In the UK currently about 46% of men and 32% of women are overweight. The media and most health professionals have constantly reminded us how important it is to be at a ‘healthy’ weight.

So for nearly five out of 10 men and three out of 10 women are advices to shed some of their weight to improve their future health perspectives and avoid or delay the most common chronic diseases. There are countless weight loss programmes and weight loss diets on the market; while some may not make any difference at all others actually really help people to lose significant amounts of weight.

Yet losing weight is only one step in preventing chronic diseases. The more difficult step and usually the one you will need to focus on till the end of your life is keeping your weight stable after reaching a healthy weight. We all have read an awful lot about the ‘yoyo-effect’ and anyone who has ever attempted to lose weight is frightened of any weight rebound. So one wonders what might help to stabilise weight after successful weight loss.

A recent study in the USA investigated just this. The team surrounding Suzanne Phelan were interested why some people are able to maintain their weight after losing it and others struggle with frequent weight rebounds.

They wanted to find out which environmental, behavioural and psychosocial factors might influence the success stories of the Weight-loss Maintainers. Therefore these factors were compared between three different groups: a group of 167 participants who had initially lost about 10% of their body weight and kept it then at a healthy weight (BMI 18.5-25) and two groups of treatment-seeking obese people (each group had 153 participants).This study although it was rather small is quite unique in respect to the broad range of factors analysed which are thought to influence weight loss and weight maintenance.

According to their study people who are able to keep their weight off for at least five years and be reasonably weight stable for the preceding two years are more likely to be regularly physical active, to consciously limit the amount and types of high calorie foods and to have more control over their food consumption.

Other interesting aspects were that the successful weight maintainers were watching less TV, had usually fewer TV’s but more physical activity equipment in their homes.They also commonly had more fruit and vegetables, more low-calorie and less high-fat foods available at their homes. They ate out less frequently in fast food places and restaurants and although family encouragement and support was usually lower they had usually a friend or family member who also took part in regular physical exercise. It appears to be able to maintain weight after weight loss could be influenced by all these factors, because they might support the weight maintainers in their self-control and self regulation.

This means to achieve stable healthy weight it might be necessary to built and create a ‘healthy-weight’ environment which encourages regular physical exercise, healthy food choices and prevents the consumption of high fat snacks and foods.

The most interesting aspect here might be that encouragement and support by your family might not be as important as being supported by them for necessary lifestyle changes. Family and friends should therefore help to facilitate regular exercise and help to make time for buying and cooking healthy foods. This might also be a reason why some weight loss programmes work while others don’t. Losing weight and choosing health not only means to get a quick fix while living the same live in the same environment which might have initially helped to stack up the weight. But it means making lifestyle choices such as eating regular breakfast, fruit and vegetables, making time for physical activity, while reducing sedentary activities such as TV viewing as well as shopping and cooking of healthy foods on more regular basis.

Andrea Zick, Esteem Fitness Nutritionist London

Esteem Fitness – Personal Training London and the South East