Make it a team effort
“Friends keep me motivated.”
Diana Krecsy, 44, Calgary
Lost 45 pounds
One year and counting
Charlotte Comrie, 55, Charlottetown
Lost 23 pounds
One year and counting
The two provincial heads of a major charity, co-workers and friends, were surprised at a national meeting last year to discover each other had lost significant amounts of weight. Krecsy found herself doubly inspired to keep up her own slim-down journey. “Seeing Charlotte keeps me motivated. She looks happier,” says Krecsy. The two occasionally check in on each other’s weight maintenance progress by email. And the quarterly face-to-face meetings provide just enough friendly competition to keep them both where they want to be. Says Comrie: “Certainly, from my perspective, I don’t want to gain anything before the meeting. And it’s a little incentive for me thinking Diana will be there.”
Why it works “I tell my clients not to be complacent with success,” says Ramona Josephson, a Vancouver dietitian. Often, after people shed the pounds, they lose the motivation and that’s precisely when they need to seek out support, she says, whether it’s through one-on-one coaching, online programs or friends. “A buddy is a built-in support system,” she says. “A buddy can encourage you when you feel down; help you to stay on track when life gets in the way; motivate you to succeed when you feel overwhelmed.” No weight maintenance buddy? A 2008 study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine showed that Internet-based weight-loss and maintenance programs are helpful for not only shedding pounds, but also preventing weight gain. Go to ediet.com or sparkpeople.com.
“I don’t deny myself anything.”
Lynn Gillman, 50, Ottawa
Lost 65 pounds
One year and counting
Gillman recently shed 65 of the 80 pounds she put on over the past decade. And what helps the busy account manager at a high-tech company keep the weight off is granting herself certain “allowances,” such as dinners out on the town. “This is the first time in my life I’ve been able to lose weight and keep it off, and I’ve been on diets since my twenties,” says Gillman. “I didn’t feel it was hard this time because I don’t deny myself anything. I’ve done Atkins. I did Suzanne Somers. I know that as soon as I deprive myself, I go crazy and all I do is focus on food.”
Why it works “Having an unrealistic approach to weight loss is not going to help in the long run,” says Freedhoff. “The best goal you can have is to reach your best weight, which is whatever weight you reach living a healthy life you can enjoy.” For example, one of the biggest reasons why we give in to temptation or cravings, he explains, is poor hunger management. “It’s not a willpower thing, it’s a hunger thing. Hunger will beat everybody up.”
Gillman’s liberated perspective on weight maintenance doesn’t require her to make an unlikely sacrifice and give up a favourite way to socialize with friends, either. She simply chooses restaurants that offer healthier or flexible menu items, asks questions about how the food is prepared before she orders, and eats only half of what’s on her plate.
