weigh-2-go.org

The psychologist on NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” writes this page about the psychological factors that she observes in the successful participants on the show.  (They don’t put the author’s name on the actual page, but the link to the page credits Alexa Altman for this column.)

The list of 5 factors is, in summary:

1. Successful “Biggest Losers” write or look at goals daily.
2. Successful “Biggest Losers” developed and nurtured their social network.
3. Successful “Biggest Losers” don’t interpret a small slip up as a failure; they get back on the horse right away.
4. Successful “Biggest Losers” utilized and developed new resources.
5. Successful “Losers” identify emotional roadblocks and ask for further support, referrals to mental health professionals, or referrals for medication.

Again, I personally like the emphasis on accountability and support networks.  By the time we have lost a lot of weight, we know the tactics about what works for us–diet, exercise, or whatever.   But in long-term mode, we have to tie together these  tactics with our real lives, and these softer skills–like asking for help and staying aware of our goals–are, I believe, the keys.

The National Weight Control Registry (NWCR) was established by two PhD professors in 1994 to study long-term successful weight loss maintenance. Successful losers who have kept their weight off for at least one year are eligible to join the registry. Members participate in studies, but the program does not offer any type of weight loss program. I just joined, and I’ll share my experience as a member.

The Research findings are available to the general public from their web site. One factoid from their Research Findings page fascinates me:

“We have also started to learn about how the weight loss was accomplished: 45% of registry participants lost the weight on their own and the other 55% lost weight with the help of some type of program.”

I am surprised that so many people can lose weight “on their own,” and I am curious to know what qualifies as “on their own.” Personally, I can’t imagine doing it without being in some sort of program with support and accountability. I want to keep looking into this and report my findings here.

Be sure to read the NWCR’s Research Findings page for some interesting and inspiring characteristics of successful losers.

Maybe it was the TV show “The Biggest Loser” that brought this ironic double entendre to my attention…or maybe this phrase was in common parlance long before I lost weight…but I’m just getting used to calling myself a “loser.” Maybe I’m too politically correct or just plain sensitive, but at first I felt bad about calling myself–or anybody else–a “loser.” But now I am getting used to it.

Does anyone else bristle at this term? And if so, what do we call ourselves?

I think I like the way that the National Weight Control Registry calls us “successful losers.”

I started losing weight in May of 2006.  I started at 219 pounds (before and after pics are here), and got down to 136 by October of 2007.  Last summer, when I was closing in on my goal, I was on a pretty strict 23 point/day Weight Watchers regimen (that’s 18 daily points + 35 weekly points), and was exercising about 5 days per week: weights, cardio, and a little yoga.

In November and December of 2007 and January 2008, two big things happened at the same time that derailed my lovely routine.  First, I got into a bad work crunch that had me working at least 10 hours per day, and stressing about work most of the rest of the time.  Second, I started dating someone…the first relationship in way too long.  On top of that, it was winter and The Holidays.  I kept up the exercise to about 2 sessions per week, but I totally tanked on food and my Weight Watchers meetings.  I gained about 12 pounds.

Now it’s almost April.  I still have about 10 pounds to lose to get back to my best weight.  The work situation is better, and the boyfriend is on a health kick of his own, so that helps.  And, it’s spring.   And, I’m blogging about maintaining a big weight loss…so the time is now to get to my ideal weight–no compromises!

I’m developing a theme for this blog and working on figuring its niche. I’ve decided that there are so many weight loss blogs out there, that this one needs to be as specific as possible in order to find an audience. So, I would like to focus on Maintenance Mode: how to get there and stay there. Although it will contain content that is helpful to people in first-time weight loss mode, it will be more focused on: staying motivated, the realities of the lifestyle changes, being grateful, adjusting relationships…more.

I have a good feeling about this direction, because the more I hone in on it, the more people I talk to who are in this phase of their journey of gaining fitness and recovering their health. Just today I happened to have lunch with a potential business colleague…and the subject of weight loss came up. We have both lost major pounds, and are writing about it. So cool!

If you have any additional ideas about news or information that would appeal to this sub-group of weight losers, please add them in Comments. Thanks!

