The National Weight Control Registry sent me a reprint of one of their latest papers, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. I thought I'd summarize their findings for our discussion. They call out 6 key strategies used by successful NWCR maintainers. They are:

1. Engaging in physical activity, ~1hr/day equivalent to brisk walking
2. Eating a low-calorie and low-fat diet
3. Eating breakfast
4. Weighing in on a regular (usually daily or weekly) basis
5. Eating the same on weekends, weekdays, holidays, etc-consistency
6. Preventing small gains from turning into larger lapses

Other findings of note:

• The longer you maintain your weight loss, the better your odds of continuing to maintain. Maintaining for 2 years decreases your chances of regaining by about half, and maintaining for more than 5 years decreases the risk by 70%.
• A medical trigger (very broadly defined) leads to more successful weight loss and maintenance.

The full journal reference is:
Rena R Wing and Suzanne Phelan, Am J Clin Nutr 2005: 82(suppl):222S-5S.

Thanks for sharing this info. It is always helpful to learn what might assist me when I get to maintenance.

Hmm. Thanks for the info. I really appreciate it!

Thanks, Anne! Of course, the first thing I did when I read the list was compare myself to the six strategies listed:

1. Engaging in physical activity, ~1hr/day equivalent to brisk walking: Yes, but more like 90 minutes/day (60 minutes cardio/daily and 60 minutes weights 5 days/week) and more intense than brisk walking.

2. Eating a low-calorie and low-fat diet: Yes, my maintenance calories are around 1600 (though I think the study averaged 1400) and my fat is usually less than 40g/day.

3. Eating breakfast: Yes, in fact I eat two breakfasts - one at 7 am and one at 10 am!

4. Weighing in on a regular (usually daily or weekly) basis: Yes, daily.

5. Eating the same on weekends, weekdays, holidays, etc-consistency: Yes. Planned treat meals are few and far between.

6. Preventing small gains from turning into larger lapses: Yes, but I have to work on this one all the time since maintenance seems to be a roller coaster of small gains and losses. My weight rarely stays in one place.

So I'm six for six in their successful strategies.

As for the other findings, I was thrilled to read that your chances of regain are decreased by 70% if you've maintained for five years since I've passed four years and am shooting for five. It makes sense because the lifestyle becomes so engrained in you that there's no going back.

How about the rest of you? How do the NWCR successful strategies compare to what you do to maintain?

1. Engaging in physical activity, ~1hr/day equivalent to brisk walking:
No, I was doing pretty well until I broke a rib in the fall. That's a wuss excuse and I need to work out again.

2. Eating a low-calorie and low-fat diet:
Yes, my maintenance calories are around 1800 and I try to make sure 20-30% of my daily calories come from healthy fats (eating more healthy fat is something I have to deliberately plan every day).

3. Eating breakfast:
Yes, I love breakfast. I can not imagine skipping breakfast.

4. Weighing in on a regular (usually daily or weekly) basis:
Weekly.

5. Eating the same on weekends, weekdays, holidays, etc-consistency:
Yes. It's always surprising to me when I read post after post from people who say they want to stop binging on weekends - I plan Sat-Sun just like any other days. The only holiday meals that I have indulged since I started are my birthdays and the Christmas dinner when I was at my mom's place. Even then, it was JUST birthday dinner and JUST Christmas dinner. Christmas was not a license for a week-long cheese log and pumpkin pie debauchery. I do usually have a treat meal with girlfriends one night a week, I still order a healthy entree (blackened salmon salad, dressing on side), but I split a dessert and have a glass of wine - feels decadent.

6. Preventing small gains from turning into larger lapses:
My weight has been pretty stable at 126-130. It did say 131 after a nice long week eating a little too crazy in Singapore. 2 weeks later it was back to 128.

