[Serendipity]

"People who lose greater amounts of weight initially in weight-loss attempts may experience better weight loss and maintenance results than those who lose weight gradually, according to research published in the June issue of the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine." Faster Weight Loss Appears to Yield Better Results


The blurb on allnurses.com also has links to the abstract and original article. I know that we often hear people say that if you lose the weight slowly, you're more likely to keep it off. This study seems to contradict that. In the end, I think it truly is an individual mindset -- whether you lose weight slowly or quickly, you'll keep it off if you commit to maintaining your diet and exercise at a level that allows you to live without feeling like you're sacrificing to stay thin. But that's just my opinion, and you know what they say about opinions!

[caliyah]

definitely! it all comes down 2 maintenance. i can always lose the weight but i can never maintain so i am now focusing on making sure when i get to goal finally to not fall back into old habits

[yoyoma]

I beg to differ with their apparent definition of "long term" (18 months). I think their study design and interpretation are both off. The article states that none of the groups showed significant weight regain at 18 months. That in itself should indicate to the investigators that they have not yet gotten to the heart of the problem of maintenance.

[Eumie]

I've always thought that gradual weight loss was better for maintenance. And of course the fast group was more likely to have lost more weight at 18 months. That's what put them in the fast group to begin with. AND, they said there was no significant regain in any of the groups. They're reading the data in a twisty-logic kind of way, imo. Now, I only read the blurb on all nurses.

[PeanutsMom704]

I couldn't access the entire study but from looking at the abstract, the premise seems a bit flawed. They assigned women in the fast, medium and slow categories based on how much they lost the first month of the study. So it may just be that the group who lost more quickly were just able to lose weight more rapidly for whatever reason (the same reasons that apply to many people on 3fc - some people lose 100 lbs in a matter of months, for others, it may take a few years to get there).

All the groups gained some of their initial loss back but fwiw, it was actually the moderate loss group (.5 to 1.5 lb per week) who had the highest percentage of weight loss maintenance. But I guess a headline that "moderate weight loss creates better results" isn't as catchy!