Emily Feig, PhD, is a clinical research fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Dr. Feig recently published the results of a study she conducted as a doctoral student at Drexel University showing that individuals who maintained a steady rate of losing weight during the first few months of a behavioral weight loss program had better long term results than individuals who fluctuated in the amount they lost from week to week.
If your goal for the New Year is losing weight, I recommend finding eating and exercise behaviors that lead to a steady weight loss week to week, even if the pace at which you are losing weight is slow.
For example, you might commit to bringing a healthy afternoon snack to work to replace stopping at the vending machine, setting a “kitchen closed” time when evening snacking will end, adding a vegetable to dinner five nights a week, or setting aside an hour each weekend to plan ahead for meals the next week.
By keeping track of how different behaviors affect your weight, you can adjust to find what leads to a slow and steady weight loss pace for you.
This is because we found that, in a sample of 183 participants in a behavioral weight loss program, better long-term weight loss at one and two years was achieved by those who lost weight at a consistent pace during the first few months of the program, compared to those whose weights varied more week to week.
So finding healthy behaviors that lead to a slow and steady rate of weight loss is likely a key factor in keeping the weight off long-term.
Research Your Resolution
Do you have goals for improving your health in the New Year? This month, investigators from the Mass General Research Institute are discussing the science behind some common New Year’s resolutions, and offering tips and advice based on their research into exercise, diet, healthy aging, heart health, and much more.
Massachusetts General Hospital is home to the largest hospital-based research program in the United States, a community of more than 10,000 people working across 30 departments, centers and institutes. The Mass General Research Institute works to support, guide and promote these research initiatives.
About the Mass General Research Institute
Massachusetts General Hospital is home to the largest hospital-based research program in the United States. Our researchers work side-by-side with physicians to develop innovative new ways to diagnose, treat and prevent disease.
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