New Study Shows the Path to Long-Term Weight Loss

Nov. 6, 2012 - PRLog -- The study, Promoting Healthy Weight With “Stability Skills First”: A Randomized Trial (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23106759), conducted by researchers at Stanford University, involved 267 subjects divided between 6-month interventions. Half the group received Stability Skills First training, followed by a 20-week weight loss program. The other half participated in just the 20-week program — without learning the skills to maintain weight loss.

As expected, participants who were taught maintenance skills at the outset were better able to keep off the weight than those without the training. While subjects in both groups lost about 17 pounds, those without maintenance training regained almost half; those who did receive the training regained only 3 pounds on average. “We’re delighted by the results of this new study,” remarks Dean Witherspoon, President and founder of Health Enhancement Systems, which developed NutriSum. “It validates the techniques we’ve implemented in corporate wellness programs across the US, and shows that individuals who lose weight don’t have to resign themselves to regaining it. It’s all about changing eating and activity patterns, not special foods, calorie counting, or excessive recordkeeping,” notes Witherspoon.

The NutriSum wellness challenge model is based on research (www.nwcr.ws/Research/default.htm) from the National Weight Control Registry, which includes more than 5000 individuals who have lost an average of 66 pounds and kept it off for more than 5 years. These are among the key success factors of Registry participants — and are built into NutriSum:

•    78% eat breakfast every day
•    75% weigh themselves at least once a week
•    90% exercise, on average, about 1 hour daily.

“Losing weight isn’t the hard part,” explains Witherspoon. “Thousands of people do it every year. The really difficult challenge is making sure you stay at a healthy weight. But the statistics show it can be done by practicing simple habits. This is why we call the NutriSum participant guide Results Typical.” Corporations like Chrysler, Raytheon, DTE Energy, and Excel Energy have implemented NutriSum through their employee wellness programs with great success. In addition to learning new skills, participants join together in teams to compete against coworkers. “The friendly team competition and buddy feature double success rates,” adds Witherspoon. “Employees really get into accumulating behavior change points that not only help them lose weight now, but reinforce the habits that lead to long-term weight loss.”

Human resource managers can learn more about NutriSum and read case studies at http://www.hesonline.com/nutrisum or by calling 800.326.2317.