Weight Loss Diets

Have you heard of the “national weight control registry?”

It is a database of more than 4,800 adults who report being successful at maintaining a weight loss of at least 30 pounds for a minimum of one year.

Once someone registers by meeting these basic criteria, they are sent annual surveys to collect information about how they remain successful at preserving their weight loss.

The results from these surveys are then consolidated into a summary which is often published by the media.

Here is one such summary.

Methods used to lose weight by registrants:
* 55% use a formal program or professional assistance
* Most use both diet (low calorie and fat) and physical activity
* Majority report limiting the types of foods eaten (e.g., avoid fatty foods)
* Less than half report limiting the quantity of food eaten
* About half counted calories

So, what do you think? Is this list worth paying attention to?

First of all, who do you think registers? Did you know about this registry? Do you know anyone who knows about it? If you lost a bunch of weight, would you register?

Here is my guess. If someone loses a bunch of weight using a “formal program” or “professional assistance,” he or she is told about the registry and encouraged to register. In fact, I bet they are almost forced to register.

And what do these programs recommend? — dieting, limiting foods, counting calories. So, if 55% use a “formal program” or “professional assistance,” it’s no surprise that about half of the registrants diet, limit foods and count calories.

But, here is what is suprising to me. Given the number of people involved with Weight Watchers, Nutrisystems, and all the rest — and the number of people who see a weight-loss expert of some type, wouldn’t you think more than 4,800 people in the entire United States would have registered by now?

With those results, it seems like the National Weight Control Registry is the wrong place to look for weight-loss advice.

Allen Oelschlaeger

I found this pretty darn interesting.

The MTA (responsible for New York subways) keeps track of the causes for train delays.

Track work and signal troubles are the top two causes.

Guess what is #3 — sick customers.

Asim Nelson, a MTA emergency medical technician, was quoted in AM New York as saying, “While flu-symptoms, anxiety attacks, hangovers, and heat exhaustion also strike passengers, they pale in comparison to fainting caused by missed meals.”

He went on to say, “You have women trying to get their boides tight for the summer and they won’t eat. Not eating for three for four days, you are going to go down. If you don’t eat for 12 hours you are going to get weak.”

This is so disappointing.

First of all, there’s no reason to skip meals in order to management your weight. In fact, doing this probably harms weight loss efforts rather than helps — for a whole bunch of reasons.

Second, it’s crazy our society so demands thinness that people will risk their health and well being by doing what they think is necessary to keep their weight down.

People need to know the straight scoop about weight loss so they can do it correctly while protecting their health.

Allen Oelschlaeger
Author of Finally, the Straight Scoop About Weight, Nutrition, and Fitness

In an earlier blog I referenced an article I was surprised to find.

Why? — because it actually included some information that I partially agreed with. But, more importantly, it didn’t list a bunch of ideas that are out-and-out wrong — like so much of the stuff about weight loss that’s available on the Internet.

Now, that same author has published another article and I’m disappointed to say that I can’t make the same statement.

In fact of the “six dieting tips” listed, I only agree with one (#4). The rest are pure hogwash.

Some of the other tips are so familiar you might assume they’re valid. THEY ARE NOT!

Trust me. I’ve researched every one of this person’s tips and discovered NONE of them are based on any data. And, worse, some of these tips, if acted upon, actually cause more problems than they solve.

As I’ve said in previous blogs, we need to get real about weight loss — and the only way to do this is to start with the truths, rather than the misconceptions and bad advice that are so prevalent.

Allen Oelschlaeger
Auhor of Finally, the Straight Scoop About Weight, Nutrition, and Fitness

Recently a researcher from Providence, RI said they found the “secret weapon” against yo-yo dieting.

In a study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, people who had previously lost more than 10% of their weight were split into three groups:

* Group 1 received a quarterly newsletter about eating and exercise in the mail.

* Group 2 attended monthly face-to-face meetings.

* Group 3 participated in monthly Internet chat meetings.

Groups 2 and 3 were told to eat breakfast, get an hour of physical activity each day, and weigh themselves daily. They also were required to report their weight each week to the researchers. Then, if they were within three pounds of their starting weight, they received encouraging phone calls and small “green rewards” such as green mints or a dollar bill.

However, if they gained between three and four pounds, they were considered to be in the “yellow” zone and were advised to tweak their eating habits or exercise routine.

I hesitate to even tell you what happened if they fell into the “red” zone by gaining more than five pounds. But, for completeness, here you go.

They were urged to open a “red toolbox” they had been given at the start of the program that included a meal-replacement shake, a pedometer, a diet diary, and a printed copy of their own weight-loss success story. The were also given a chance to get a one-on-one counseling session with one of the researchers.

So here are the dramatic results. After 18 months:
* 72% of Group 1 gained more than five pounds
* 46% of Group 2 gained more than five pounds
* 55% of Group 3 gained more than five pounds

Boy, that sounds like a “secret weapon” to me. I’m sorry, but the results of this study are not good news. With each group, about half or more gained back a bunch of the weight they lost!

I can’t tell you how disappointed I am when I read studies like this one. These researchers shouldn’t be rewarded by getting their study published in a prestigious medical journal. Instead, they should be ridiculed for wasting their time on such a project.

Allen Oelschlaeger
Author of Finally, the Straight Scoop About Weight, Nutrition and Fitness

I just saw a press release from March, 2005 that announced the release of a 307-page study on the weight-loss and diet-control market.

Here’s the major segments of the US diet industry included in the study:
* Diet soft drinks
* Commercial weight-loss programs
* Medical programs/diet drugs
* Retail non-prescription meal replacements and diet pills
* Health clubs
* Artificial sweeteners
* Weight-loss surgeries
* Low-cal entries

When the market researchers added it all up the total expenditures came to $46 billion in 2004 (up 6.1% from 2003).

The most troubling component of this total was bariatric (weight-loss) surgeries. There were 140,000 cases in 2004 which generated revenues of $3.5 billion. This case load has risen dramatically in the last few years.

So how much of this $46 billion is really helping people safely lose weight? Well, in my opinion, not much. Sure, there are some nutritionists and dietitians who are providing some assistance. But, beyond that, Americans are wasting their money.

Allen Oelschlaeger
Author of Finally, the Straight Scoop About Weight, Nutrition and Fitness