1. Physical activity. Yes, I work out 5 days a week (when I not sick, cough cough) and usually the weekends are about a 1.5 hr run and a 2-3 hr bike so it all averages out.
2. Low-cal, low-fat diet. When I maintain my calories tend to be pretty moderate, lower when I'm trying to lose (or recover) and I don't watch my fat intake at all. BUT for me to be satisfied the number of calorie I eat, my low-fat thing just kind of happens in the food choices I make
3. Breakfast. Yes. I also often eat two breakfasts in the morning.
4. Weighing in regularly. If there's a scale, I'm on it. Usually more than once a day (OK, I'm obsessed).
5. Eating consistently. Mostly. I usually eat better on the weekends, since all the junk food people bring to work and put in my face tends to be a weakness of mine, tired, stressed and hey, there's cake just sitting there. I usually don't worry so much about holidays--there are only a few big eating holidays for me, maybe a 4th BBQ, Thanksgiving & Christmas, and maybe Easter if family is around. I just try to remember that a holiday is one day (sometimes 1 meal) and not to go too crazy on the nut tray or have 6 desserts or anything.
6. Lapses. I used to do pretty well at this before the baby. (That is a whole 'nother category of course.) But yeah, I pay attention to lapses and fix them when I can.

So, yeah, I'm 6 for 6 on either doing these things or at least trying to!

Anne

Oh, while I'm thinking about it. The paper had two definitions of maintenance. They were A) staying withing 5 lbs of a goal weight, and B) losing at least 10% of your body weight and keeping it off for at least a year. The 6 strategies above seem to apply to successful maintainers in the A category (probably what we all shoot for), but they make the point that, medically speaking, B is very successful as well, since there are significant statisical improvements in "risk factors for diabetes and heart disease," even if the person remains overweight or obese.

Anne

I always wondered if I qualified Not quite since i'm not at goal weight, but I've maintained my initial loss for nearly 18 months which the total weight loss is about 20% of my original body weight. One thing that helped me was the scale though. I recognized creep when I saw it and buckled down to get back to my comfortable range. Now that I'm starting to lose again (ever so slowly), I think I have a good idea how to maintain.

Engaging in physical activity, ~1hr/day equivalent to brisk walking
Nope, not currently. But I do some cleaning & gardening additional to my gym visits.

Eating a low-calorie and low-fat diet
Reasonable. I have a weakness for icecream and white wine and tend to get some if I am stressed and tired out. But it is portion controlled, and I do not binge on other food items. However, I do not log into fitday so this could all be very subjective.

Eating breakfast
Yes. everyday: Yoghurt, orange juice, bran and brewers yeast. Sounds horrible but keeps me alive now for over 20 years. I could not go without it.

Weighing in on a regular (usually daily or weekly) basis
Daily

Eating the same on weekends, weekdays, holidays, etc-consistency
More or less. I never plan any big festive meals for holidays, but i do occasionally eat a festive meal. However, that could also be a salad and some appetizers (my kids& I love those, and if we eat them we do not take a main dish)

Preventing small gains from turning into larger lapses
YES

So I get 4 out of 6. I was never obese, just overweigth. I still am not at what i want to be, but my BMI is in the normal range, and I have lost roughly 15% of my body weight.

Interesting thread! thanks Anne for bringing it up.

rabbit

[*]Engaging in physical activity, ~1hr/day equivalent to brisk walking

Yep. I usually average 1-2 hours a day

[*]Eating a low-calorie and low-fat diet

I guess low calorie is relative My maintenance calories are about 1900 per day and that feels really decadent to me now.

[*]Eating breakfast

I eat 2 breakfasts too! Yay for hobbit second breakfasts.

[*]Weighing in on a regular (usually daily or weekly) basis

I weigh in weekly. It would be daily if I had more floor space in my bathroom, but my husband got tired of stubbing his toes.

[*]Eating the same on weekends, weekdays, holidays, etc-consistency

Pretty much. My break down of when I eat is quite different, but it's the same amount of calories. (or if I eat extra calories, I also do extra exercise)

[*]Preventing small gains from turning into larger lapses

I've been up to the top of my range only once in the last 9 months, so I guess so far so good.

I'm not in maintenance according to the registery's definition but I am according to my own.
Keeping the weight off and keeping healthy habits on. I no longer look at it as "weight loss" but "weight control" and healthy living.. a permanent state.

[*]Engaging in physical activity, ~1hr/day equivalent to brisk walking

Usually yes. I am working on making it more and more fun and more and more effective.

