Think Big!

Questions the idea that losing small amounts of weight at a steady pace can lead to weight loss. Testing of the idea on obese subjects, by Robert Jeffrey of the University of Minnesota; Explanations on the findings from Jeffrey.

By Camille Chatterjee, published on March 01, 1999 - last reviewed on November 28, 2005

Common sense suggests that dieters who set small, easily attainable weight-loss goals are those who keep pounds off permanently.

Not so, says Robert Jeffery, M.D., Ph.D. and professor of epidemiology at the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health, who questioned the popular wisdom that losing small amounts of weight at a steady pace and setting modest goals produce fast, gratifying results, leading to further weight loss. To test the idea, he monitored 130 obese men and women on a weightloss program to see how quickly they shed pounds, how many they hoped to lose, and how many they finally did.

After 30 months, Jeffery discovered that subjects who lost weight fastest also dropped more over time. "People tend to run out of gas at month six, whether they've lost a lot of weight or not," he explains. "With a firm eye to safety, Losing weight quickly will help keep it off in the long run."

But planning to do so won't necessarily help. "The size of people's goals had no effect on initial or eventual weight loss," he says. "The lesson is to pick a goal you feel comfortable with" -- and to work hard at it.