The big backslide -- regaining the weight that we all worked so hard to lose. It's what every one of us here dreads and I'm guessing that none of us feels safe from it. But when you go out looking for information, what do you find? Rack after rack of diet books along the lines of "Lose Weight In Three Minutes And Live Happily Ever After". So it's refreshing to come across a newspaper story about weight loss maintenance for a change! As we’ve discussed here, the media focuses almost exclusively on short-term weight loss and glosses over the long-term, day-to-day hard work of maintenance. So I was thrilled to read the latest column from Sally Squires, who writes a series for the Washington Post called the Lean Plate Club, entitled “The Big Backslide” — something that we’re all concerned about, right?
Not surprisingly, the article cites the National Weight Loss Registry as one of its sources of information about how to maintain a weight loss. We've talked about the NWLR here: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34678 and several of our maintainers are members. If you've lost at least 30 pounds and maintained your loss for at least a year (the article says three years but the web site says one year), you might want to consider joining the NWLR (see the sticky for further info).
Here's the article and I'd like to know what you all think of the seven maintenance tips that it includes -- are these things you've discovered on your own? Were any left out? Do you agree or disagree with any/all of them?
Quote:
The Big Backslide
By Sally Squires
Tuesday, August 31, 2004; Page HE01
Call it diet fatigue, burnout or simply boredom.
That's what Laura Howard, a Lean Plate Club member who has trimmed an impressive 60 pounds during the past 18 months, reports experiencing these days. To drop from 190 to about 130 pounds, she's done all the right things, including working out four times a week, changing her eating habits, even altering the way she thinks about food.
Yet she's now slipping into "bad habit" quicksand.
"Over the past few months," she wrote in an e-mail last week, "I've been finding it harder to stay motivated . . . and am feeling the pounds come back. . . . I'm up to 136, which isn't a lot, I know. But I'm so worried I'm going to be fat again.
"The weird thing is, I don't do anything about it. I will sit around and worry about being fat and gaining the weight back, but I have no ambition to get on the treadmill or go for that bike ride except for once or twice a week. . . . I don't even have a reason like 'I'm too busy.' I just simply don't want to.
"I have hit a wall . . . and can't get seem to get back to the mind-set I was in during my most motivated time. Help me so I don't gain it all back!"
At the University of Pennsylvania's Weight and Eating Disorders Clinic, "about 100 percent of the people we see feel this kind of fatigue," said Leslie Womble, assistant professor of psychiatry. It's so common that Womble warns them about it before it happens so "they won't be surprised."
Most shrug off her alerts -- and a few get annoyed -- until it happens to them. That's because losing weight can feel exciting when reinforcement is strong.
"At first, when you're plugging away, it feels great because everyone is noticing," Womble said. "You start to look great and your clothes size is changing."
But maintaining those hard-fought losses takes just as much effort and comes with less positive feedback because it's simply keeping the status quo.
"Quite honestly," Womble said, "it is hard to keep the weight off."
Most research has focused on how best to shed pounds -- not on how to maintain the loss for the long haul. So these days, "we're trying to develop whole programs to study this very point," said Rena Wing, professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University School of Medicine and co-director of the National Weight Control Registry, a database of more than 3,000 people who have lost at least 30 pounds and maintained the loss for at least three years.
Until scientists can shed more light on the mystery of weight maintenance, here's what experts advise:
Look at the big picture. "Most diets are a 100-yard dash," said John Norcross, professor of psychology at the University of Scranton and author of "Changing for Good" (Avon). "We know that changing lifestyle is a marathon."
Relax -- a little. Womble advises figuring out small ways to loosen up, not quit. So if you've been recording every morsel that passes your lips and can't bear the thought of writing down another entry, then note what you eat every other day. Or just on weekends. Or just after 3 p.m., if nighttime eating is a problem. "That way," Womble said, "you can get a little bit of a break. These are ways that people can step back a little."
Draw a red line. At the University of Pennsylvania clinic, Womble suggests people in maintenance draw a red line either five or 10 pounds above their current weight. If weight rises above the red line, participants immediately reinstate the full spectrum of habits that worked to help them achieve their weight loss goals.
Make it fresh. Boredom often undermines long-term habits. "So try to create variety," Wing said. "If you always walk, this might be a time to try biking. Same thing with diets. If you're in a rut, this may be the time to get out your magazines and find some recipes. Invigorate yourself."
Recruit a buddy. Being accountable to someone else means that it's not so easy to skip a workout. "If you know a friend is waiting to meet you, you're less likely to not go," Womble said. "I do that myself." Another option: consider a session or two with a personal trainer.
