Keeping the Weight Off

The National Weight Control Registry (NWCR) is the largest prospective investigation of long-term successful weight loss maintenance. Established in 1994, the NWCR tracks more than 5,000 individuals who have not only lost significant amounts of weight, but also kept it off for long periods of time. Here are the common-sense strategies they’ve used to maintain their weight losses:

Eat breakfast every day. Seventy-eight percent of NWCR members never skip the most important meal of the day.

Weight yourself at least once a week. Seventy-five percent of NWCR members engage in this healthy habit, which keeps them in tune with their progress.

Turn off the TV. Sixty-two percent of NWCR members watch less than 10 hours of TV per week.

Work out. Ninety percent of NWCR members exercise one hour per day on average.

Some other interesting findings:

• Forty-five percent of registry participants lost the weight on their own; the other 55 percent lost weight with the help of some type of program.
• Ninety-eight percent of registry participants modified their food intake in some way to shed pounds.
• Ninety-four percent of registry participants increased their physical activity. Their workout of choice? Walking.