Weight Reduction & Weight Management
Guidelines
Perspectives on How to Lose Weight
There are many different weight loss methods.
What helps you to lose weight may not be the best method for someone else.
To help you decide how to lose weight without regain, here is some information
from the National Weight Control Registry.
The National Weight Control Registry (NWCR)
is a database of people who have self-reported a weight loss of 30 pounds
or more and kept it off for at least a year. NWCR participants have chosen
to share information about their weight loss and weight maintenance efforts.
NWCR data is not a comparison study of populations that have successfully
and unsuccessfully lost weight and kept it off, rather a report of successful
attempts.
How People Managed to Lose Weight
Participants were asked questions about
how they achieved their weight loss:
- 89 percent changed their diets and increased
physical activity (10 percent used diet modification only and one percent
used activity only).
- 55 percent used a formal program (like
Weight Watchers) or professional assistance (dietitian, psychologist,
etc.).
- 87.6 percent limited some type or class
of food (especially high-fat and high-calorie foods).
- 44.2 percent limited the quantities
of food they ate.
- 43.7 percent counted calories.
- 92 percent exercised at home, 40.3 percent
exercised regularly with a friend, and 31.3 percent exercised regularly
with a group.
Walking was the most common activity reported.
- 77 percent said a medical or emotional
event triggered weight loss.
- 42.7 percent described losing weight
as hard, 31.4 percent as moderately hard, and 25.7 percent as easy.
- Two-thirds were overweight as children
(about 46 percent indicated that they became overweight at age 11 years
or younger and 25.3 percent at 12 to 18 years).
- 46 percent had one biological parent
who was overweight, and 26.8 percent indicated that both biological
parents overweight.
- 91 percent had tried to lose weight
before.
Comparing successful attempts to lose weight
with previous ones, NWCR researchers found that:
- 81.3 percent used more exercise to lose
weight.
- 63 percent used a stricter dietary approach.
- As a result of weight loss, 85 percent
reported improvements in physical health, quality of life, energy level,
physical mobility, general mood and self-confidence.
If you're looking for extra support to
lose weight, there are lots of dieting forums to choose from. One of the
better ones is run by the weight management expert Anne Collins. See Weight
Loss Forum
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