Realistic Approaches to Weight Loss

Written by: Chris Lindsley

The secret to long-term weight loss is really no secret at all. The tried-and-true formula sounds simple: Reduce calorie intake and increase physical activity so you burn more calories than you take in. The problem is this requires people to make permanent lifestyle changes, which takes work and discipline.

A report published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that only one in five adults trying to lose weight both cuts calories and exercises regularly. And ironically, although Americans spend about $33 billion a year on weight loss products and services, more of us--half of all adults--are overweight now than ever before.

So instead of trying the diet of the month or some other drastic weight loss plan, consider the more realistic strategies weight loss experts use with their patients. Choose the approaches below that appeal to you and give them a try; they've worked for others and could work for you. After all, what have you got to lose ... but a few pounds?

Know why you want to lose weight
"Your reason for wanting to lose weight has to be something that's real personal to you," says registered dietitian Franca Alphin, administrative director of the Duke University Diet and Fitness Center in Durham, N.C. "A good example is new grandparents who realize how out of condition they are and want to be able to play with [their grandkids]. If your reason is external, such as for a significant other, a wedding or a reunion, typically you won't be able to maintain your motivation very long."

Keep a journal to learn what is causing your problems
"You can't start a weight loss program until you know what's wrong," says Alphin, who is also the sports nutritionist for two professional baseball teams. "People [can] keep a journal for a couple of days, writing down what they do every day. This includes your physical activity, what you eat and drink and your feelings [such as what makes you stressed or anxious]. The idea is, by reviewing the journal you get a better sense of where the problems are."

Make small but permanent changes
"The tendency is that people are so anxious to get started and make changes that they want to do too much at once, and it gets totally overwhelming," Alphin says. "We encourage people to make one change a month. Say you find that you drink three sodas a day; try cutting back to one, which saves a couple of hundred calories."

Say no to supersize portions
"Supersizing may give you a lower cost per ounce or cost per calorie, but that may be a false savings because we tend to eat what's put in front of us, even if it's too much," says Lawrence Cheskin, M.D., director of the Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center.

Become more physically active
"Start walking more, take the steps, park farther away in the parking lot and do other activities of daily living," Alphin says. "This doesn't mean joining the gym, which doesn't work in the long run for most people. Make an effort to do 20 minutes of something. It all adds up."

Fuel by day, diet by night
"I think the most important thing [in losing weight] is meal patterning--to fuel by day and diet by night," says registered dietitian Nancy Clark, director of nutrition services at SportsMedicine Brookline in Brookline, Mass. "Most people diet by day and blow it at night. When you get too hungry, you don't care and you eat the whole thing. You can prevent this intense hunger that leads to overeating [by eating breakfast and lunch]. It's a lot easier to lose weight while you're sleeping than to try to lose weight while you're functioning during a stressful day."

A small weight loss reaps big benefits
"Five to 10 percent is really all you need to lose to see a vast improvement in cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar," Alphin says. "It's minimal change for major gain. For someone who weighs 300 pounds, 5 percent is 15 pounds. You wouldn't think that losing 15 pounds at that weight makes a difference, but it does, and that's very motivating." (To learn what a healthy weight is for someone of your height, use our Body Mass Index Calculator.) Adds Cheskin: "Remember as you start to lose weight and feel better that that's what the aim is and enjoy that feeling."

Be a food label reader
"You want to know how many calories there are per serving and be very careful to look at the serving sizes," Cheskin says. "For example, a third of a muffin may be the serving size for a large muffin. You look and see it's 150 calories, but that's per serving, so the muffin has triple that, or 450 calories. So knowing how to read food labels can be very helpful."

Eat like a child
"Kids eat appropriate portions--they eat when they're hungry and stop when they're content," Clark says. "The point is, you need to listen to your body. Grown-ups don't eat when they're hungry, they don't stop when they're content and they always overeat. If you want to lose weight, eat until your body is content but not stuffed."

Cut back on fat and calories
"Generally it's a good idea to cut down on the amount of fat in your diet," Cheskin says. "Some people, though, view that as permission to eat more calories than they would have because it's a fat-free food. If you're going to cut down on the amount of fat and don't increase the volume, generally you will create a [calorie deficit] and lose weight."

Don't give up your favorite foods; plan for them
"Many people feel that everyone else is preventing them from eating foods they really want," Alphin says. "The reality is, it's their choice. When people realize they're making the call, they're very careful about what they select to eat."

Eat slowly
"It takes about 20 minutes for the stomach to tell the brain that you're full," Clark says.

Don't give up
"Weight loss is a very difficult thing to achieve in our culture because there are so many competing interests and uses for our time," Cheskin says. "It's akin to learning a foreign language as an adult; it takes considerable effort, but it's something that can be done by just about everyone."