Are we programmed to pack on the pounds?
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When Cindy Baceski, 63, stepped on the scale last week at Curves, the Northampton gym where she works out almost every day, she discovered that she'd lost a half-pound since Thanksgiving - despite all the chances to gorge during the holidays.
"That felt good," said Baceski, who lives in Northampton and works at the Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech.
She hadn't done anything unusual, she said: "I basically watched what I ate and went for walks."
Yes, she'd indulged in a few cream cheese-filled sweets a family member had made, she said, but steered clear of others. And, for the first time in years, she'd skipped baking Christmas cookies so that her kitchen wouldn't be filled with temptation.
Baceski's ability to navigate the holidays without packing on the pounds was part of her ongoing effort to lose weight - and to keep the 40 pounds she's shed since early 2010 from creeping back on.
If her success continues, Baceski will join a minority of American dieters who lose weight only to gain it back.
One frequently cited statistic is that at least 80 percent of dieters eventually gain back every ounce they've lost. In 2007, a team of researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles reviewed 31 long-term diet studies and found that about two-thirds of those who dropped weight eventually regained more than they'd lost.
That's the discouraging reality the January barrage of weight-loss program ads rarely mention.
According to new research, the human body may be hardwired to pack on lost pounds.
Old story, new research
Arleen Thomson, a nutritionist at the Hadley Health Center, says research she has reviewed finds that people who lose weight successfully have several things in common. First, they made the effort for themselves, she said, not to please someone else; they did it without adopting highly structured, restrictive diets; they increased their exercise; they set reasonable goals; and they gave themselves credit for what they did well, instead of berating themselves for falling short.
"It's not glitzy, it's not glamorous and you won't be a size 4 in a matter of days," Thomson says. "Americans want everything yesterday, but that's not how the body was meant to work."
In late 2011, a study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine shed some light on how hormonal changes can conspire to put lost weight back on. That study, done by Australian researchers, involved 50 overweight or obese participants who were put on a restrictive, low-calorie diet.
The researchers found that after their crash diets were over, participants had a decrease in leptin, a hormone that suppresses hunger - and an increased level of ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates appetite. Moreover, the researchers said, those hormonal changes persisted for months, making many of the study's participants chronically hungry.
While scientists and medical researchers continue trying to pinpoint the physical, biochemical, neurological and emotional factors involved in weight loss, people like Baceski are trying to find what works for them.
Two years ago, when Baceski tipped the scales at 204 pounds, her doctor warned her that her weight put her at risk of diabetes. His blunt words, she said, got her thinking. "It was, 'OK, you really gotta do something,' " she recalls.
Baceski followed up on her doctor's suggestion that she seek help from a nutritionist and contacted Arleen Thomson at the Hadley Health Center.
With Thomson, Baceski began learning about nutrition and her own eating habits. For a week, for example, she kept a food diary, writing down everything she ate and when. That led to a talk about late-night snacks Baceski and her husband often enjoyed.
Thomson didn't tell her never to snack at night, Baceski said, but she suggested substitutions, such as plain popcorn instead of the box of Cheez-Its she sometimes craved, or a lower-fat ice cream instead of her usual high-fat version. Baceski said Thomson also taught her how to decipher nutrition labels so that she understood the fat, sugar and sodium content of the foods she was putting in her shopping cart.
At first, Baceski said, even minor changes were "a daily struggle," but they soon became routine. "It's much easier now," she said, adding that scanning food labels is now second nature.
A foreign language
Kelly Coffey, a personal trainer in Northampton, didn't stay fat - but she knows the territory well. Obese as a teenager and young adult, Coffey underwent gastric-bypass surgery in 2003, at age 23, when she weighed close to 300 pounds. The surgery helped, but wasn't a cure-all, Coffey said. It wasn't until she made exercise an integral part of her life that she became healthy and strong, she said, and broke the cycle of up-and-down dieting.
The recent Australian study was helpful in showing that there is "a biochemical driver, something behind the scenes," that makes it hard for people who lose weight to keep it off, she said one recent morning in her home studio.
"Anyone who's ever been overweight could tell you it's incredibly challenging to sustain significant weight loss," she said. "It's validating to see that the science agrees. Our culture tends to see folks who regain as weak or lazy, but it takes a tremendous amount of dedication, action and vigilance to fight the body's instinct to regain."
Coffey said having the support of even one person can help someone who's trying to maintain a healthy weight.
"Alone we face endless temptation from TV, the food industry, our children, our spouses, co-workers, friends and our own inner saboteur," Coffey said. "There's nowhere to turn when we're feeling uninspired to stay healthy, and one slip can snowball into a year-long binge. But if we've got even one person who's caring and supportive, they can put that inevitable slip in perspective."
With Coffey on the morning of the Gazette's visit, was client Anne Golob, 58, of Northampton, who has been training with Coffey for two and a half years.
She's now about 20 pounds lighter, Golob said, but not because of deprivation - with the one exception of avoiding late-night snacks.
"I didn't hop on the diet bandwagon," she said. Rather, her weight loss came about gradually as she began eating more foods that were local and fresh and less foods that were processed. She also began getting more exercise several years ago, Golob said, complementing her cardio workouts with strength-training sessions. She jogs in good weather, she said, and hits the gym in winter.
Golob said that staying relaxed and positive about food works better for her than joyless, gritted-teeth determination.
"I've become much less 'should-y' about it all," she said. When she eats out with friends, she orders what she wants, she said, and doesn't feel guilty later.
Portion control
For Jessica Brooks, who also sought help from Arleen Thomson, the key to losing 43 pounds, beginning in mid-2010, was making manageable adjustments to the way she eats. Though Brooks tries to go to the gym a couple of times a week, she said the most significant changes involved food, not exercise.
Brooks, 23, of Amherst, said that red meat and potatoes had always been staples for her, with fruits and vegetables in a secondary role. She said she didn't cut red meat out entirely but began eating it less often and in smaller portions. At first it was hard, she said, but after several weeks the changes started to feel natural.
"I'd make sure my plate was half-filled with vegetables and instead of two spoonfuls of mashed potatoes, I'd take one," she said. "I also started using a smaller plate size." The veggies she's eating now "have really grown on me," Brooks said, and she's come to love the taste of blueberries and strawberries. She's made a mental adjustment, too, she said, thinking of her food choices as a lifestyle change - not a rigid diet.
Though their stories are different, Baceski, Golob and Brooks all said they feel better and healthier now. Even if staying on track isn't easy, they seem to have found approaches that work for them - and that they hope will keep them from sliding backward.
As Brooks put it, "I don't want to go back to where I was."
As for Cindy Baceski, she said she has lowered her blood sugar and kept diabetes at bay.
"I'm careful about what I eat," she said. She thinks of her weight as a lifelong challenge, she said, not as a temporary situation in need of a quick fix. And she keeps a close eye on the situation.
"If I do gain a couple of pounds," she said, "I try to get it right off."
Suzanne Wilson can be reached at swilson@gazettenet.com.
