ROCKFORD (WREX) The New Year often brings a lot of people to the gym, but that dedication tends to fade after a few weeks.

Health professionals like Anytime Fitness Personal Trainer Eli Whipple believe that's due to setting too big of goals too early.

For example, he says that starting out with six workouts a week after not working out over a year is a recipe for failure. He suggests starting with three days a week so the body can adjust.

Ultimately, he believes that any and all long term health goals need to account for time.

"It's not a race," Whipple said. "A lot of people look at it that way, but we're trying to change your lifestyle. It's something that you're trying to change in the long run."

Whipple also recommends staying away from fad diets. He says making small changes before trying any rigorous diets like the Keto Diet.

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Health professionals give tips to help you achieve fitness goals in 2020 - WREX-TV

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January 2, 2020, 9:16 AM

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Welcome to GMAs New Year, Best You. As we ring in the new year, we are sharing everything you need to start the new year strong. From keeping your New Years resolutions going to Instagram-worthy meal prep to workout programs to eating plans to taking time for yourself, we have it all covered.

Angela Colabucci describes herself as someone who was overweight her entire life.

The 30-year-old decided to make a change two years ago after giving birth to her son.

Today, Colabucci has lost nearly 130 pounds and celebrated her weight loss by completing a Tough Mudder obstacle race in November in her home state of California.

"If you had told me 10 years ago that I would run a 10-mile obstacle race I would have said, "No, theres no way I could do that," Colabucci told "Good Morning America." "Now, I just go for it."

Colabucci, an office administrator in the pharmaceutical industry, started her weight loss journey in early 2017 by committing to be active every day.

"That was my first goal, just 30 minutes of cardio, either on the Stairmaster or walking because those were easiest on my joints," she said. "At my heaviest, around 280 pounds, I had to just walk because I couldn't run even a mile."

Colabucci also began to change her mindset on food.

"I didnt think about what I was eating, just whatever sounded good at the time I would eat," she said of her "before" diet. "A lot of processed foods, anything that I felt like."

Angela Colabucci, 30, of Oceanside, Calif., transformed her diet and lifestyle to lose weight.

She asked a friend in dietetics school to teach her about portion size and began to pay attention to both what and how much she was eating. She also cut out sugar and refined carbs -- going for an all-or-nothing approach to her diet.

"I just told myself that I dont eat that," she said, referring to sugar and carbs. "That was the first mental change I had to make."

Now, Colabucci focuses on eating a high-protein diet and allows herself quality carbohydrates like black beans and sweet potatoes. On a typical day she said she'll eat an apple and peanut butter for breakfast, a salad with protein for lunch and a chicken breast and vegetables for dinner.

"I feel so much better," she said. "I get sick less and I just have a completely different relationship with food."

Angela Colabucci, 30, of Oceanside, Calif., poses with her son.

Colabucci found a gym with daycare so she could workout outside the home, and found inspiration after the rush of resolution-makers in January had faded away.

"I noticed the gym was now empty and I thought all these people have fallen off and Im still here," said Colabucci, who added strength training and running to her exercise regime. "I wanted to prove them wrong. I was still there."

She also found ways to make her new lifestyle work. If she knows she cannot work out after work, Colabucci squeezes in something during her lunch break.

When she got tired of meal prepping, Colabucci switched to packing up her leftovers from dinner for lunch the next day.

"Time is going to be your best friend and your enemy," she said. "Its so easy to say, 'I dont have time to do this,' but there are so many ways to make it work."

"And changes take time to see, so even if youre seeing changes on the scale, it can be demotivating if you dont feel like its noticed," added Colabucci, who took photos of herself every month for motivation. "But if you keep going, itll happen."

Most importantly for Colabucci, she can now keep up with her son and has made healthy eating habits part of the norm for their family.

"I can definitely keep up with my son now and he's exposed to a lot more healthy foods," she said. "I feel happy, finally."

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This mom lost over 100 pounds and celebrated by running a Tough Mudder race - ABC News

Greggs, the UKs largest bakery chain, will end speculation about its hotly anticipated new vegan snack by launching a meat-free version of its popular steak bake.

