Over 6,000 People Who Lost 50 Pounds Agree These 4 Steps Work

[OctoberRed]

Many people find that the toughest aspect of weight loss is preventing those pounds from creeping back.

Although losing weight can be a challenge, many people find that the toughest aspect of weight loss is preventing those pounds from creeping back. According to one meta-analysis, more than half of lost weight is regained within two years, and by five years, that number zooms up to 80%.

So, what are those who are successful in keeping the weight off doing right? A new study in the journal Obesity reveals their top strategies.

Researchers surveyed more than 6,000 participants in a weight-loss program WW who had lost more than 50 pounds and kept it off for over three years. Answering questions about their motivations and tactics, these were the most cited tips. Keep reading to find out how to keep those extra pounds off, then check out Eating Habits to Lose Abdominal Fat As You Age, Say Dietitians.

1 Think of it as a marathon, not a sprint.

Perseverance was the biggest theme in the survey responses, and also a key method for dealing with inevitable setbacks, according to lead researcher Suzanne Phelan, PhD, in the department of kinesiology and public health at California Polytechnic State University. By having a long-term view, it was much easier to restart quickly instead of giving up the effort to maintain control over consumption levels, she says.

2 Tracking really does make a huge difference.

For nearly everyone who was successful in maintaining their weight loss, tracking food had become a daily habit, even after hitting their "goal weight." One maintainer advised, "You have to get up every day and make a choice to track and eat right. This is a lifestyle change, not a diet."

3 Recognize and celebrate non-scale victories.

Another notable strategy is not to think about weight at all as a primary motivator. Weight loss maintainers noted that the most important changes were "non-scale victories" like reduced pain, better control of chronic medical conditions, feeling a greater sense of confidence as well as more ease in their bodies, and having more consistent energy and lighter moods.

4 Focus on health instead of weight.

As one maintainer noted, "Think of changing your eating habits as part of creating a healthy lifestyle." That means weight loss comes as a result, or even a side effect, of that shift instead of being the main focus in itself. That also helps you pivot toward other healthy changes that have been shown to improve weight loss maintenance, like daily activity, quality sleep, and reduced stress.

[markusmod]

Agreed. I never focus on weight, always on what Im eating.

[TheBoxGod]

People who put the weight back on imo never really wanted to keep the weight off it that makes sense. Theirs 2 type of people who lose weight imo those who want to "look good" and those who want to be healtier, the one who just wants to lose weight will lose that weight by any means necessary however they really gained 0 knowledge about the process etc so eventually they will put the weight back on because they never really made any changes. The ones who keep it off learned and understand whats taking place and change their lifetyle, add some muscle, and have a full understanding of how foods tranlsate to weight for themselves.

I urge people to learn about calories, macros, meticulously count them, count the oil you add in the pot, count the butter, count the actual food, count everything and do it day in and day out and I promise you after awhile you will kinda just "Know" how much everything is by eye and thats when you kinda just settle into the lifestyle (of course all this is for real food, you never know how much calories something is when you buy it premade at a restaurant or something), Once you settle into the lifestyle everything becomes easy and 2nd nature, and it no longer becomes this diet or this chore you just living your life. Think about this, If you do not know how much a serving size generally is for you (keyword "for you) than how are you ever going to make the right decision for yourself when it pertains to food and portion size.

and watching the scale is beneficial, chance are if your are 50lbs over weight you will need that scale to drop 50lbs because you aren't going to be putting on 50lbs of muscle lol, you can lose weight faster than you can ever build muscle so that scale should be trending downwards if you aiming to lose weight. If you feel better but the weight is the same that's fine and all but technically you are still overweight and all those health risk still apply, for instance what you are feeling can just be placebo effect from you just getting active, etc and that generally what happens when you start working out etc. Keep track of your progress, its the only way to make sure you are actually making any progress.

[markusmod]

People who put the weight back on imo never really wanted to keep the weight off it that makes sense. Theirs 2 type of people who lose weight imo those who want to "look good" and those who want to be healtier, the one who just wants to lose weight will lose that weight by any means necessary however they really gained 0 knowledge about the process etc so eventually they will put the weight back on because they never really made any changes. The ones who keep it off learned and understand whats taking place and change their lifetyle, add some muscle, and have a full understanding of how foods tranlsate to weight for themselves.

