Secrets to Successful Weight Loss

Despite all of the research studies, diet books, and supplements available for weight loss, there still isn’t agreement on what truly works! While I don’t claim to have the answer either (and I wish I did), I look to the National Weight Control Registry for information from people who have been successful at losing weight and more importantly, keeping the weight off.

The National Weight Control Registry (NWCR) is a research study that collects information from people who have successfully lost at least 30 pounds and have kept it off for one year or more. The study now has more than 5,000 participants. The goal of the NWCR is to identify similarities among people who have been successful at losing and maintaining weight loss long-term. Who better to learn the secrets of weight loss from than the people who have done it firsthand?

Here’s what the NWCR has learned so far about the participants and their weight loss efforts:

• 98% report that they changed their food intake in some way to lose weight
• 94% increased their physical activity, with the most frequently reported form of activity being walking
• 90% exercise, on average, about 1 hour per day
• 78% eat breakfast every day
• 75% check their weight at least once a week
• 62% watch less than 10 hours of TV per week
• 45% lost the weight on their own and the other 55% lost weight with the help of some type of program

I see a common theme when looking at these statistics: diet and exercise work! The specifics on how people changed their diet and physical activity habits are not important because what works will be different for everyone. The key message is that it takes lifestyle changes-changes to your diet and exercise habits- to lose weight and keep it off.