A New Take on Weight-Loss Resolutions

The holiday cookies have almost been polished off and the decorations packed away.

So now it's time again for that nagging New Year's resolution -- to shed some pounds in the coming year.

What most people need is motivation. But that can be hard to find in the familiar weight-loss mantras of "eat less" and "exercise more," especially when lingering holiday desserts beckon and chilly weather makes it easy to sit by the fireplace instead of strolling around the block.

Luckily, researchers have uncovered some new approaches that might just work.

For instance, meal replacements, which come in shake or bar form, can help people take weight off and keep it off, says Dr. George L. Blackburn, associate director of Harvard Medical School's Division of Nutrition.

Blackburn recently reported at a meeting of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity on the 10-year success rate of 130 men and women who used meal replacements to manage their weight.

He compared those who used meal replacements with a control group of 154 men and women who didn't use the products. After 10 years, members of the meal-replacement group were nearly 33 pounds lighter, on average, than control group members.

The "mean" loss with the meal-replacement plan after 10 years was 6.1 pounds. But the controls gained weight, averaging more than 26.6 pounds, accounting for the nearly 33 pound difference between the groups.

What's the secret of the meal replacements, which the subjects used for two meals a day while trying to lose weight, and one meal a day while trying to maintain it?

"This controls the portions," says Blackburn, whose study was partially funded by SlimFast, which makes meal-replacement products.

"The number one problem [with trying to lose weight] is supersizing [of portions]," Blackburn says.

When the meal-replacement subjects were trying to lose weight, they'd eat one sensible meal, including two or three vegetables and a small piece of meat, fish or fowl, plus the two shakes, totaling about 1,200 to 1,500 calories a day.

Another expert, Anne M. Fletcher, a Minnesota dietitian who has written books about formerly overweight people who lose weight and keep it off, says, "I wouldn't see any harm in trying [meal replacements] if it helps."

"If it's a tool to help you get weight off, I don't think it is harmful," she says. Whether meal replacements will be a successful long-term strategy remains to be seen, she says.

Paying more attention to the act of dining can also help weight-control efforts, Blackburn says. "When you eat, settle down, take 20 minutes to finish and think happy thoughts," he says. Don't multitask while eating, such as reading a book or watching TV.

Also, plan the day's food intake. "You really have to know what, when and where you are going to eat," Blackburn says. Writing down foods consumed, and keeping track of calories -- or, on the Weight Watchers program, "points" -- is another strategy endorsed by Blackburn and others.

You might also consider professional help, Fletcher advises. "Sometimes people need some help," she says. That might mean a weight-loss medication or consulting with a dietitian to help plan the daily diet.

Perhaps most important, Fletcher says, is to make what she calls a shift in thinking, from the "diet mentality" to the "healthy eating mentality." For her books on weight control, she has interviewed hundreds of people who have lost weight and kept it off for years. And she found a common thread.

"At some point, they made a critical shift in thinking where they went away from the diet mentality, and realized they had to keep doing certain things [such as watching their portions] for the rest of their life," she says.

More information

To learn more about serving sizes and a recommended food pyramid, visit the American Dietetic Association.

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