Many individuals who have tried to change their body fat can boast of short-term successes. They might say something like this, "I have lost five, 10, 50 pounds, etcetera, on a particular programme, but since I have stopped ... ", and we know the rest of the story.

Some of these stories are painful personal experiences. There are individuals, however, who have found a way to maintain weight-loss success for more than a year. I am personally aware of clients and other individuals who have achieved this kind of success.

Long-term study

There is a longitudinal prospective study which is the largest one of which I am aware, which is seeking to identify some important characteristics of success in a weight-management group. The study is the National Weight Control Registry founded in 1993 in a collaborative venture between Dr James Hill of the University of Colorado and Dr Rena Wing of Brown University and the University of Pittsburgh. It includes more than 4,000 individuals, 18 years and older, who have lost 30 pounds or more and maintained this for more than one year.

Many published research findings have resulted from this cohort. Most studies have investigated the eating, physical activity and coping strategies of these individuals. The beauty of this group is that they are drawn from a wide cross section of individuals, male and female, who arrived at their success using different methods. We, however, want to know how they have managed to keep the weight off. This information is from the site (www.nwcr.ws) and also from a published study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

More physical activity

Eighty per cent of people in the registry are women and 20 per cent are men. The average female age is 45 years and weighs 145lbs, while the average male is 49 years old and weighs 190lbs. Registry members have lost an average of 66 lbs and kept it off for 5.5 years. Weight losses have ranged between 30 and 300 lbs. Duration of successful weight loss ranges between one and 66 years, some people lost the weight rapidly, while others lost it very slowly over as many as 14 years. About 45 per cent of registry participants lost the weight on their own and the other 55 per cent lost it with the help of some type of programme. As many as 98 per cent of registry participants report that they modified their food intake in some way in order to lose weight; 94 per cent increased their physical activity, with the most frequently reported form of activity being walking.

Most registrants report that they have continued to maintain a low-calorie, low-fat diet while doing high levels of activity. About 78 per cent eat breakfast every day; 75 per cent weigh themselves at least once a week; 62 per cent watch less than 10 hours of television per week; 90 per cent exercise, on average, about one hour per day.

The message - there are no short cuts. You have to find a method which works for you in terms of eating and physical activity and keep doing it every day. There is no other way out. It needs a lifestyle change, no magic potion ... sorry. Now that we know, let's do it!

Rosalee M. Brown is a registered dietitian/nutritionist who operates Integrated Nutrition and Health Services; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.