Since the runaway success of its meatless sausage roll, the chain which serves more than 6 million customers a week from its 2,000 outlets has been working to develop vegan versions of its other bestselling items.

The new product arrives on Greggs shelves at the start of Veganuary a growing movement that encourages people to embrace plant-based diets during January.

The vegan steak bake has been created to mirror some of the original snacks features, including 96 thin layers of puff pastry but without the egg glaze. The filling is made with pieces of the fungi-based protein Quorn instead of beef, mixed with diced onions and meat-free gravy.

Costing from 1.55, it will go on sale in 1,300 shops from Thursday before being rolled out to the remaining 700 outlets on 16 January.

Greggs chief executive, Roger Whiteside, said: Our vegan sausage roll launch was a huge success and weve been working tirelessly to expand our vegan-friendly offering and provide more delicious savoury food on-the-go options for people looking to reduce their meat intake.

Greggs vegan sausage roll also with a bespoke Quorn filling launched in January 2019 and has become one of its top 10 bestselling products, helping company sales soar by 13.4%. The chain says only 14% of the products customers are strictly vegan, with two-thirds aiming to reduce their meat intake.

Speculation about its successor has been mounting for months but has been rife for the last few days after a sign for a steak bake was spotted in a store and circulated on social media.

The launch comes as retailers expand their vegan and plant-based offerings amid the growing popularity of flexitarian diets where a largely vegetable-based diet is supplemented occasionally with meat.

The Co-op chain is rolling out a new vegan range, called Gro, featuring 35 products, including alternatives to its steak bake, chilli con carne and sticky toffee pudding, that will be stocked in 2,000 stores and up to 4,000 independent retailers through its wholesale operation. The Co-op already offers almost 120 vegan wines but its entire beer and cider range will become vegan in 2020.

This month Waitrose is doubling its vegan range, adding more than 30 new own-label and branded products, of which many are first to market. They include crisp-crumbed fishless goujons made from banana blossom a flesh flower that hails from south-east Asia and a pizza topped with vegan pepperoni.

Meanwhile, diners at KFC will from Thursday be able to buy its new vegan burger now a permanent item on its menu after the success of an earlier trial. The fast-food chains usual finger lickin good chicken breast is replaced with a Quorn fillet coated in herbs and spices.

More than 100,000 people have already pledged to stick to a plant-based diet for Veganuary, double the number who took part last year.

Read the original here:
Greggs launches meatless steak bake to beef up its vegan range - The Guardian

The New Year offers a sensational opportunity to harness the unrivaled goodness and power of healthy living. Here are 10 easy, delicious and totally doable New Years resolutions that come with a science-backed guarantee to guard and improve your health and vitality.

Adding beans to your diet is a healthy, filling trick. (Getty Images)

Dark leafy greens should be part of your everyday diet. (Getty Images)

Nuts are a good snack when counting calories. (Getty Images)

Adding oily fish like salmon enhances our overall diet. (Getty Images)

Getting good sleep goes a long way in your overall wellness. (Getty Images)

Its easier than ever to substitute whole grains for the traditional white starches. (Getty Images)

Wishing you and your loved ones joy, peace and good health in the New Year.

Dr. Ann Kulzeis founder and CEO of Just Wellness and has a knack for breaking down the science of healthy eating and living into simple and easily digestible messages. She has been featured on Dr. Oz, Oprah and Friends, WebMD and U.S. News & World Report. Alabama NewsCenter is publishing advice from Dr. Ann.

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Dr. Ann Kulze shares New Year's resolutions that really work - Alabama NewsCenter

Its been a year since I said goodbye to you. Your cheesy delights, your garlic-dusted edges. I gave you up for a full 365 days, and to be frank, it was a terrible year. I dont mean that in the hyperbolic way that lovers do when theyre finally reunited. I mean that it was a Bad Year, and after all this time, I guess Im just one pizza-hungry Andrew Lincoln, standing outside your door with several sheets of poster board that reveal my Dominos order. But like Andrew, I know now that I can walk away.

Over the year, I attended way more pizza parties than youd think youd ever come across as an adult. Seriously, people love you, you delicious muse. Hell, I went to an actual pizza wedding, where I saw you across the room, piping hot and waiting for me. But I turned my head away, mostly because the wedding was in England, and can you even imagine if the one time we reunited was when I was drunk and you were English? Banish the thought. But in all those parties and weddings and other moments of temptation, I resisted. Ive learned that I can live in this world without you. I just dont want to.