[An aside about writing instead of weight loss: As a writer I have a pet peeve about lame headlines.  So when I saw “Study: Long-term weight loss possible” in a headline from UPI today, I thought “well duh!”  UPI headline writers, you are so lame!

A UPI article lamely slugged  “Study: Long-term weight loss possible”  describes that participants had more success when they got monthly counseling.   There were three groups in the study: one group had personal counseling; another had an interactive web site to record exercise and calorie intake; the other had were “self-directed” with no support provided.

This study supports my own experience, and my theory that involving other people in your program makes a big difference.  Accountability to others keeps us focused.  What are your experiences?

Forgive me for quoting quoted content from other blogs…but I will link to all the sources and intermediate sources along the way.

An article in the Nutrition Action Healthletter (article not available online) lists the “7 Habits of Effective Weight Loss,” to borrow from a famous book title. Although the source article is not available on the web, a great write-up about it is in this blog post on a site called Get Fit Slowly. (And I’ll be citing Get Fit Slowly again because it looks like it has lots of other great resources on it!)

Here are the 7 things that participants in a nationwide study of permanent weight-losers all had in common:

1. They eat a low-calorie diet.
2. They eat a consistent diet from day-to-day.
3. They eat breakfast.
4. They’re very physically active.
5. They weigh themselves frequently.
6. They watch only a limited amount of television.
7. They don’t let a small weight gain become any bigger.

Please take a look at the source articles for more information. Important stuff!

This “Twitter” thing on the sidebar of my blog is where I record everything I eat.  This is my food journal, and a way that I make myself accountable to you, my readers.

I’m not saying that my food journal is all that stellar.  In fact, as I write this, I posted a “skipped the weekend–sorry!” (though I pledge not to slack off like that very often–it would defeat the purpose!).  And if I have ice cream, or an appletini, or fried chicken, it all goes in the Twitter.

Twitter, by the way, is one of these newfangled social networking “Web 2.0″ web programs where you can instant-message or text what you are doing to your friends and other interested parties.  People use it to stay connected to their friends throughout the day.

If people like the idea of Twittering food journals, we could actually form groups that read each other’s journals.  For example, let’s say you and three friends want to give each other a weight loss challenge.  You could Twitter your food journals to each other.  Would you think twice about eating a cheeseburger, if you knew that your 3 best friends would give you a hard time for it later?  This could be powerful.

Please leave a comment (no matter how old this post is!) and tell me what you think about Twittering What You Eat.

This morning there was a great piece on NPR (Morning Edition) entitled “Put Your money Where Your Girth Is.”  It’s about two professors who bet each other about losing 20 pounds.  One is a contract lawyer and the other is a behavioral economist, so maybe you can see where this is going.  How does signing a contract affect your behavior?  Are you more likely to follow through with something when you have made a bet, signed a contract, or made some other pledge (especially one involving money) to another person?  I think: Yes.

The magic concept at work here is accountability.  This is why I believe we can’t lose weight, or make any other big life change, unless we do it with and among other people to whom we feel accountable.

The professors in the NPR piece turned their idea into a new company with a web site at StickK.com.  I wish I had thought of this!  You make your contract with them, and either reach your goal or lose your moeny–to charity, of course.  The StickK.com people encourage you to use their site to reach any kind of goal, but losing weight (alongside weight-losing habits, like exercising) is at the top of the list.

What fascinates me about the Weight Loss Process is its relationship, for many people, to deeper issues–psychological and emotional. I know that the difference for me was not that I found the right nutrition plan or exercise regimen. Something changed in my mind.

Now if I could just articulate, “What was that thing???” I could make a million dollars. For starters, I will sum it up this way: My self-image changed before I started losing weight. Suddenly, having the shape, health and activity level that I had just wasn’t me anymore. In the past, I had gotten my act together enough to line up all the right habits to lose weight, but my body eventually returned to its natural shape–the shape in my head. So I yo-yoed.

To the yo-yoing phenomenon, many experts say “Diets don’t work.” But there must be some controversy over this statement, because diets are still out there as the major answer to weight loss.

I’ll take a stand and say “Diets do work!…but they are just diets.” Diets are one tool people can use to change their bodies. But people have to want to change their bodies.
The more accurate statement is: “Diets don’t change your self-image.” Now that’s a statement that I think most of us can agree on.