29.4 percent, while calories from carbohydrates decreased from 56 percent to 49.3 percent. In addition, saturated fat intake in Registry participants increased from 12.3 grams per day to 16.6 grams per day in later years.

"Despite the increase in fat intake, the consumption of fat that the participants reported in later years continued to remain within recommended levels and well below the national average," explains Phelan. "However, potentially more troubling is the increase in saturated fat intake – the type most closely linked to an increase in heart disease."

Low carbohydrate dieters, characterized by those who consume less than 90 grams of carbohydrates per day, remain a minority of the Registry's participants, but did increase from 5.9 percent to 17.1 percent from 1995 to 2003.

Phelan cites that the rise in popularity of the low carbohydrate diets might explain, in part, the shift in more recent years to participants consuming consistently lower amounts of carbohydrates.

Despite fluctuations in participant's fat and carbohydrate consumption over the years, physical activity levels remained high with participants averaging 60 minutes of moderate exercise per day. Moreover, the characteristics associated with continued weight loss maintenance one year later remained the same.

"In the sample as a whole – Registry members who maintained a low-calorie diet with moderate fat intake, limited their fast food consumption, and sustained high levels of physical activity, reported continued success in weight loss maintenance one year later," says co-author Rena Wing, PhD, co-founder of the National Weight Control Registry and director of the Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center at The Miriam Hospital and Brown Medical School.

The authors write that even though more than 75 percent of the National Weight Control Registry's members report consuming a diet that is at or below recommended levels of fat intake - these findings indicate that it may be possible to maintain a reduced body weight through various dietary approaches.

Tee hee! Of course.

So its possible to eat some fat and still lose weight? I never would have thunk it-- stay away from those steaks though, they have an unnaturally high level of saturated fat. Steak is a heart attack on a plate. Coffee and doughnuts are a fine treat, as long as you count calories and the coffee even helps prevent type II diabetes.

Hell, I could have told them that!!! All they had to do was ask.

I'm signing up as soon as it's been a year!

Great idea. The more LC people who check in with these folks, the better. I am only aware of this organization because of quotes in the media from the people who run it. They need to be made aware that successful weight loss can be achieved outside of the low-fat paradigm.

In 1996, I lost 50 lbs on a low-fat/low-cal routine, with regular exercise. Three years later, I signed up with the NWCR. The diaries I submitted on two consecutive years reflected my successful weight loss program at the time.

Then I started gaining. Damn that Weight Creep! A low-fat/low-cal diet is murder to sustain. Even with continued devotion to working out, I was really slipping in the dietary department. After regaining 15-20 lbs., I turned to Dr. Atkins. I wish he were still alive so I could thank him personally.

I've been low-carb for 3 1/2 years, at goal for a little over a year. I've written to the NWCR, which no longer sends me diaries, to enquire about changing my on-the-record dietary report to the one that really works!

Funding restrictions make this impractical--and perhaps that's a flaw in the study. However, the study is ongoing, and as this article points out, the new evidence seems to be favoring the success rate of lower-carb, higher fat programs.

In my experience, every diet works. But the only one that works forever is the one you can stay on. For me, that seems to be low-carb. But I'm not making any claims for another five years or so. I continue to experiment, modify, and practice. Weight management is a fact of life I'll never be able to NOT think about.

My best tool for this is keeping a diary--and forcing myself to be honest. Lying and Denial are the Weight Creep's henchmen. But low-carb offers me lifestyle choices that work, and the internet gives me both a convenent recording place (Fitday.com) and many support group opportunities.

In the beginning the weight control registry required a certification from a Dr. or nutritionist, that put you on the diet and that supervised it.
There were no doctors/nutritionists putting people on low-carb at that time.
Since they changed their policy and now accept before and after pictures as proof of weight loss the low carbers came out of the woodwork.
That's why the later joiners are eating higher fat and lower carb.

danny

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/med...hp?newsid=46441

Excellent! This touches on the one thing that bothers me the most about all of the nutritionists and doctors who indicate lower carb eating can not possibly be maintained. They think of it as an all-or-nothing proposition. Even some reduction of sugars and starches has beneficial effects!

Myself and another coworker have made very good progress on a low carb way of life. We don't actively promote it to coworkers but I have noticed a positive trend develop. To help accomodate us at meetings, snacks are more often fruit and cheese and donuts are less frequent. This includes full-staff meetings with 70 people in attendance. I know of several coworkers who have lost modest amounts of weight by making modest adjustments on their own. It is rewarding (but surprising) to see the butterfly effect in action.