Diet, uninterrupted
Anybody can lose weight. What really matters in the battle of the bulge — okay, full-out war as our metabolism slows — is keeping the weight off. Time and again, evidence shows we’re not very good at it: According to the latest research, up to 66 per cent of us regain what we lose (and then some) within two to five years post-diet.
“Change is difficult,” says Yoni Freedhoff, medical director of the Bariatric Medical Institute, a weight management centre in Ottawa. “People have this nasty habit of thinking they need to lose weight one way and then keep it off another way. That method is really flawed.” In fact, most doctors advise slow weight loss (we’re talking over years) through healthy, portion-controlled eating and regular exercise. The longer it takes you to lose it, so the thinking goes, the longer those healthy habits have to become ingrained. It can take about 18 months for a new behaviour to really gel, adds Freedhoff. (See also: What's it's like to lose 150 pounds.)
Turns out we’ve got a lot more to go on than perseverance alone. We interviewed six women who have successfully lost weight and kept it off. Each one found her own winning strategy.
“I keep a food diary.”
Cynthia Field-Rose, 53, Ottawa
Lost 30 pounds
Three years and counting
Keeping tabs on caloric intake was crucial to Field-Rose. Before using this strategy, the speech pathologist hit her “goal weight” only once or twice during her thirties and forties. Even now she keeps a daily calorie log, which she believes has made all the difference in maintaining the loss. “At first, it was time-consuming,” says Field-Rose. But with the help of calorie counting books, she says it got easier. “Part of it is accountability. It’s so easy to deny how much you’re eating. It just helps keep things organized better for me.”
Why it works Freedhoff is a fan of self-monitoring activities. “Otherwise, it’s as though you’re shopping without looking at the price,” he says. “Sometimes you might guess right, but more often than not, you’ll end up spending more than you planned.” To determine how many calories you should consume, he suggests consulting a website such as fitday.com or dailyplate.com. And don’t get too caught up in the details: Just write down what you eat and roughly how many calories it contains.
When you’re maintaining, Freedhoff encourages daily weigh-ins to avoid surprising spikes (which can be demoralizing, and therefore harder to battle). Aim to maintain within two to three pounds. (The opposite is true if you are still in lose-weight as opposed to maintain-weight mode — dieters are more likely to stay motivated by losses that are more noticeable between once-a-week weigh-ins). Field-Rose says that daily weigh-ins help her track the natural fluctuations of her body so she’s not hitting the panic button over a few pounds, and, ultimately, eroding confidence.
Another tip? Make it a team effort...
