Connie K. Ho for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online
Researchers recently looked at strategies related to long-term weight loss following menopause and found that, while some behaviors work for the short-term, other behaviors do not work in the long-term.
As women age and enter the post-menopausal period, energy expenditure declines and weight loss can be a more challenging task. Based on the results of the study, scientists concluded that it is necessary to focus on particular behaviors that can help long-term obesity treatment. The findings of the project were recently published in the September issue of Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Not only does motivation decrease after you start losing weight, there are physiological changes, including a decreased resting metabolic rate. Appetite-related hormones increase. Researchers studying the brain are now finding that you have enhanced rewards and increased motivation to eat when youve lost weight, noted lead investigator Bethany Barone Gibbs, a researcher at the University of Pittsburgh Department of Health and Physical Activity, in a prepared statement.
Researchers believe that some factors can fight against long-term weight loss. For example, traditional behavioral treatments that highlight caloric intake do not have strong long-term outcomes. As such, the researchers worked to identify how changes in eating behaviors and specific foods could affect weight loss for overweight post-menopausal woman.
According to The Guardian Express, 508 women were randomized into two different groups and studied over a four-year period. One group, the Lifestyle Change group, regularly met with exercise physiologists, nutritionist, and psychologists. They focused on reducing fats and caloric intake, continuing a moderate amount of exercise, as well as upping the consumption of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. The Health Education Group was offered seminars by health professionals on general womens health, but not specifically weight loss.
In the study, the researchers discovered that eating behaviors correlated with weight loss at six months; these behaviors included drinking less sugary drinks, increasing consumption of fish, decreasing consumption of desserts and fried foods, as well as frequenting restaurants less. After four years, eating less desserts and consuming less sugary beverages continued to be associated to long-term weight loss. However, important signs for weight-loss also proved to be increased consumption of fruits and vegetables along with less consumption of meat and cheese.
Some researchers believe those old habits die hard and some practices like prohibiting the consumption of fried food will not last in the long-term.
People are so motivated when they start a weight loss program. You can say, Im never going to eat another piece of pie, and you see the pounds coming off. Eating fruits and vegetables may not make as big a difference in your caloric intake. But that small change can build up and give you a better long-term result, because its not as hard to do as giving up French fries forever, explained Dr. Barone Gibbs in the statement.
If the goal is to reduce the burden of obesity, the focus must be on long-term strategies because changes in eating behaviors only associated with short-term weight loss are likely to be ineffective and unsustainable, continued Gibbs in the statement.
Read this article:
Long-Term Weight Loss Strategies For Menopausal Women
