Registering My Weight Control
Two nights ago I filled out my 1-year follow-up questionnaire for the National Weight Control Registry. The NWCR is a research outfit that tracks individuals who have maintained at least a 30-pound weight loss for at least one year. I signed on with them a year ago, even though I was not really at goal weight yet. But seeing as how I'd kept off at least 65 lbs for more than a year, I figured I was eligible.
(My total "official" Weight Watchers weight loss, start-to-goal, is 77 lbs. My actual weight loss, based on my home scale, currently hovers around 86 lbs.)
The questionnaire itself is interesting . . . it consists of what amounts to a psychological questionnaire and a food questionnaire. For the first part, I had to indicate whether I'd gained or loss during the past year, and if so, whether I'd deliberately gone about changing my weight. As near as I could tell, I had dropped about another 7 lbs or so since I enlisted in the registry. So, I told them that yes, I had deliberately tried to lose the weight, and indicated that I'm working on peeling off another 10 lbs or so.
The rest of the questionnaire will be familiar to most folks who have taken any sort of survey or psych test in the past. I had to answer true/false questions such as "Food comforts me when I am stressed" (no, that's not an actual question, but you get the idea) and I also had to indicate, on a range from "agree strongly" to "disagree strongly," my reaction to various statements about food, weight control, and so forth.
My answers may or may not have been typical. I'm not really a stress eater, and I find maintenance pretty easy. I journal my food, track my exercise, and in general, enjoy my normal, healthy weight. (My sagging closet poles are tangible evidence of that enjoyment. I have a jones for colorful leather jackets . . . but that's another story, another time.) Unfortunately, the questionnaire is somewhat limited -- and limiting -- it can't possibly include enough questions to elicit all possible answers. But I do wish I could have had more of a choice in telling them how I feel. Some of the "combination" questions didn't fit me exactly, but I had to give them the best answer I could. I guess that works for their data compilations, but it still doesn't tell them about the essence of "me." (Hmm . . . maybe they need to include an essay question, like the new SAT . . .)
The food questionnaire merely asked me about various types of foods -- what I eat, how often I eat them, do I eat full-fat versions, etc. Anyone reading my answers would figure out that I generally don't like to eat "diet" food, but that I tend to stay away from saturated fat (I have "cholesterol issues"). I also like to eat fried chicken 3 - 4 times a year, and enjoy full-fat ice cream. Fish and turkey are mainstays of my diet, I love fruit, and I struggle to get enough veggies in a day . . . mostly due to my gadabout lifestyle. (I have 6+ shelves full of wonderful cookbooks and no time to cook.) Not evidenced by the questionnaire: I love chocolate -- I have a little "Vitamin Ch" nearly every day. I believe that life is too short to eat bad food, so I make sure I eat the BEST I can scour up. I'm a huge fan of Whole Foods Market, visit Panera and Starbucks nearly every day (and am a shareholder of both), and recently learned to love sushi and spinach. [My hubby is wondering what the aliens did with his wife.]
I hope the Registry finds my answers useful. I anticipate sending them annual info 'til I take my dirt nap. If you're interested in signing on with the Registry, here's where you can get more info. Every little bit of data helps:
Join the National Weight Control Registry
Official web site of the Registry:
National Weight Control Registry Home Page
James Hill, PhD and Rena Wing, PhD talk about "successful losers:
The Permanente Journal/ Summer 2003/ Volume 7 No. 3
From the Harvard Medical School:
Stopping that Rebound in Weight
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Some key findings of the Registry, typical of us "successful losers" --
- Successful weight losers report making substantial changes in eating and exercise habits to loss and maintain their weight. [Yep, did that. This is KEY.]
- The average registrant has lost about 60 pounds / 18 kg, and has maintained that loss for approximately 5 years. [I'm there on the pounds, working on doin' the time.]
- Two-thirds of successful weight losers were overweight as a child, and 60% report a family history of obesity. [Nope. I was skinny until puberty hit me over the head. But all in my family have weight-gaining tendencies.]
- About half of participants lost weight on their own accord, without any type of assistance or formal weight loss program. [This go-round, I did Weight Watchers. But when I was about 30, I lost weight on my own and kept it off 3+ years.]
- Walking is the most frequently cited form of physical activity by registry members. [Walking doesn't do it for me; it barely gets my heart rate into the 80s. I bike, lift, swim, and can occasionally be induced to run a bit. But don't tell my back surgeon . . .]
Are you a registry member? Drop me a comment -- or just drop me a comment anyway. I'd like to hear from you guys.
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