I urge people to learn about calories, macros, meticulously count them, count the oil you add in the pot, count the butter, count the actual food, count everything and do it day in and day out and I promise you after awhile you will kinda just "Know" how much everything is by eye and thats when you kinda just settle into the lifestyle (of course all this is for real food, you never know how much calories something is when you buy it premade at a restaurant or something), Once you settle into the lifestyle everything becomes easy and 2nd nature, and it no longer becomes this diet or this chore you just living your life. Think about this, If you do not know how much a serving size generally is for you (keyword "for you) than how are you ever going to make the right decision for yourself when it pertains to food and portion size.

and watching the scale is beneficial, chance are if your are 50lbs over weight you will need that scale to drop 50lbs because you aren't going to be putting on 50lbs of muscle lol, you can lose weight faster than you can ever build muscle so that scale should be trending downwards if you aiming to lose weight. If you feel better but the weight is the same that's fine and all but technically you are still overweight and all those health risk still apply, for instance what you are feeling can just be placebo effect from you just getting active, etc and that generally what happens when you start working out etc. Keep track of your progress, its the only way to make sure you are actually making any progress.

I fall in the middle. I want to look good and be healthier.

[TheBoxGod]

I fall in the middle. I want to look good and be healthier.

when you get healthier you naturally look better, and jsut a funny observation I have noticed with those who try to look better they usually end up looking pretty much the same just a slightly smaller version, people who want to lose weight know they have to eat less and thats all they know and they end up losing alot of muscle tissue along with fat and basically end up the same fat to muscle ratio just in a smaller package. Sure they look "normal" with their shirt on but take that shirt off and the diet they used to lose those 50lbs will show. also not to mention that horrible metabolism they have now due to basically changing nothing and crashing it through a deficit which... will make keeping that weight off a battle to say the least.

[OctoberRed]

when you get healthier you naturally look better, and jsut a funny observation I have noticed with those who try to look better they usually end up looking pretty much the same just a slightly smaller version, people who want to lose weight know they have to eat less and thats all they know and they end up losing alot of muscle tissue along with fat and basically end up the same fat to muscle ratio just in a smaller package. Sure they look "normal" with their shirt on but take that shirt off and the diet they used to lose those 50lbs will show. also not to mention that horrible metabolism they have now due to basically changing nothing and crashing it through a deficit which... will make keeping that weight off a battle to say the least.

I knew this girl who was chubby and actually looked worse when she cut off all the pounds and got down to like 125. She looked like a stick with no meat in the right places.

[TheBoxGod]

I knew this girl who was chubby and actually looked worse when she cut off all the pounds and got down to like 125. She looked like a stick with no meat in the right places.

yea definitely I seen it a bunch of times and unfortunately thats alot of peoples reality who chose to lose weight without arming themselves with the proper knowledge or people in place to help them, alot of people just think its just eating less and they do not realize how a proper macros split come into play. Also they do not do any additional effort beside that basic calorie restriction which is just setting them up for more failure.

When you cut, you losing fat and muscle, depending on your macro split will sway how that body mass is lost either fat or muscle or a combination that leans heavy on one end of the spectrum or other. The higher the deficit the higher the muscle loss potential is and in order to combat that you need to eat high protein and be on a well programed resistance trainin plan. This applies to male and females, if you just lose weight without preserving your muscle mass (or even adding) than your muscle mass is just gonna melt away and the top level fat is going to stay their but now you dont have this muscle mass underneath to hold up the fat in place and you start looking odd. Fat people have alot of muscle mass underneath their fat, take a 50lb obese person he is basically walking around all day with a 50lb plate on his back... they have muscle. The problem is when they start to lose weight they lose it wrong and burn all their muscle away and believe it or not make their muscle to fat ratio even worse and you can see how they end up looking more messed up even though they lost the weight.

[b Murphington]

yea definitely I seen it a bunch of times and unfortunately thats alot of peoples reality who chose to lose weight without arming themselves with the proper knowledge or people in place to help them, alot of people just think its just eating less and they do not realize how a proper macros split come into play. Also they do not do any additional effort beside that basic calorie restriction which is just setting them up for more failure.

