Awareness and commitment are the key to beating the odds.

By Martica Heaner, M.A., M.Ed., for MSN Health & Fitness

You should know that the odds are against you. Most people who lose weight gain it all back. But this doesn’t mean that you are destined to become such a statistic. There are people who do experience long-term weight-loss success. To be one of them, you need to realize that it is possible to keep the weight off—and even to lose more. But since it may be difficult at times, you need to be realistic and plan how you’ll overcome the struggles.

I think that it’s important to be told the real deal. If you’re aware of what it takes to lose and keep weight off and then you commit to doing it, you will succeed. It’s as simple as that.

But what scientists have realized is that losing weight is the easy part. Most diets, healthy or not, do work. You can drop pounds fairly quickly, especially the more overweight you are . But no matter how you lose the weight, the real challenge is to keep it off long-term. What you can’t do is revert back to those behaviors that made you overweight or obese in the first place. Once you’ve lost weight and you are trying to maintain the loss, or lose even more, you will find that, at times, it will be difficult. But, you will also experience periods where you enjoy eating more healthfully and your exercise sessions feel easy.

You are going to have to stay disciplined—and keep finding ways to stay motivated to do so. You’ll be faced with temptations and you’ll have to find ways to resist or avoid them. In today’s busy world, environmental factors such as fast-food chains everywhere and too many sedentary activities like TV-watching, driving and using computers, lead you  to eat more and exercise less.

But your environment, and more importantly, how you respond to it is something you can control. Some people who strive to lose weight may simply have a physiology that means it will always feel like a struggle to eat well and exercise. But many people who have been able to stick to healthier living for a long time swear that it gets easier the longer you do it.

So, if it’s so hard to keep off what you’ve already lost, can you lose even more?

Yes, although you may have limits. It’s not uncommon to experience a plateau in weight loss, especially after about six months. The body may require an adjustment period to get used to the weight loss. Keep in mind that most body systems aim to remain in a steady state, or what is known as homeostasis. Perturbing the body with continued weight loss goes against this grain. So you may need to stay in a temporary holding pattern at some point in the future, where you focus on maintaining your weight loss, rather than losing more.

If you keep exercising, you may find that over the years your body fat levels go down significantly. There have not been enough long-term studies looking at how years and years of exercise affect body weight, but it’s known that regular exercisers are rarely obese. And even if you stay a few pounds heavier than you’d like to be, you will always be healthier if you are consistently active.

The key to maintaining your weight loss is sticking to better eating and regular exercise. To do that, you need to stay motivated. Knowledge is power. And if you keep informed on the latest findings on weight loss, nutrition and fitness, you’ll find the inspiration to carry on.

You can succeed and feel better than you ever have before!

Thanks for that, Boner.

My own feeling is that RNY people can stay thin on an hour or less of cardio exercise per day, whereas pre-ops MIGHT lose weight (or might not) on the same.

It really is a blessing to have this opportunity to be super fit from just an hour a day of exercise!

Best Wishes,

Dave

So true and I'm living proof. I was able to keep my weight off form almost 20 years after my 1980 gastic bypass. But there came a time when I got really discouraged about other things and I stopped exercising and the weight started slowing coming back. It took 8 years, but it all came back.

Kerry

I agree and I think what WLS does for many is to really level the playing field between so called 'normal' people, and people who have a tendency to run toward fat or very fat.

Instead of having to put in some insane super-human effort just to lose 20 lbs, for many of us we can just eat right and exercise and most of the weight will stay off, just like what average size people do when they gain a few lbs.

Once again Boner you come up with great info. I appreciate all your effort. Thxs Bob