Weight loss programs, in general, rely on self-management. People must use these skills if any diet is to be successful. The problem often occurs not with dieting, however, but when it comes to keeping the pounds off. Maintaining weight loss is probably the major issue in dieting. In a recent article, Rena Wing and her colleagues looked at ways that weight loss might be maintained.

They developed a program for keeping weight off that was based on self-regulation or self-management theory. The program was tested either face-to-face or over the Internet. The authors randomly assigned 314 participants who had lost weight in the previous 2 years to one of three groups: (a) a control group, which received quarterly newsletters; (b) a group that received face-to-face intervention; and (c) a group that received Internet-based intervention. The content of the programs in the two intervention groups was the same, emphasizing daily self-weighing and self-regulation. Wing and her coworkers found that compared with receiving quarterly newsletters, a self-management program based on daily weighing improved maintenance of weight loss, particularly when delivered face-to- face.

This was a nice study. You may say, however, “Do I need to see someone face-to-face to keep weight off?” This was a finding in the study. However, it likely is not too practical in most cases to see someone on a face-to-basis in order to keep pounds off. For this reason, you may just want to use daily self-weighing and using self-management skills. We hope it helps if you are one of a large number of people trying to keep off pounds that you found were so hard to lose. It could. Good luck!

Do any of you have any comments or suggestions?

Rena Wing and associates. A self-regulation program for maintenance of weight loss.
New England Journal of Medicine, 2006;355:1563-1571.