Modifying Habits is Key to Long-Term Weight Loss Maintenance

Modifying Habits is Key to Long-Term Weight Loss Maintenance

Individuals that are overweight or obese, it only takes a 5% reduction in body weight to create potentially significant improvements in bad cholesterol – LDL, total cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood glucose.?The challenge in the weight loss field, however, is often less about losing this initial 5% but rather maintaining the loss over an extended period. In fact, only 20% of people maintain their weight loss over the long-term, with 10-80% of individuals returning to their baseline weight, depending on the type of intervention employed.

A startling statistic was reported in a 2017 review published in the?International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.?This article noted that if the current rate of global overweight incidence continues unchanged, nearly half of the world’s adult population will be overweight or obese by 2030.?Creating and implementing novel approaches to achieve successful initial weight loss?and?long-term maintenance is essential to curb this epidemic.

Most long-term weight loss interventions are aimed at sustaining healthy lifestyle changes and, although an important component of weight-loss, these changes are not typically found to result in successful long-term maintenance but rather eventually end in weight regain.?Focusing instead on habit-changing interventions through the use of employing conscious deliberate thought, and improving awareness of self and actions has been discussed as an alternative approach to successful long-term weight loss maintenance.1

To explore this concept more closely and?investigate whether breaking old habits or whether creating new ones is effective, a team from Bond University’s Institute of Health and Sport in Gold Coast, Australia followed 75 individuals. Over 60% of the participants not only achieved weight loss, but they maintained a total body loss of greater than 5% over 12 months. Also, there was continued weight loss 12 months after starting to change habits

Why is this Clinically Relevant?

·???????>?5% of weight loss in individuals with overweight or obesity leads to improved health outcomes

·???????Maintaining weight loss is challenging, with only ~20% of individuals successfully keeping the weight off long-term

·???????Interventions designed to support mindfulness, conscious decision making, and awareness of behaviors can lead to changes in daily habits

·???????Targeted advice on healthy habits may not be necessary for weight loss maintenance but rather altering current habits can lead to the disruption of unhealthy habits and the cultivation of healthful behaviors

Our goal at The Stress to Success SHIFT Institute aims to change habits and break old patterns that are keeping from losing weight.

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1.????Cleo G, Glasziou P, Beller E, Isenring E, Thomas R. Habit-based interventions for weight loss maintenance in adults with overweight and obesity: a randomized controlled trial.?Int J Obes (Lond).?2018;doi:10.1038/s41366-018-0067-4.

2.????Bishop FM. Self-guided change: the most common form of long-term, maintained health behavior change.?Health Psychol Open.?2018;5(1):2055102917751576.

3.????Dishay J, Wharton S, Rotondi M, Ardern C, Kuk J. Predictors of early attrition and successful weight loss in patients attending an obesity management program.?BMC Obes. 2016;3:14.

4.????Tremmel M, Gerdtham UG, Nilsson PM, Saha S. Economic burden of obesity: a systematic literature review.?Int J Environ Res Public Health.?2017;14(4):E435.

5. Metagenics Institute

Suburban Wellness Group

Dan Cardellichio DC, MS

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