7 Secrets to Lasting Weight Loss

Saturday, August 02, 2008

Tara Gidus, MS, RD, CSSD, LD/N

I was reading an article in one of my dietitian publications called Today's Dietitian called 7 Secrets of Successful Weight Loss. The magazine is written for nutrition professionals and has some great articles and gave me the idea for this post.

The National Weight Control Registry is a database of adults who successfully lost at least 30 pounds and maintained it for more than one year. I have reported before on research that has come from this group, and as time goes on they learn more.

Here are the 7 Secrets to Lasting Weight Loss:

1. Eat a low calorie, low fat diet. The successful losers consumed between 1,300 and 1,680 calories with 25% fat on average.
2. Eat at least 4-5 times per day and be consistent day to day. That means small meals and healthy snacks in between.
   
3. Eat breakfast!
4. Be physically active. The average person in the database exercises for 60-90 minutes per day at moderate intensity. They average 11,000-12,000 steps per day (or 6 miles).
5. Weigh yourself frequently. Weigh at least weekly and even daily.
6. Do not watch more than 10 hours of television per week. This is also true for other forms of sedentary activity (video games, computer, etc.)
   
7. Do not allow even a small amount of weight gain to occur without taking action to correct it.

Photo courtesy of bmimedical

Labels: maintaining weight loss, Tara Gidus, weight management

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