How refreshing to see an article about life after weight loss in the media!
From MSNBC.com: So, you've lost 100 pounds. Now what? I know that none of our maintainers will be surprised by the article's conclusions, but it's gratifying that the rest of the world is taking note that weight management doesn't end once the weight is lost:
Quote:
The worst mistake dieters who have lost a lot of weight make is to think that they're "done," and that they no longer have to choose their food wisely and responsibly. ... “People need to think of [obesity] as a chronic disease like hypertension and diabetes,” says obesity expert Dr. Lawrence Appel, professor of medicine at Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore. “It’s a lifelong issue.”
The article goes on to list three strategies that we often discuss here at Maintainers: setting a weight range, monitoring weight closely, and getting rid of fat clothes. Gee, I wonder when the "experts" will come and interview us? I think we could save them a lot of work and trouble in "discovering" what works for maintenance!
"In my practice, I have consulted with hundreds of men and women lost weight on various diets and then gained it back. It seemed like these dieters were willing to put up with almost any restriction, as long as they knew that, at some point, the punishing diet plan would be over. But to maintain your weight loss, you always have to pay attention to what you eat. Yes, always, no matter what you weigh."
It was very hard for me to make the transition from "short and unpleasant diet" to "forever and acceptable lifestyle change."
I sure wish I had figured it out 20 years ago.
And I think I have a new mantra!
WHAT I EAT IN PRIVATE, I WEAR IN PUBLIC
That is so cool - in one of the other threads, I talked about the big cookie temptation at work yesterday. I posted about it, my thought process, and how I "won." After I shut down the computer to leave, I had to walk past the cookies to get out and I actually thought "go ahead, no one will know" this little EVIL voice inside me, I immediately gave myself a mental *****slap - I WOULD KNOW! and managed to get past the cookies safely. The new mantra would have been handy.
Nice article!!! You sooooo rarely see anything written about about weight loss and "diets" dealing with maintenace, which if you think about it is so incredibly DUMB.
I especially like the part about thinking of obesity as a chronic disease. Yup, it's a LIFELONG issue all right. Controllable, of course, provided you keep on top of it.
Oh gosh, Glory, I'm taking it too! I'm working right now on this week's menu, and I need to put this at the top! Having been gone 3 weeks, it's hard to come back to reality, but if I don't want to gain, I must go back to being vigilent..... It really is forever.
I just wish there was more information out there for those who have lost a significant amount of weight.
More articles highlighting our struggles and issues we now deal with. I wish there was more information to be had on what this brave new world will be like in the long run for me and to read about more "success" stories and how other people have adapted to life after 100+ weight loss. Especially persons who lost that weight through diet and exercise alone and not wls (bc issues might be different depending).
More, more, more.
Article - So, you've lost 100 pounds. Now what?