Mix things up. Research suggests that doing different types of physical activity helps create muscle "confusion" so that plateaus -- and boredom -- are less likely to occur. So walk a different route to work. Do the weight machines at the gym in a new order. Work out at a different time of day. Get a pedometer to help boost activities like walking and taking the stairs. You get the idea.
Test yourself. Changing behavior takes time. Figure on at least six months -- often far longer -- to make a new habit a permanent lifestyle change, Norcross said. How do you know when you've reached that point? One test, Norcross said, is that you can engage in the behavior at any time or in any situation. So whether you're under stress, celebrating a holiday or visiting a friend, you have confidence that you still stick with your new routine. For Norcross that test is travel. "The last thing I want to do is to haul my butt out to the exercise facility at a hotel," he said. "But I do it."
The second test is if you can overcome the temptation to slip into old habits with nary a thought. "It's when you can see the dessert cart and it's not gnawing at your soul," Norcross said. That's when "a short-term change has become a permanent lifestyle," he said.
Share Your Tips or ask questions about healthy nutrition and activity when Sally Squires hosts the Lean Plate Club online chat, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. today, on www.washingtonpost.com. Can't join live? E-mail [email protected] anytime.
New To The Club? The Lean Plate Club is devoted to healthy eating and boosting activity. To learn more, and subscribe to our free e-newsletter, visit www.washingtonpost.com/leanplateclub.
I've been feeling exactly like Laura Howard - I couldn't have phrased it better!
It's quite a relief to know it happens to just about everyone, so much so they even warn people about it!
Funny thing is, at the start of this week I began to do exactly what the article says.
I've started having muesli for breakfast, for something different - I'd never tried it before.
Today I walked a different route - I went along the coastline walk from Bondi to Coogee here in Sydney. Beautiful sunny day, blue water crashing against the rocks interspersed with some pretty little beaches - fabulous! I'm going to do it more often - I'd forgotten how beautiful it is.
So good to know I'm not alone in this, and that I've unwittingly resorted to some good behaviours to deal with it
Thank you for this article Meg! It's helped tremendously
"It's when you can see the dessert cart and it's not gnawing at your soul,"
Isnt' it funny Meg how we're all so different but the same in a way... for me the above I have NO problem with at all anymore. My sweet tooth has really calmed down in the last year. Even those dang granola bars, I haven't had a binge in ages. Last week I was able to have 2 and stop, get buzy and forget about them, and not have them "gnawing at my soul"
Quote:
Recruit a buddy
.
For me 3FC has been the BIGGEST help of all!!! If not for this buddy system I'd fallen off the wagon again a long time ago... and stayed off... but not I get back on the wagon and keep on trucking... to the gang!!
So many points in that article that rang true for me- so many days that I've wondered whether it was all worth it, what would it be like to just blow off the workouts, eat whatever I want, forget the obsessions. Because you do have to stay just as obsessed to maintain over a long period of time. And manage to do it while your life changes, you and your acquaintances no longer see changes, it just back to life as usual, except you can't go back.
I think the first point is what those of you who have not hit the long-term maintainer status don't quite understand. Jack- You've changed your life but you are still in the losing phase. You're still learning about weightlifting, seeing physical changes in your body. So going to the gym every day and finding new ways to eat is still a big adventure. Even at this point, backslides are possible, as you so eloquently pointed out in your post about going to McDonalds when you hit an emotional bump in the road.
Old habits don't want to die- I still THINK about eating for comfort and sometimes still do- but it stops. Like the red line in the sand. It's not only on the scale, but in my mind as well. Sometimes I make deals with myself: "ok, you're tired, you hurt, you're upset- have a treat. One treat, then back on plan and no skipping cardio at all this week."
"Make it Fresh" also struck a chord. We all know the basics of what worked for us, but sometimes I need to change it or I go out of my mind from boredom. We tend to laugh at "plan hoppers": people who never stay on one plan long enough to see results. But I've found that some plan hopping keeps it going. Every once in a while, I'll try a new diet approach just to break up the monotony. Two weeks of South Beach Induction (with some oatmeal on leg day!) does wonders for re-focussing. Or a couple of weeks of a cyclic Ketogenic Diet, just to make me really pay attention to the process again. Workouts I change frequently- like everytime I workout. LOL- not a good idea for beginners, but I love to try new things and often will do a bizarre workout in the interests of finding new ways to train my clients.
I also find I have to relax a little every once in a while, or I start to rebel against myself, especially with the food logging. Right now I'm not logging. I know when I'm eating right and too much self-imposed discipline makes me head for the M&M's. So no fitday for a few days. I'll go back to it, I'm sure.