A year ago, I wanted to find a better me, so I put distance between us, blaming my shortcomings on a hand-tossed crust that had never asked for anything more than my presence. I'd turn to you in the face of any problem, and then I'd blame you for the consequences. When I had a bad day? Pizza. When I got into an argument with my boyfriend? Pizza. But when you weren't there, the problems didn't go away. In the wake of your absence, I gained 15 pounds and nursed bad days with chicken wings or French fries or wine. I realized the problem in our relationship had always been me. I could blame that seared cheese topping, the crisp of a pepperoni, all day long. But the operative word there is "blame." Thats a tough place to be inlooking at your considerably less-defined jawline in the mirror and knowing its that way because of, well, your own actions. To quote Billie Eilish, Im the bad guy. Duh.

A year ago, I looked to you as the cause of hardships I wasn't willing to face. I cast my best friendnay, my loveraside because it was easier to blame you than it was to recognize that I funnel other issues into the things I love. Pizza nor fries nor wine can fix any problem that isn't hunger or sobriety. They sure as hell can't fix a bad day. And for all of 2019, I imagined that if something happened to me...if I werent on this earth anymore...the last memory Id have of you was from so long ago. A break-up made in haste, after a life spent loving you so wholeheartedly.

A break-up made in haste, after a life spent loving you so wholeheartedly.

Maybe this year apart was worth it, because I learned that to love youtruly love youis to not take advantage of you. To have pizza in my life is to also be able to recognize the days when it shouldn't be there, days when I would have previously used pizza as a band-aid for a bigger problem. On those days, perhaps its worth looking inward and asking if Im inviting you in because of our mutual love, or just because I need your presence to distract from something else, like work anxiety or the release of a subpar Taylor Swift album. Maybe I can find other ways to re-channel that stress, like running or vegetables. Just kidding, vegetables are gross.

I hope youre not mad at me. If youll have me, Id love for us to meet up again. Because as tempting as it is to turn to you in times of stress, I also know that some of my favorite moments were spent with you. Remember all those nights watching The Bachelor? You loved The Bachelor! Monday evenings filled with crazy white people choosing each other for high-end dates and then explaining away how they were there for the right reasons. On those nights, we were the ones there for the right reasons. Just one man, one pizza, mutually respecting each others saltiness.

I would like for us to try that now. The long-lost 2004 country band Lonestar said it best: Lets be us again. Life is too short to give up the things you love, yet too long to abuse them. Ill see you whenever youre ready, with a bit of hot sauce on the side.

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How I Lived a Year Without Pizza - No Pizza Diet Results - Esquire.com

The holiday season is notoriously indulgent: holiday parties and gifts lead to an abundance of sugary foods, meat, and alcohol. Like clockwork, many indulgers commit to a shift in diet upon themidnight stroke of the clock on December 31. This social construct of resolving to have "good" health in the new year takes many forms:Dry January for some, fad diets or exercise resolutions for others.

I found myself applying this same logic of indulgence over Christmas dinner extra glasses of wine and seconds of myuncles perfectly seared ribeye I excused as "indulgences" for which I'd atone in the next year. Then, on January 1, I would take on a cleaner diet, abstain from alcohol, and avoid meat for a month, or maybe longer. I even vowed not to weigh myself in December, and to wait till January to do so. Like I said, I was indulging.

If youre an American who makes a New Years resolution an estimated 40 percent of us do there is a high chance it relates to exercise or nutrition. At some point in recent history, New Years resolutions became synonymous with physical well-being, generally the shape and state of our body. But what about mental health? The obsessing over diet and weight, of which I am clearly a victim, is of course related to mental health to the way I was socialized, and how my mind has interpreted the way that my body should appear and look in public, a byproduct of a patriarchal culture. Pondering this led me to think: am I focusing on the wrong "kind" of health? What if my insecurities about my body were what was unhealthy?