When you cut, you losing fat and muscle, depending on your macro split will sway how that body mass is lost either fat or muscle or a combination that leans heavy on one end of the spectrum or other. The higher the deficit the higher the muscle loss potential is and in order to combat that you need to eat high protein and be on a well programed resistance trainin plan. This applies to male and females, if you just lose weight without preserving your muscle mass (or even adding) than your muscle mass is just gonna melt away and the top level fat is going to stay their but now you dont have this muscle mass underneath to hold up the fat in place and you start looking odd. Fat people have alot of muscle mass underneath their fat, take a 50lb obese person he is basically walking around all day with a 50lb plate on his back... they have muscle. The problem is when they start to lose weight they lose it wrong and burn all their muscle away and believe it or not make their muscle to fat ratio even worse and you can see how they end up looking more messed up even though they lost the weight.

I’ve read that creatine supplementation is key in the prevention of muscle loss during a weight loss program or cut.

[TheBoxGod]

I’ve read that creatine supplementation is key in the prevention of muscle loss during a weight loss program or cut.

Creatine is a great supplement one I recommend to my clients if they can tolerate it (99.99% people can, its the most researched and regarded as universally safe supplement for healthy individuals i.e. those with fully functioning kidneys/liver). Now creatine on its own I don't see how it will be effective in prevention of muscle mass in a weight loss phase as its main function is to increase ATP which means you will see the benefits of creatine when you exert muscle energy as in a workout. How is creatine beneficial in a cut to preserve muscle mass? if you take it paired with a exercise routine (Resistance Training) because of this increase in ATP it will allow you to push just slightly harder in a workout where you normally wouldnt be able to because your are in a energy deficit (calorie deficit) so with Creatine it increase your ATP (energy potential) so you can workout that much harder to promote muscle growth/muscle preservation. The higher the deficit the less energy you have, the less energy you have the less likely it is you stimulate your muscle to the fatigue point you need to hit to promote muscle growth and/or prevent muscle lost.

To preserve muscle you should be in a caloric deficit as it relates to your obesity. 1% of your body mass a week is a good start which means if you are 250lbs you can lose 2.5lbs safely a week (that's 1000 calories deficit a day) Their is more advance ways and faster ways but that require that you get all the variables correct and for most it just not recommended. 1% of body mass a week is a great general rule that applied with some creatine and solid resistance training you should be good. in 3 months you should be down 30lbs with minimum muscle loss, hell if you never worked out before I almost guarantee you will actually have put on muscle mass.

[b Murphington]

Creatine is a great supplement one I recommend to my clients if they can tolerate it (99.99% people can, its the most researched and regarded as universally safe supplement for healthy individuals i.e. those with fully functioning kidneys/liver). Now creatine on its own I don't see how it will be effective in prevention of muscle mass in a weight loss phase as its main function is to increase ATP which means you will see the benefits of creatine when you exert muscle energy as in a workout. How is creatine beneficial in a cut to preserve muscle mass? if you take it paired with a exercise routine (Resistance Training) because of this increase in ATP it will allow you to push just slightly harder in a workout where you normally wouldnt be able to because your are in a energy deficit (calorie deficit) so with Creatine it increase your ATP (energy potential) so you can workout that much harder to promote muscle growth/muscle preservation. The higher the deficit the less energy you have, the less energy you have the less likely it is you stimulate your muscle to the fatigue point you need to hit to promote muscle growth and/or prevent muscle lost.

To preserve muscle you should be in a caloric deficit as it relates to your obesity. 1% of your body mass a week is a good start which means if you are 250lbs you can lose 2.5lbs safely a week (that's 1000 calories deficit a day) Their is more advance ways and faster ways but that require that you get all the variables correct and for most it just not recommended. 1% of body mass a week is a great general rule that applied with some creatine and solid resistance training you should be good. in 3 months you should be down 30lbs with minimum muscle loss, hell if you never worked out before I almost guarantee you will actually have put on muscle mass.

I thought that the hydrating of the muscle cells with water would add some amount of protection.