The Butterfly Effect

There was a time in my life when the myriad of diets, dietary plan and diet advice out there made me feel sick of the word “diet”! My efforts to stop the yo-yoing pattern of weight loss and gain I had suffered for the most part of my life had me ready to throw the weighing scale out of the window of my 14th floor apartment! I did get out of that rut, but it was a long and lonely journey for the most part.

Recently, while studying nutrition, I came across one of the biggest and longest study on weight loss undertaken in the history of mankind. The National Weight Control Registry, run by researchers at the Brown University in the USA, has followed more than 10,000 adult participants for about 25 years. To be eligible to be included in the study, participants need to have lost more than 30Ib. (13.6kg) and kept it off for at least a year. The average weight loss of the participants was 65 Ibs. and the average time they kept it off is five years.

One major flaw in the study is that it is not representative of even the American society, let alone of the world, as 96% of the participants are white and 80% are females. Despite this, it is heartening to know that even though our bodies effectively sabotage our efforts to maintain our lost weight, it is possible to keep this weight off. So what makes these individuals succeed in something that frustrates millions of people around the globe?

Lower food intake First off, 98% of the study participants made changes in their diets, cutting back on the amount of their daily dietary intake. Duh! That’s hardly surprising. However, a vast majority of the participants (75%) weighed themselves every week and 92.8% tracked their diet, weight or exercise making efforts to bounce back to their “normal” hen they noticed undesirable changes.

No one-diet-fits-all no one form or kind of dietary approach was seen as a prominent factor in the weight loss and maintenance. Participants followed a range of low fat and low carbohydrate diets to lose weight. 55% lost weight through a structured weight loss program and 45% did so by themselves. Most of them had to try more than one dietary pattern before the weight loss stuck.

Exercise 94% if participants increased their physical activity and walking was the most popular form of exercise undertaken. A whopping 90% of people in the study exercised for one hour or more daily!! That’s a lot of dedication people!

Early risers A majority of these successful dieters were self-described morning people and 8 out of 10 ate breakfast daily. Though studies have not found a conclusive co-relation between eating breakfast and weight loss, J Graham Thomas, one of the leading researchers of the study says, “Having an early start to the day is connected to eating breakfast, which could help, and getting to the end of your day and feeling good about your choices could motivate you to continue your healthful choices and help you get to bed earlier.” Other research has shown that night owls tend to weigh more than larks.

Sleep Participants in the study were more likely to report better quality and quantity of sleep compared to a control group. In a 2010 study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine journal, people who slept 8.5 hours while following a weight loss diet lost twice the amount of weight compared to the people who slept 5.5 hours and followed the same diet. Moreover, the subjects who slept 8.5 hours lost 55% more fat than the other group.

A variety of motivational factors other than a number on the scale The motivational factors to lose weight went beyond a slimmer weight or a number on the scale; they ranged from having had a health scare, a desire to live a longer life or to enjoy their grandchildren in good health. This reminds me of Mel Robbins’s no-nonsense approach to motivation, “Being healthy will not get your a$$ on a treadmill. Losing your man-boobs so you could hook up with somebody- now that’s motivation!”

Perseverance Most of the participants had tried different things before they found the lifestyle approach that worked for them in losing and maintaining weight.

The Power of Habits One thing that was common to ALL participants was that they all had to make changes in their everyday behaviours and inculcate new habits to sustain these behaviours.

Thomas JG, Bond DS, Phelan S, Hill JO, Wing RR. Weight-loss maintenance for 10 years in the National Weight Control Registry. Am J Prev Med. 2014 Jan;46(1):17-23. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2013.08.019. PMID: 24355667.

Carrie Dennett. Overweight/Obesity: What Does the NWCR Tell Us About Weight Loss? Today’s Dietitian 2019; 21 (4): 12

Nedeltcheva AV, Kilkus JM, Imperial J, Schoeller DA, Penev PD. Insufficient sleep undermines dietary efforts to reduce adiposity. Ann Intern Med. 2010;153(7):435-441. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-153-7-201010050-00006