Of course, the two "types" of health physical and mental are intimately intertwined, even inextricable, as health experts and doctors will attest. Studies show that mental health disorders are strongly associated with the risk and outcome of diseases like diabetes, heart disease and cancer. That suggests that focusing on mental health is of utmost important when it comes to physical health, and one may beget the other.

In 2019, the most-Googled health question was How to lower blood pressure? Google's top search results for this query included diet suggestions, weight loss and exercising more. But what about reducing stress? A randomized trial of adults showed that an eight-week program of relaxation response and stress management techniques lessened the amount of medication some of the participants needed to control their blood pressure.

What is keto? ranked number two among all health questions asked of the popular Internet search engine. The most Googled diet in 2019 was the Intermittent Fasting Diet, in which dieteres eat in specific time intervals. The second-most Googled diet was the Dr. Sebi diet, which consists of a list of approved vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, seeds, oils, and herbs. (Animal products are a no-no under Sebi.)

Unless one's goal is in weight loss or dieting is to fulfill a doctor's recommendation, it may well be healthier to have other resolutions related to other aspects of health particularly mental health.Dieting is often driven by the desire of wanting to feel better not just physically, but mentally. We want to go from feeling sluggish in the morning to excited for the day when we wake up, anxious to secure, being caught in a brain fog to feeling clear. There is science that suggests what you eat affects your mental health, but good mental health can lead to good physical health. Perhaps its time to reframe which one we prioritize or at the very least, treat them both equally.

The status of mental health across all generations in the U.S. could be better. According to a Blue Cross Blue Shield Association report published in 2019, major depression rates among millennials have increased by 31 percent. Psychotic conditions have increased by 15 percent. Substance abuse has risen by 10 percent.

The health status of millennials will likely have substantial effects on the American economy over the next two decades including workplace productivity and healthcare costs, the Blue Cross researchers stated. Separate research found that younger Americans are very lonely, and college students face an anxiety epidemic. The number of 18 to 26-year-old college students who report suffering from anxiety disorder has doubled since 2008. According to the CDC, 20 percent of people 55 years old or older experience some type of mental health problem; the most common are anxiety and depression.

Focusing on your mental health doesnt have to mean getting a therapist if youre not ready, although that is a great place to start. It could be as simple as spending more time in nature, exercising more (not to lose weight, but to generally feel good), volunteering, spending more time with people you love, or as Jenny ODell writes in her book "How to Do Nothing," do nothing in a way that refuses the act of being productive. In other words, follow the advice of a cheesy bumper sticker: be in the moment, do you.

In 2018, Mel Schwartz, a psychotherapist, explained to me that a lot of depression is situational (clinical depression aside). Obviously there are many cases of people who are clinically depressed, Schwartz said. But the majority of depression is situational it is not seeing your way out of debt, living in a culture of intense competition where you are being told if you dont succeed you are a loser. Schwartz added that situational depression is also about a loss of meaning and purpose, which can be enabled by the culture of capitalism. The hyper-focus on winning and succeeding drives a lot of this emotional and psychological disaster, he added.

This brings me to my next point: New Years resolutions have a tendency to cause more harm than good. When accomplished, setting goals in general can lead to many benefits. However, if there is failure to achieve that goal, anxious and depressive symptoms may follow, especially if it is prompted by motivational conflict, which is when someone has an urge to fulfill a goal, but there is an opposing factor to their achieving that goal like the reality of everyday life. While we want to make change, its important to not set ourselves up for failure.

As author Jessica Knoll wrote in a popular op-ed for the New York Times: The diet industry is a virus, and viruses are smart. Today, expensive diet regimes, diet pills, and meal plans are sold under the guise of wellness and being healthy. I've written before about this exploitative aspect of the wellness industry, and why it is crucial to resist it. Better to focus on your mental health. Theres a lot of stress and change on the horizon like the rise of the far-right and the threat of climate change and we must be in a good place mentally to persevere.

Continued here:
Why a mental health resolution might be superior to a diet resolution - Salon

Tis the season for eating all of the things, followed by feeling bad about eating all of the things, followed by vowing to get your shit together with the help of a trendy, hard-to-pronounce lifestylebecause body positivity may be brightening our feeds, but diet culture is still here to tell us we suck at food.

