Wednesday, October 31, 2012

The best way to lose weight and keep it off? Delay your diet for two months while you PRACTICE it first

The approach may crack the problem of yo-yo dieting where women meet their target - but regain lost weight within weeks
The approach may crack the problem of yo-yo dieting where women meet their target - but regain lost weight within weeks
They say practice makes perfect – and it seems that applies to dieting and staying trim.
Women who did a practice run before they started losing weight were better at keeping the pounds off, a study has suggested.
The approach may solve the problem of ‘yo-yo dieting’, in which  slimmers regain lost pounds.
Researchers believe the secret of  avoiding weight gain is making small, quick adjustments to eating habits before beginning a diet.
The study looked at 267 overweight or obese women who either started a weight loss regime immediately or spent eight weeks learning ‘weight maintenance’ skills before starting.
They were also encouraged to weigh themselves daily to see how different eating patterns affected their weight.
After both groups completed their 20-week weight-loss period, which included exercise and eating  more fruit and vegetables, all  the women lost about 17 pounds on average.
However, a year later the diet-training participants had regained only three pounds on average, compared with a seven-pound regain for the group that started without training.
Michaela Kiernan of Stanford University School of Medicine, in California, said: ‘Those eight weeks were like a practice run.
‘We found that waiting those eight weeks didn’t make the women any less successful at losing weight.

‘But even better, women who practised first were more successful in maintaining that loss after a year.’
Miss Kiernan added: ‘Losing a significant amount of weight requires a lot of focused attention to what you’re doing, and most people can’t keep up that intensity long term.

‘This approach helps people learn how to make small, quick adjustments that can help them maintain their weight without a lot of effort.’
The research was published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.
The study comes at a time when figures suggest British women are the fattest in Europe, with around one in four obese - so fat it threatens their health - and almost half overweight.
Obesity increases the likelihood of a range of health problems including heart disease and diabetes, yet losing between five and 10 per cent of your body weight can decrease the risk factors.
But crash dieting often leads to yo-yo weight loss, with the lost weight being put back on again within a short period of time.
Experts claim this is worse for health than simply maintaining an ‘unhealthy’ weight.
Dr Kiernan and her team at the Stanford Prevention Research Center devised a new approach teaching women not just how to shed the pounds, but a different set of skills and behaviours for weight maintenance.
She said women need to pay ‘relaxed attention’ to their weight in ways that can be maintained over the long term.
She said ‘Losing a significant amount of weight requires a lot of focused attention to what you’re doing, and most people can’t keep up that intensity over the long term.
‘For weight maintenance, we wanted something that would make the day-to-day experience positive while not requiring overwhelming amounts of effort.’
The ‘stability skills’ included searching out low-fat or low-calorie foods that taste as good as high-fat/high-calorie options to avoid feelings of deprivation.
Women were taught that occasionally eating small amounts of favourite high-fat/high-calorie foods was acceptable.
They were also encouraged to weigh themselves daily to see how water retention and holiday binge-eating affected their weight.
Simple tips to stay slim
Simple tips to stay slim
For the study, published online in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 267 overweight/obese women were randomly assigned to start a weight loss regime immediately or spend an initial eight weeks learning weight maintenance skills.
The 20-week weight-loss programme encouraged greater intake of vegetables and fruit, increased physical activity and keeping daily food records.
Women in the control group were only given tuition in weight-maintenance skills after they lost weight.
By contrast, the women in the maintenance-first group spent the initial eight weeks learning stability skills.
The women were asked not to lose any weight during that time; if they did lose a few pounds, they were asked to gain them back to give them real-life experience of how their weight would fluctuate slightly.
After both groups completed their 28-week programs, the results showed all the women on average lost a similar amount of weight - about 17 pounds, or roughly nine per cent of their initial weight.
Once the weekly group sessions stopped, the women were on their own.
When they were weighed after a year, the maintenance-first women had regained only 3 pounds on average, compared to a 7-pound average gain for the control group. 
Altogether one-third of women in the maintenance-first group had the healthiest pattern of weight loss - losing at least 5 per cent of body weight without regaining more than five pounds in a year - compared with 18 per cent of the women in the control group.
Dr Kiernan said the maintenance-first approach, though sounding a bit unorthodox, could be a useful tool for those who are trying to slim down and be healthier.
In the future, she hopes to investigate whether people can maintain the weight loss for more than a year, and if men can also benefit.




1 comment:

  1. From my personal experience, I can say that hiring a personal trainer is the best method to lose weight fast and keep it off. Two years ago, I actually followed a personal training Oshawa program for my weight problem. I was very satisfied with the results and because of this reason I warmly recommend personal training!

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