Here’s what you need when you’re serious about losing weight: support

Oh Behave!

“People wanting to manage their weight need to be less concerned with which diet they choose, and more concerned with incorporating behavioral changes into their plan.”

That quote is from Gary Foster, Ph.D., of Temple University. And he’s got it half right–the part about behavior.

We’ll come back to the behavior comment in a moment. Meanwhile, you can be sure that Dr. Foster actually DOES understand that people wanting to manage their weight DO need to be concerned with which diet they choose.

We know he understands this because of the outcome of a new study that he and his colleagues conducted.

Dr. Foster’s team recruited more than 300 obese adults and monitored them for two full years while half followed a low-carb diet and half followed a low-fat diet.

You can probably already guess the outcome of the study. It happens to be nearly identical to another study I told you about seven years ago. Subjects lost equal amounts of weight with both diets. But there was one huge difference: heart disease risk factors.

Back in 2003, and now again in 2010, the low-carb groups enjoyed significant improvements in blood pressure and cholesterol status. Most impressively, triglyceride levels dropped while HDL increased by well over 20 percent.

Of course, these results completely fly in the face of the nutritional mainstream’s most sacred cow–that eating animal fats will harm your heart.

And yet, low-carb subjects in the Temple study were restricted only in their carbohydrate intake. They were allowed to eat all the protein and animal fat they desired.

So which group would you rather be in? The group that just loses weight? Or the group that never goes hungry, loses weight AND improves heart health?

Getting behavior on track

Your dietary habits play a huge role in your overall behavior. So if you want to lose weight, you have to alter your behavior in order to make important changes in your diet.

The best way to change your behavior is to get some help–a buddy, or a support group. And, ideally, it’s good to have someone in your corner who knows a thing or two about nutrition and how behavioral changes are made.

Over the years, I’ve noticed one consistent similarity in weight loss trials. Nearly all subjects who are successful in dropping pounds work with a coach, a support group, or both.

The Temple trial is no different. Each of the subjects participated in a program of “comprehensive lifestyle modification” and “behavioral treatment.”

In short: everyone had a support group.

This is the success secret of Weight Watchers, which started in a Brooklyn, NY, living room in 1963, and now has branches in 30 countries. It’s simple: Go public with your weight loss goal–even if the “public” is just a small group of people pursuing similar goals.

Then you can choose whatever diet you like. And I think even Dr. Foster might agree: it’s a no-brainer.

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson

Source:
“Weight and Metabolic Outcomes After 2 Years on a Low-Carbohydrate Versus Low-Fat Diet” Annals of Internal Medicine, Vol. 153, No. 3, 8/3/10, annals.org