What is the best strategy for maintaining a healthy body weight and composition for the long run?

By: Ashley Smith

Many of us have struggled to reach our personal fitness goals only to find ourselves back at the starting line a short time later. Those frustrating pounds of excess fat are stubbornly resilient. It seems for every one you fight away, another takes it’s spot, strangely similar to dandelions in the spring. A cycle of dieting and exercise gives way to ‘regain’, forming a succession eternal as the tide. At this point many feel that it is impossible to ever maintain lasting results; further suggesting that women like Megan Fox are not from this planet. However all is not lost, and after completing some research it is evident that you can experience sustained health and fitness by following some simple strategies.

In the article, Promoting long-term weight control: Does consistency matter? , a research study was conducted on members of the Nation Weight Control Registry, in an effort to identify what works. Surprisingly researchers found that participants who were able to maintain stable, long-term results all shared a commonality, the secret weapon of consistency. In fact, those who stayed on a consistent ‘diet’ all year around were 1.5 times more likely to keep their body weight within 5 pounds over the subsequent year. Conversely, those who only dieted strictly on weekdays gained significant amounts of weight each year. This was an interesting statistics because getting off track over the weekend can hinder your weight loss. Keeping a consistent diet appears to be a behavior strategy we all need to practice.

The participants that participated in the study lost at least 30 pounds, and maintained it for at least one year. Some other interesting facts about the participants:

98% of the registry members had to modify their food intake to lose weight
94% increased their physical activity
78% ate breakfast
75% weighed at least once a week
90% exercised on average, one hour per day
On average members lost 66lbs and kept it off 5.5 years

The take home message:
STAY CONSISTENT: Approach this as a lifestyle change, so you don’t end up yo-yo dieting!
STAY POSITIVE: Recognize your small achievements, they will add up to a BIG success.
WILLPOWER: Don’t give up!
KEEP IT FUN: Find recipes that are new, flavorful and interesting. We have a recipe link for clients on the Foley Performance webpage.
KEEP IT HEALTHY: Try to make healthier versions to some of your favorite recipes.

Are you willing to sacrifice to the level you wish to achieve

The results that you get from anything in life are directly correlated to the amount of effort and thought you are willing to put forth. This is very true with nutrition and fitness. For example, if two individuals have the same workout program and one does the program with every thing he/she has and the other goes through the motions then nobody would expect the individual who went through the motions to get amazing results. Another example would be the difference between a person training 2 times per week with a 70% compliance rate with their nutrition and a person training 4 times per week with a 90% compliance rate with their nutrition. Who is going to get better results? I think the answer is obvious. The questions then become are you giving your best in every workout, are you training enough to meet your goals, and are you following your nutrition plan at least 90% of the time. If the answer is no then you should just expect average results. If you want amazing results you have to invest yourself fully in the process. Going through the motions never helped anyone.

No 10am class on Sat 1/30/10

The 10am class today 1/30/10 will be cancelled because of the weather. Try to do something active at home.