by Robyn Flipse, MS, MA, RDN

Anyone who has ever tried to lose weight knows the work isn’t over once the pounds are off. Keeping them off can be an even bigger challenge. That’s because so many people still think all they have to do to lose weight is go “on a diet,” and once they drop the unwanted pounds they can get “off the diet.” Sadly, it’s often just a matter of time before their weight is right back where they started, or even higher.

If this sounds familiar, there’s a group of people making the news who have beat that system. They are members of the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR), which is the largest ongoing study of people who have lost significant weight and kept it off for a long period of time – most for more than five years.

An interesting finding revealed in the data collected from the NWCR members is that few of them credit their success to having gone “on a diet.” Instead, what most of them have done is adopt a new lifestyle. The difference is important; diets have many stops and starts, but lifestyles just keep plugging along.

This lifestyle approach is reflected in the most common traits used by the NWCR members to maintain their weight loss. For example, 78% report they eat breakfast every day of the week and the majority of them follow the same meal pattern on weekends and holidays as they do any other day of the year. They also monitor their weight on a regular basis and deal with any weight gain quickly so it doesn’t get out of control. Seventy-five percent said they weigh themselves at least once a week.

Another routine they’ve built into their new way of life is getting regular physical activity, which they apparently have the time to do because they watch less than 10 hours of television per week. Keeping track of the caloric and fat content of what they eat is also a habit for most of them. This involves reading food labels, being aware of portion sizes and not eating out too often.

As for their use of low- or no-calorie sweetened beverages, a recent study found 53 percent of those in the NWCR reported using “diet drinks” (diet or sugar free beverages) regularly. Their top reasons included taste and controlling total calories, with more than 40 percent saying the use of diet drinks was important to their initial weight loss and continuing weight maintenance efforts.

This may come as a surprise to those who have heard reports of a possible link between low-calorie sweeteners and increased weight, but those associations are not supported by studies designed to actually measure that. One example is a 2014 study that compared water and diet beverages on weight loss during a 12-week weight loss treatment program. In that randomized clinically controlled trial the researchers found those who were allowed to drink beverages containing non-nutritive (low-calorie) sweeteners lost more weight than those who could only drink water.

These findings are consistent with the results of a recent meta-analysis of several large clinical trials and prospective cohort studies on the impact of low-calorie sweeteners on body weight and composition. Based on the available scientific evidence, researchers Miller and Perez reported the use of low calorie sweeteners in place of their regular-calorie versions results in modest weight loss and “may be a useful tool to improve compliance with weight-loss or weight-maintenance plans.”

So if you’re trying to lose weight and keep it off, it may help to look at the choices made by the successful people in the National Weight Control Registry for inspiration. What you will find is adopting a healthy new lifestyle is the way to go, and low-calorie sweeteners can be part of it.

References:

Wing R, Phelan S. Long-term weight loss maintenance. Am J Clin Nutr. 2005;82(Suppl):222S-225S

Wyatt HR, et. al (5). Long-term weight loss and breakfast in subjects in the National Weight Control Registry. Obes Res.2002;10(2):78-82

Catenacci VA, et. al. (8) Low/No calorie sweetened beverage consumption in the National Weight Control Registry. Obesity online Jul 10 2014, doi: 10.1002/oby.20834

Peters JC, et al (9). The Effects of Water and Non-Nutritive Sweetened Beverages on Weight Loss During a 12-week Weight Loss Treatment Program. Obesity.2014;22(6);1415-1421

Miller P, Perez V. Low-calorie sweeteners and body weight and composition: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials and prospective cohorts (391.1) Am J Clin Nutr. online June 18, 2014, doi: 10.3945/ajcn.113.082826

About the author:  Robyn Flipse, MS, MA, RDN is a registered dietitian with over 25 years of experience, specializing in food, nutrition and health communications.  She is also a consultant to several food and beverage companies, including McNeil Nutritionals and the Calorie Control Council.  She is also the author of “The Everyday RD” blog -- www.TheEverydayRD.com