The Key To Long-Term Weight-Loss Maintenance

With 40 billion reasons a year at stake, the weight loss industry has plenty of reasons to pitch weight loss as all runs on a beach, fad diets and supplements. Granted I am a firm believer in the effectiveness of exercise, nutrition and supplementation HOWEVER, the reality of legitimate long-term weight loss is a little more complex and involves a deeper psychological element if it is to be truly effective and not just a temporary band-aid.

Research studies suggest that dieting alone is not an effective solution for weight loss. Analysis of over 30 long-term studies has indicated that while people on diets typically lose 5 – 10% of their starting body weight within the first 6 months, between 1/3 and 2/3 of the people in these studies regain more weight than they lose within four of five years.

Overly restrictive diets can slow metabolism and have negative side-effects including depression, anxiety, irritability, obsession about food ad binge-eating. So if diet alone won’t save you, then what will?

The Long-Term Weight Loss Solution Is …

The combination of diet, exercise AND PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERVENTION. Furthermore, a Cochrane review found that increasing the length of intensity of the psychological components of a weight loss intervention significantly improved patient outcomes.

Examples of psychological interventions include:

· Cognitive Therapy for Weight Loss: For example, planning what to eat, scheduling one’s day to include mealtimes, arranging the environment to support weight loss and planning for ‘high risk’ situations such as a friend’s birthday hosted at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

· Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Therapy: Which is focused on developing inner ‘wisdom’ about food and appetite. By using mindfulness, people can tune into their own bodies to determine ACTUAL physiological cues for hunger and satiety as well as what type of food they are hungry for.

Before you jump down my throat for missing something, I fully recognise that biological and environmental factors also exist that help obese individuals maintain their excess weight. Examples of these may include hormonal biomarkers (e.g. leptin / ghrelin), depression, addictive personality, childhood abuse, cultural practices, lack of time, poverty, etc. However, it is about doing the best you can in the circumstances you’ve been given. Weight-loss is possible, regardless of circumstances. However, it is up to the individual to address the issues that are preventing them from achieving their desired state of health & fitness.

Stay tuned, as in my next post I will provide several psychological strategies that may help to address the behavioural side of weight loss.


Reference:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070404162428.htm

Shaw, K., O’Rourke, R., Del Mar, C., & Kenardy, J. (2005). Psychological interventions for overweight or obesity (Review). Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2, 1-62.