The other BIGGIE is support, support, support! I have a few email friends to whom I'm accountable everyday. I log on here daily and am a moderator here and on another fitness board. I lurk almost all the bodybuilding boards out there. Some I don't want to touch with a ten foot pole- juicers and poseurs leave me cold, but it's a way to learn.
To stay motivated I have done a few things: a). come here, I am so inspired by you guys, b). go to weekly WW meetings (I know they aren't for everybody), c). joined a run club to help me focus on one aspect of my activity.
About the dessert cart: depends, for me being OP can be super simple and I can simply say "I don't feel like it:. Right now, I am in that mode, it's all coming easily, other times it is exact opposite and I want EVERYTHING on that cart. I find reducing my sugar intake has helped me oodles in many ways and cravings is one of them.
Mixing it up: WW has introduced a new program to its arsenal which is running concurrently with its points program so I might switch to taht for a few weeks for a change. I pretty much only eat unprocessed foods now anyway (my body likes it too).
Make it fresh: I just added an extra walk to do. I am also going to take my bike for a ride.
What struck me about the article was this:
Quote:
"The weird thing is, I don't do anything about it. I will sit around and worry about being fat and gaining the weight back, but I have no ambition to get on the treadmill or go for that bike ride except for once or twice a week. . . . I don't even have a reason like 'I'm too busy.' I just simply don't want to.
"I have hit a wall . . . and can't get seem to get back to the mind-set I was in during my most motivated time. Help me so I don't gain it all back!"
We talked recently about the fear of regaining.... it is a really strong fear and some of us get paralyzed by it. I realized while reading that thread part of the reasons I started binging was due to that (I know makes absoutely NO sense). I have had enough time to look back at my backslide (even at my worse I had only gained about 20% back, it is more like 10% now thanks to me dropping 9.5lbs this summer). I have learned that weight loss is something you just do, you don't just try it and you don't just think about it, to be successful you ahve to do it. Now taking that mindset and putting it into maintanence is my next task.
Ilene: It's good to know I am not alone on the granola bar thing.... I haven't bought and ate a box (in one afternoon) in a long time...
Mel: when I got to goal, sure I was excited first then it was like "what's next". Now I know, there is so much next, just not new clothes sizes or obvious stuff, it's not as concrete or tangible..
Speaking of which, I am now going for goals that are just not related to my weight for motivation. I have running goals for now and might try to figure out other health related goals too.
I'm really happy to say that I already do some of those things listed in the article. However, I'm finding that in the last week or so, I need an extra push.
I was on vacation visiting family from 8/20 - 8/29. Before going on vacation, I'd lost a few pounds and managed to get down to 136.5 from 140 - 141. I figured that if I lost a couple of pounds that would be a good cushion for me since I usually gain a couple of pounds on vacation. Well, my eating could have been better on vacation, but it also could have been worse (& has been much worse in the past). Actually, I was quite pleased with myself for exercising approximately 4 times during my vacation (in the past, I would have chucked my entire exercise regime until my vacation ended).
However, since I've gotten back from vacation, I just can't get back into the swing of things. I'm hoping that the main problem is that I just haven't had time to get myself together since my vacation; I got back last Sunday (8/29) and went back to work on Monday. My house was a mess, I was slightly depressed (missing my family-- ), it was an extremely busy week at work, and I had to start teaching a class that I thought didn't begin until 9/13 (this was due to an administrative scheduling error). Needless to say, I've been stressed. This has led to bouts of major overeating (I'm talking 1/2 dozen chocolate chip cookies, all-day noshing on caramels and Hershey's kisses, etc.). I weighed myself this morning and I'm up to 140.2. I'm hoping that after this 3-day weekend, with a more organized house and a little time to rest, that I'll get my energy and motivation back.
Sorry to ramble! Thanks for posting the article, Meg!
Last edited by vmelo; 09-05-2004 at 08:29 PM.
Reason: typo
The Big Backslide
So it's refreshing to come across a newspaper story about weight loss maintenance for a change! As we’ve discussed here, the media focuses almost exclusively on short-term weight loss and glosses over the long-term, day-to-day hard work of maintenance. So I was thrilled to read the latest column from Sally Squires, who writes a series for the Washington Post called the Lean Plate Club, entitled “The Big Backslide” — something that we’re all concerned about, right?
to the gang!!
), it was an extremely busy week at work, and I had to start teaching a class that I thought didn't begin until 9/13 (this was due to an administrative scheduling error). Needless to say, I've been stressed. This has led to bouts of major overeating (I'm talking 1/2 dozen chocolate chip cookies, all-day noshing on caramels and Hershey's kisses, etc.). I weighed myself this morning and I'm up to 140.2. I'm hoping that after this 3-day weekend, with a more organized house and a little time to rest, that I'll get my energy and motivation back.
