Article From Sparkpeople.com - Importance Of Online Support
Keep the Weight Off with Daily Weigh-Ins
Sometimes the hardest part of weight loss is keeping it off. It can be daunting to know that within two years, most dieters regain two-thirds of what they lost! But researchers at Brown University Medical School in Providence, Rhode Island studied 291 people (mostly women) who had lost at least 10% of their body weight (an average of 44 pounds) in the previous two years. Participants were given scales (and encouraged to use them daily), as well as different levels of support (either a monthly email, an internet chat group, or face-to-face meetings).
At the onset of the study, 40% of the dieters were weighing themselves daily. After 18 months, 65% of those who chatted online and 72% of those who received face-to-face support weighed themselves daily, while those without support weighed themselves less. On top of that, 68% of dieters who did NOT weight-in daily gained five pounds or more over the course of the 18-month study.
Action Sparked: This study shows the importance both social support (either online or in person), and keeping track of your progress–even after you have already met your goal. You can get (and give!) plenty of support on the SparkPeople Message Boards, from your exercise buddies, trainer, family, and friends too.
When you weigh yourself regularly, you’re more likely to catch weight gain early on–and do something about it. Give yourself about a 5-pound range to stay within, and continue to watch your calories and get plenty of exercise after you meet your goal. While daily weigh-ins might not be necessarily for everyone, you can still keep yourself in check with consistent, weekly weigh-ins, body fat tests, or other measurements (such as waist, hips, etc.).
Exercise Extra: Muscle weights more than fat, but takes up less space. So don’t be surprised if you end up gaining some weight as a result of exercising.
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For sure! I agree.
If it wasn’t for this site, the daily support, I think I would still exercise but not work so hard on the other elements of this journey - self love, daily journals, love support, commitment to self and team…etc.
GREAT ARTICLE!!!
Maintenance is the hardest thing, but if you stay on it, you can keep it off. So, I will continue to attend WW meetings after my goal is reached and blog on here and weigh 2X a week. What’s the point in losing it, to just gain it back. I worked too hard to get where I am now and I will even have to work harder to get the last 20-25 off, so gaining it back is not an option. Thanks for the information as we all need reminders.
The online support systems I have really help my success!
I have been thinking of ditching the scale for a month…I am not sure. Right now I am doing everything right but not losing and even gained 2 pounds that I lost. Since it is discouraging, I was going to ditch the scale and stick to everything (keep tracking calories, keep up with exercise, ect) and see what happens…
good stuff!
This site is absolutely my greatest source of accountability…no matter how good or poor my choices around food and exercise are, reporting them here keeps me honest!