Lets be very real: This whole new year, new you mess isnt entirely about getting clearer skin or improving your gut health (although if those are your true goals, then, obvi, fine). Most people attempt super-restrictive diets to become smaller versions of themselves. And honestly, Im going keto is now a more socially acceptable phrase than Im trying to lose weight.

Eating according to a hyperspecific plan is stressful and makes you miss things like noodles, wine, and fruit. FRUIT! So then when you inevitably cave and eat a bag of Cheez-Its, you feel shitty, hate yourself, and swear on your Lululemons that on Monday youll start being good again. Can we all just...not anymore? Even science is over ithard-core dieting for anything but medical necessity negatively impacts peoples mental health, says clinical psychologist Sari Chait, PhD. Here, more reasons to sit out the restrictive food crazes this year (and maybe, like, forever).

Every January, curious Googlers search for this elimination diet every January, which puts a 30-day ban on added sugar, soy, beans, peanuts, sweeteners, grains, dairy, almost all processed foods, and booze. (If you consume one of said substances, even on day 25, you have to start all over). The theory is that these things cause inflammation in your body, and skipping them will curb cravings and boost your metabolism.

But while slashing processed foods and alcohol is definitely not not good for you, theres no evidence that following this plan will squash your chip cravings or spike the amount of cals you burn, says Jessica Cording, RD, author of The Little Book of Game Changers. As for the suggestion that this or any diet can reset your body...well, take that claim with a big grain of pink Himalayan salt, says Cording.

Created in 2014 by Mark Hyman, MD, this bb is a mashup of paleo (no processed foods, dairy, alcohol, added sugar, or grains) and veganism (no animal products). Yet some sustainably raised, grass-fed animal protein and fish and eggs are allowed, as are gluten-free grains and beans. So? Its just a more restrictive version of the Mediterranean diet, says Scott Keatley, RDN. Its heavy on fish and healthy fat, but it demonizes dairy and gluten, which are fine for most people. FWIW, telling the average person that nutrient-rich foods are bad for them just encourages a shame-y relationship with eating. (Not the healthiest news, considering Pinterest searches for eating pegan skyrocketed 337 percent last year.)

Okay, so this emotional roller coaster of a diet involves eating whatever you wantbut only during certain hours or on certain days of the week. Then you go long periods (like, up to 16 hours) without ingesting anything. Google searches for this fad hit an all-time high last January and show no signs of stopping. But science is way less enthusiastic. Studies suggest that calorie restriction can increase life span in animalsbut not, so far, in humans. And fasting does def cause some people to go HAM when they do eat. Were wired to consume more after restricting, says Cording. So to repeat: This. Is. Pointless.

"I stopped giving so many fucks and it changed my life."

amazon

The F*ck It Diet: Eating Should Be Easy

Ive done Atkins and South Beach. I once dabbled in calorie counting before going raw vegan. When that left me exhausted, I tried paleo. For 10 years, I micromanaged everything I ate to the point of obsession. But no matter how diligent I was (or how long I lurked on diet message boards), all I thought about were cookies. I started dreaming of being a food writer because I was so passionate about bougie foodbut turns out, I was just hungry. My new lifestyle: less effs, more carbs. Now, my appetite issues are healed. I sleep better, have more energy, and no longer obsess over pastaI just eat it. And I finally feel like a human again.

Read more from the original source:
Three Diets You're Considering RN and Why They're Dumb - Cosmopolitan

NBCs drama series, This Is Us, is unique in its genre because it showcases an obese couple, Toby and Kate.

In a world were most TV characters are thin, its refreshing to see something new. But this season, a major plot point is Tobys new diet. Were all excited to see him get healthy, but some are concerned that Toby may be taking this new lifestyle too far.

Could this damage his relationship with Kate or be dangerous to his health? Lets find out what people are saying about this season.

Weight concerns have always been a part of Toby and Kates relationship. They met at a weight-loss support group and bonded over calorie-counting. But since the birth of their new son, Jack, theyve gone in different directions.

While Toby has focused on healthy living, Kate is back to overeating. However, Toby has a good reason for these changes. At the end of season three, Toby had a heart attack.

Fans predict that major weight loss may be in store for Toby, but if theyre basing this prediction on the actor that plays him, Chris Sullivans current body weight than they could be off track.