[*]Eating a low-calorie and low-fat diet

I don't count calories. Never have. But my diet is healthy foods.. to the point of comfort not fullness. I pay close attention to unhealthy fats and carbs.

[*]Eating breakfast

I second the yeah for second hobbit breakfasts.

[*]Weighing in on a regular (usually daily or weekly) basis

Thanks to all of you, I weigh every single solitary morning.. no more no less. Just enough to keep me in daily check and out of denial city.

[*]Eating the same on weekends, weekdays, holidays, etc-consistency

Yes. I can't imagine giving myself a green light just because it is a holiday or something.. if I am going to indulge it is because I really want to.. not using a holiday as a license to do so.. I am a big girl I don't need a holiday to give me permission. Therefore I stay on target eating wise most of the time. If I do have a treat.. it is a healthy one that I want. Who could have thought that you could crave olives to the point of insanity.

[*]Preventing small gains from turning into larger lapses

This one.. is yet to be seen.. I've prevented small gains in the few months I've been at this. But in the overall scope of things I need more experience to prove to myself that I won't do what I did to myself once before (regain).

I've not maintained the whole of my loss for too long, but I've "maintained" the first 10% for about a year now, at a guess so I suppose I can scrape in! Anyway, I'm intending to maintain for longer than that doing what I'm currently doing, so I'll answer the questions anyway.

[*]Engaging in physical activity, ~1hr/day equivalent to brisk walking

Yes I'm training for a marathon so I'm running 20 - 30 miles per week most weeks (which will be increasing) as well as a cross training day and plenty of incidental brisk walking which I don't count but probably adds up to another half hour or so most days.

[*]Eating a low-calorie and low-fat diet

I don't track either, but I think it's fairly low calorie and low fat. When I'm choosing foods I do look at their calorie and fat content to make sure they're in the right ballpark, but I never add up daily or weekly totals.

[*]Eating breakfast

Yes. I don't eat it as soon as I get up (I usually exercise first), but I've almost always eaten something fairly substantial by 9am.
[*]Weighing in on a regular (usually daily or weekly) basis

Yes. Every time I go to the gym (where the scales are) I weigh myself. I don't do that every day because sometimes I run outside or have a rest day, but if I'm near the scales I always get on them, to check I'm within my current 2 or 3lb range.
[*]Eating the same on weekends, weekdays, holidays, etc-consistency

Pretty much. I'm sometimes a bit more creative at weekends because I have more time to cook, but it's basically chosen on the same basis and planned in the same way as during the week. I'm sometimes a little more relaxed, but I do my long run on Sunday which means I need more calories anyway, so any increased eating isn't a binge, it's just balancing out my needs when I'm most likely to want to eat it

[*]Preventing small gains from turning into larger lapses

I don't know yet based on my proper goal weight, but certainly while losing and "maintaining" that first 10%, I've never let small gains get me down and I've got straight back on track. And I know from all my time on here that nipping gains in the bud is definitely the way to go, so that's what I'm intending to do!

Interesting post. Being pregnant, I'm not following this so much, although I continue to exercise every day, eat healthy and always eat breakfast...so maybe I am following it? Just higher cals. Anyway, during normal times, I'd answer the questions as follows:

1. Engaging in physical activity, ~1hr/day equivalent to brisk walking: Yes, about 30-40 mins of cardio, 20-30 mins of weights or abs.

2. Eating a low-calorie and low-fat diet: I eat around 1500-1700 cals/day, I eat low-fat and relatively low-carb (but I eat oats, barley, brown rice, whole grains - stay away from pasta, bread potatoes).

3. Eating breakfast: Yes, every day. Oatmeal & egg whites with veggies.

4. Weighing in on a regular (usually daily or weekly) basis: Probably every 2 or 3 days.

5. Eating the same on weekends, weekdays, holidays, etc-consistency: If I cheat, it's typically for a weekend meal - but nothing too crazy or it immediately gets out of control.

6. Preventing small gains from turning into larger lapses: Yes, I only have a 3 pound range that I work very hard to stay within - if my weight creeps over a certain point I am very motivated and usually get right back down within a few weeks.