Research subjects sought for project to help maintain weight loss

The collective experience of more than 3,000 people who have lost at least 30 pounds and have kept the weight off for at least one year may help others do the same.

By Scott Turner

If you have recently lost at least 15 pounds, you may be eligible for a free research program to help you maintain your weight loss.

Called Stop Regain, the 18-month program is based on successful long-term weight-loss strategies.

Weight-loss specialist Rena Wing developed Stop Regain based on her findings from the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR), which she co-founded. The NWCR has collected information on more than 3,000 people who have lost at least 30 pounds and have kept the weight off for at least one year.

"Their achievements tell us that long-term weight loss maintenance is possible and that continued adherence to a healthy diet and exercise leads to a successful outcome," said Wing, who is a professor of psychiatry and human behavior. She directs the Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center at The Miriam Hospital.

Stop Regain will help you keep a healthy diet, engage in a high level of physical activity, keep track of weight changes and make behavioral adjustments if your weight increases, Wing said.

There are few programs designed to help people who have lost weight. Weight-loss maintenance is the toughest problem in the area of weight control, particularly during the holiday season, considered a high-risk period for weight regain.

But don't think that success is impossible, Wing said.

"If you've lost and regained weight many times in the past, you may be encouraged to learn that you aren't any different than the people in the National Weight Control Registry," she said."More than 90 percent of those individuals were previously unsuccessful before their final and successful attempt."

Those eligible for Stop Regain must have lost at least 10 percent of their initial body weight within the past two years.

"We're focusing on the period soon after initial weight loss, because this is when people are most vulnerable to regaining weight," said Natalie Robinson, program coordinator.

For more information about Stop Regain, call 793-5522 or visit www.weightresearch.org. The program is free. Participants can continue to attend weight-loss maintenance program offered by other weight-management programs.

"STOP REGAIN works in tandem with what people have been doing to maintain their weight loss," Robinson said."We want participants to continue doing what works for them. We'll work with them to learn new things about keeping the pounds from returning."

The National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases fund STOP REGAIN.