According to US Weekly, Sullivan actually wears a fat suit to play Toby. So when his character slims down, Sullivan wont have to make any diet changes in his own life to continue playing him.

However, Sullivan does have previous experience with weight loss and understands what its like to struggle.During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live, Sullivans co-star, Chrissy Metz who plays Kate, explained why he was the perfect actor for this role. Chris has been heavier, she said, and I think he does understand the plight of being overweight.

However, most fans are reacting to Tobys recent obsession with his new diet and exercise program. The general consensus among fans is that theyre happy to see him get healthy but worry about his relationship with Kate because of the changes. The problem seems to be that Toby isnt just losing weight, but last season, he was actively hiding his new routines from Kate.

Although it may seem strange that Toby would hide his healthy changes from his wife,co-showrunner Isaac Aptaker explained to Entertainment Weekly that its because hes protecting her.

[Kates] breastfeeding, Aptaker said, shes tending to an infant around the clock, shes not at a place in her life where she is necessarily most suited to being on a strict diet or on a strict weight-loss plan. But Toby has found this path thats working for him, and because he doesnt want to rub it in her face hes making the choice to keep it a secret. Thats dangerous in any relationship, keeping secrets like that.

This season, Kate saw Tobys transformed body, and she isnt happy about it. Most fans resented her for acting like that. One commenter explained it well on Reddit. Instead of being happy that her husband who almost died of a heart attack is taking responsibility to lose weight and be a healthy father, they wrote, she instead loathes him for it and in addition, goes back to overeating herself making her already obese and unhealthy self an even bigger risk of leaving her child without a mother.

All the secrets and now drastic lifestyle changes and resentment, Toby and Kate have plenty of obstacles to tackle this season.

With all the new changes in Tobys life, some were concerned that he may be taking things too far. However, Aptaker explained that the new lifestyle is actually really healthy, mentally and physically, for Toby.

Hes a guy whos had significant mental health problems and struggled with clinical depression, Aptaker told Entertainment Weekly. And now hes faced with this massive curveball finding out his son is blind, and hes found an outlet for himself for all that anxiety, for all of that pain, and that is at the CrossFit gym.

This Is Us doesnt appear to be taking Toby in an obsessive direction. Instead, hes moving towards a really healthy place. We just hope he doesnt pay for that with his relationship.

See original here:
'This Is Us': Is Toby Dangerously Obsessed With His New Diet? - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

Most Americans follow a standard Western diet high in red meat, processed foods, and sugar. Scientists hope that by moderately incorporating one type of red meat into this meal plan, it will become more appealing to a larger group.

Implementing the Mediterranean-pork diet into the broader population would also reduce beef production, which contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. "Pork production emits only a fraction of the greenhouse gases compared to beef," Wade said in a news release, "and the Med-Pork diet is really ticking all boxestaste, health, and environment."

These environmental and cognitive effects combined can create a healthier future for the aging population, who are expected to outnumber children in the coming years. Dementia and cardiovascular health are concerns for seniors, but these new lifestyle changes can support both the brain and the heart.

"We're hoping that more people will find this dietary pattern to be more in line with their accustomed eating patterns and therefore more adoptable," Wade said.

Want to try it out? Here's our beginner's guide to the Mediterranean diet and our ultimate Mediterranean diet shopping list (which you will need to add fresh, lean pork to, if that's of interest).

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Does This Spin On The Mediterranean Diet Make It More Accessible? - mindbodygreen.com

The idea behind Noom is to look at weight loss from a mind-body perspective. When you first sign up, they of course ask questions about your height and weight, health history, and where you live. But they also ask about your goals, dieting history, and any life events that may have caused weight gain, to come up with a customized plan for you.

Then, over the course of the eight weeks, the app has you look at things like your food demons and triggers, and how to develop healthier habits like managing stress, so you can learn how to keep the weight off when the program is said and done.

Through coaching and personalized meal and/or workout plans, the app also claims to help you adopt healthier patterns faster.

One 2016 study of almost 36,000 Noom users found 78% percent of them had sustained their weight loss over nine months.

Link:
Diets To Watch In 2020: What Is The Noom Diet & How Does The App Work? - mindbodygreen.com