“Best Practices”
In all sorts of areas, the term “Best Practices” is used to describe what things have been shown to work best in any given situation. There are best practices for teaching, for health care, for food service, for businesses. These are basically ways of doing things that have consistently shown success. So what are the “best practices” for weight loss?
In 1994, two doctors wanted to investigate why and how some people were able to lose weight and keep it off–essentially they were looking for the “best practices” of weight loss. These two people, Rena Wing, PhD and Wayne O. Hill, Phd established
The National Weight Loss Registry. It is a collection of information from people over the age of 18 who have lost at least 30 pounds and maintained that weight loss for at least one year. Here is some of the information these researchers discovered:
1. Eat a low-fat, high carbohydrate diet
Well, that’s what they call it, as a dietitian I call it “eating a balanced diet.” Most of the people in the study are eating about 56% of their calories from carbohydrates (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low fat milk and dairy), 19% of their calories from protein (meat, nuts, legumes) and about 25% of their calories from fat. This eating pattern is what is recommended by the American Dietetic Association and the government. How is this different from what most Americans or most people who are overweight eat? Most people eat more of their calories from fat (fast food and processed food is usually pretty high in fat) and from protein (we as Americans tend to eat much more meat than our bodies need.) So what’s the difference? These successful “losers” are eating a lot more fruits, vegetables and whole grains than people who don’t lose the weight.
2. Exercise every day
Here’s something to think about: most people who lose weight do it by limiting how much they eat and people who keep the weight off do it by increasing their physical activity and exercise. Most people on the National Weight Loss Registry exercise at least one to one and a half hours per day. It can sound overwhelming, I know! But what if you spend 45 minutes on the elliptical trainer in the morning and do 15-30 minutes of weight training after dinner? That’s one to one and half hours of exercise. Maybe you do a half hour of resistance training before work, take a half hour walk with a co-worker at lunch and then do a half hour yoga video while the casserole cooks? What if you walk to and from work?
3. Eat breakfast every day
People who lose weight and keep it off eat a healthy, sensible breakfast every day. Nope, it’s probably not biscuits with sausage gravy or a donut, but more likely whole grain cereal or fruit and yogurt. By eating breakfast you can stave off those hunger pangs that send you to the vending machine or to eat whatever snacks your co-workers brought to the office. You don’t have time to eat breakfast? Try something portable such as yogurt and fruit, Carnation Instant Breakfast, a hard boiled egg and whole grain toast or a peanut butter and banana sandwich. Heck, no one said breakfast had to be “breakfast-y.” Have a turkey sandwich if it sounds good!
4. Get on the scale often
This follows one of the weight loss myths I talked about earlier. By weighing yourself at least once a week, you can see changes that you wouldn’t see in how tight your belt is cinched. One or two pound gain is a good warning that something has been off with your eating or exercise. Most people who keep weight off use the scale as a tool to see if they’re staying on track.
As someone who is a member of the National Weight Loss Registry, I can attest to these strategies. This morning I had Grape Nuts cereal with skim milk, will get at least an hour and half of exercise today (lift weights, spend time on the stair climber and walk my dog) and weighed myself yesterday. I eat some fast food once in a while (In fact, I had pizza for lunch yesterday), and my diet isn’t always 56% carbohydrate, 19% protein and 25% fat, but it’s pretty close.
Most people who have maintained a significant weight loss acknowledge that none of it was particularly easy, but that it does get easier over time. They also say that despite the difficulties, it was absolutely worth it.
May you be happy and healthy,
Regan
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