Dropping kilos

Lose them for good

Losing unwanted weight – from counting kilojoules to moving muscles – is one tough battle. Should you relax once you hit your mark on the scales? Not exactly. The work it takes to keep kilos off is often short-changed by the focus that’s given to trimming down in the first place.

“Maintenance is even harder than losing weight,” says dietitian Molly Gee, who is a behavioural interventionist with the National Institutes of Health’s Action for Health in Diabetes (Look AHEAD) study at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas.

But Gee and other leading weight-control experts say there are proven strategies for success.

Why kilos return

Research shows extra kilos can set off a chain of events that lead to insulin resistance, prediabetes and type 2.

These metabolic changes can’t totally be reversed by weight loss, because the body’s preservation instinct kicks in and holds on to the extra kilos.

“The biologic systems that regulate weight are complex, and we’ve still got a lot to learn,” says Karen Miller-Kovach, dietitian and chief scientific officer with Weight Watchers International. On a positive note, she says, people who successfully lose and keep off weight report staying slim takes less effort over time.

Keeping it off is possible

Miller-Kovach dispels the notion that weight cycling (yo-yo dieting) wrecks a person’s metabolism. It’s not a good idea, however, from a psychological perspective. Repeated loss-and-gain cycles can undermine your self-efficacy – the belief you can control your weight.

And what about the idea that it’s harder for people with type 2 and/or insulin resistance to lose and keep off weight? Though this observation is made by clinicians, the Look AHEAD study in people with type 2 (for six years, on average) shows that with intensive lifestyle changes (consuming fewer kilojoules and fat grams and engaging in 175 minutes of physical activity each week), people with diabetes can take and keep off medically significant amounts of weight, says Miller-Kovach.

Food and physical activity

The National Weight Control Registry (nwcr.ws) was initiated 15 years ago by leading obesity researchers Rena Wing and James Hill. They have tracked information from more than 5000 people who have lost at least 13kg and kept it off for one year or longer. Their conclusions are to watch your kilojoules, trim fat grams and eat breakfast daily. When it comes to activity, do it regularly and a lot of it – 60-90 minutes a day – and minimise sedentary activities such as watching TV.

Best behaviours

Weight maintenance takes a concerted effort and the development of some new skills.

“Learning and honing the behaviours associated with long-term weight loss will help you eat and exercise healthfully for the rest of your life,” says Miller-Kovach.

Such behaviours include stress management, coping skills, flexible restraint (practising self-control around food), goal setting and self-monitoring (keeping food and activity journals). Other key behaviours include getting on the scales regularly and having a relapse prevention plan to put in place should the kilos creep up.

Planning for success

Gee acknowledges that when it comes to weight maintenance, life often gets in the way.

“The recipe for success also requires tenacity and flexibility to deal with the ups and downs of life,” she says. Here are some of Gee’s tips:

Identify your motivators.

Know why keeping the weight off is important to you – and more important than a bite of this or a taste of that.

Simplify your eating plan

and minimise your repertoire of food choices. Set your plan in motion and follow it.

Seek and find support.

Participate in a weight-control group, work with a counsellor or pair up with a friend.