Five secrets of successful dieters

Of the 71 million of us dieting, about one in every five will actually keep the weight off. How do those success stories do it? A long-term study by the National Weight Loss Registry has identified exactly what it takes to be a diet success. Even if you were heavy as a kid, have dieted repeatedly in the past, or are middle-aged, you can lose the weight, and more importantly, keep it off by following these tried-and-true habits of successful dieters. Surprisingly, only two of the habits are about food and exercise! 

Habit No. 1: Take responsibility
Maintainers realize that losing weight and keeping it off is up to them. Put this habit into practice:

• Take a long, hard look at who you are losing the weight for. Only when you honestly can say "for me" — not for your spouse or mother-in-law — are you ready to lose weight and keep it off.
• Accept there are no magic pills, diet gurus, gizmos or gadgets that can do it for you. You must own the problem and get honest with yourself about what you’re doing and what you’ll need to do to change.
• Decide that the changes you must make for life are worth it for your health, well-being, or self-respect. When you do this, you drop the “why me” mantra. You’re right that it isn’t fair that some people have to move more or eat less than others, but that’s the reality and the sooner a person accepts that and gets to the real question of what to do about it, the better.

Habit No. 2: Exercise every day
No diet will maintain a healthy weight if you don’t exercise. The trick is how much. Diet successes move more than you think: the equivalent of an hour or more a day or 28 miles of walking a week.

Put this habit into practice:

• First, define yourself as an exerciser. Then start small by wearing a pedometer and aim for 10,000 steps a day.
• Second, add structured exercise to this daily activity. Walk, swim, bike or play some other sport for 10 minutes a day, and slowly increase your time. Aim for 1 hour per day.
• Third, mix it up. Combine two or more types of exercise in your weekly routine, such as walking with Pilates, water aerobics, kick boxing, or snowshoeing.

Habit No. 3: Get real
Success isn’t about reaching your ideal weight; it’s about reaching your feel-good weight. The weight where you are not hungry all the time and don’t have to exercise fanatically. Put this habit into practice:

• Set a realistic goal, i.e., a comfortable body weight that you can maintain without obsessing over food 24/7, yet you still feel good. Ask yourself, “What is the least I have weighed for a year or more as an adult?”, “What is the largest clothing size I would be happy with?”
• Lose the weight slowly. People who lose more than 2 pounds a week are losing mostly water and lean tissue weight, not the fat weight you want to lose. Lose it slowly and you’re also most likely to keep off the weight.
• People who lost one to two pounds a week while gradually reprogramming their taste buds and lifestyle report the easiest time adapting to weight maintenance compared to people who dropped weight quickly on fad or liquid diets.

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