by Kate Hasich

You might wonder, once the weight is off, how do I maintain my hard earned achievement? The National Weight Control Registry (NWCR) is a website dedicated to answering this very question. They have a large registry of people who have lost a substantial amount of weight and kept it off for a long period of time. The average weight loss is 60 pounds, maintained for an average of 5 to 7 years. These registered people then participate in ongoing research, which surveys their habits, successes and difficulties. This helps us to get a better understanding of the most common factors in weight loss maintenance.

During this five part series we will talk about the five biggest conclusions of their research.

5 Proven Behaviors for Long Term Weight Management

1. Follow a low-fat diet
2. Record keep
3. Weigh yourself frequently
4. Eat breakfast daily
5. Exercise

It takes work to keep those hard-earned pounds off. Even though 42% of National Weight Control Registry members believe it is easier to maintain weight loss than lose weight, you still need to be careful of what you eat. It is important to continue eating a low-fat diet, even after the pounds are gone.

What do we mean by low-fat? About 25% of your calories should come from fat. An example of this is if you eat 2,500 calories per day then 625 of your calories should be from fat. This is equal to about 70g of fat per day (there are 9 calories per gram of fat). However, one thing to remember is the type of fat you eat will play a major role in your health. Most of your fats should be heart-healthy fats, such as olive oil, canola oil, salmon, flaxseeds, avocado and nuts. Continue to limit saturated fats, such as fatty meat cuts, dairy fat and tropical oils. You can tell if a fat is saturated or not by its state at room temperature. If a fat is solid (like lard) at room temperature, then it is a saturated fat. If it is a liquid (like olive oil) at room temperature, then it is a healthy fat.

Good fats are an essential part of any healthy diet, just be careful not to over do it, because they can easily lead to weight gain.

References

Gorman, Kim.  “Strategies to Consider in the Maintenance of Intentional Weight Loss.”  Weight Management Newsletter 5.4 (2008): 1-5

National Weight Control Registry: http://www.nwcr.ws/