Maintaining Weight Loss: Keeping an Eye on the Pounds

Dropping the Weight Is Easier Than Keeping It Off
Daily Weigh-Ins, Face-to-Face Meetings Are Key to Keeping the Weight Off

Oct. 11, 2006 — People who lose weight can't just sit back and bask in the glory.

They need to check their weight on a daily basis to keep off the pounds, a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine shows.

The study found that a "self-regulatory" maintenance program in which patients weighed themselves daily and made appropriate adjustments to their diet and exercise helped keep off the extra pounds.

Patients who weighed themselves daily and attended face-to-face meetings with therapists and other program members regained an average of 5.5 pounds after 18 months, compared with 10.8 pounds regained by patients who weren't enrolled in a similar maintenance program.

The face-to-face meetings were found to be better than Internet messages and chat rooms in keeping off the weight.

Patients in maintenance programs who were followed through Internet contact regained an average of 10.3 pounds, not far from the 10.8 pounds regained by patients not in any maintenance program.

Checking daily weights may be the way to go in keeping off the extra pounds.

"It obligates the patient's continuing attention to the task. It enables patients to make multiple small adjustments rather than face large changes, which may be noted if they assess their status at less frequent intervals," said Dr. Arthur Frank, medical director of the George Washington University Weight Management Program.

"If you do this every day as part of your usual routine, you will notice any weight gain and be able to take early action, rather than getting a wake-up call after you've gained 5 [pounds] or 10 pounds," said Dr. George L. Blackburn, S. Daniel Abraham associate professor of nutrition and associate director of nutrition at Harvard Medical School.


For dieters, losing weight is only half the battle.

Once the weight is lost, they have to keep the pounds from reaccumulating.

Most dieters regain a third of the weight lost during the next year and are typically back to baseline in three years to five years.

"People always recognize that losing weight is a transient phenomenon," Frank said. "An effective maintenance program has to be sustained indefinitely."

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I would definitely agree that daily weighing is key to my maintenance, however I would disagree with the internet forum being less effective than face to face meetings for my own maintenance plan. I am very much an introvert, and I don't think I would find the motivation in a face to face meeting that I would need because I would be hesitant to speak up or fully participate. Here, it is easier for me to express myself, seek advice, and be open because I can take the time (all day if need be!) to really think about what I want to say, and phrase it correctly. I can also read and re-read any replies I get, process them, and make sure I am understanding them correctly before I respond, rather than feeling forced to respond immediately and without time to consider in a face to face setting. I am much less likely to speak out in a spontaneous way in a face to face group than I am to type out a well thought out post/answer on an internet forum.

Plus.... I have been a member of this forum for longer than I have ever been a member of any face to face group of any type. Of course, I think that has a lot to do with the company here

Interesting article Judy, thanks for posting it!
Robin

I agree with you Robin!! We are a group of very successful internet maintainers......I too, would not do well having to go to a face to face meeting each day...this is my meeting!!

I think that being on the Forum helps me because it keeps my WOL as a part of my daily routine. It's not a diet- it is my new WOL- and reading and posting here is one aspect of maintaining (!) that focus.