Modern Metabolic Health with Dr. Lindsay Ogle, MD

Keeping Weight Off For Good

• Lindsay Ogle, MD

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Ever wonder why some people keep weight off for years while most drift back within months? We dug into the National Weight Control Registry and our clinic playbook to map the real-world habits that turn short-term results into long-term health. No fads, no quick fixes—just the daily moves that quietly stack wins: food choices that reduce hunger, walking that protects muscle and mood, and morning routines that steer the day before cravings get loud.

We start by reframing the goal from dieting to durable health. You’ll hear how nearly all long-term maintainers changed their food environment, simplified meals, and used protein to stabilize blood sugar. We talk about why walking an hour a day is the unsung hero of maintenance, how brief post-meal strolls blunt glucose spikes, and where light strength work fits to preserve lean mass. We also break down the breakfast advantage, the surprising power of a weekly weigh-in as a neutral compass, and the benefits of guarding your evenings from endless screens to make room for movement, prep, and sleep.

From there, we get personal: how to build joy and support outside of food so stress doesn’t hijack your plan, and why self-compassion beats perfection when life gets messy. We address medications with nuance—how to taper, space doses, or switch agents for maintenance without shame—and explain the biology of appetite that makes ongoing support both reasonable and effective. The throughline is simple: create a life where healthy defaults are easy, flexible, and repeatable.

If this conversation helps you or someone you love, share it with a friend, hit subscribe, and leave a quick review. Your support helps others find trustworthy guidance and build a maintenance plan they can actually live with.

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Dr. Lindsay Ogle:

Welcome to the Modern Metabolic Health Podcast with your host, Dr. Lindsay Ogle, Board Certified Family Medicine and Obesity Medicine Physician. Here we learn how we can treat and prevent modern metabolic conditions such as diabetes, PCOS, fatty liver disease, metabolic syndrome, sleep apnea, and more. We focus on optimizing lifestyle while utilizing safe and effective medical treatments. Please remember that while I am a physician, I am not your physician. Everything discussed here is provided as general medical knowledge and not direct medical advice. Please talk to your doctor about what is best for you. This video is for you. If you have been successful at losing weight but have really struggled at weight maintenance, maintaining that weight loss, and are very frustrated with the back and forth, constant dieting, and are looking for a long-lasting solution. I'm gonna give you just that. I'm going to give you the secrets of people who have been able to maintain their weight loss. What are they doing? What makes them successful? I will give you all of that in this video. So without further ado, let's talk about how to maintain the weight loss that you have worked so hard to achieve. The National Weight Control Registry is an amazing database that pulls information from adults who have been able to lose at least 30 pounds and maintain that weight loss for at least a year. Now, this is remarkable because most people who lose 30 pounds or any significant amount of weight for their body, most people end up gaining that weight back by the end of a year, which is incredibly frustrating and can be demoralizing as well as have as well as having a negative impact on their metabolic health long term. So I want to give you all of the tools that you need to be successful and maintain that weight loss that you have worked so hard to achieve. Before I jump into what those people are doing who have been successful, let's just talk about who they are. So these are adults. On average, the women are 45, and on average, the men are 49. About 80% women, 20% men. The participants in this registry have lost anywhere from 30 to 300 pounds and maintain that weight loss again for at least a year, but on average, five and a half years. So what are they doing that is so successful? What is absolutely crucial to know is that 98% of participants modified their food intake in some way. So this is intuitive to us. We constantly hear you can't outrun a bad diet, and even with our medication options and bariatric surgery, we know that part of that success, if not the majority of that success, is related to portion control and modifying what types of foods that people are eating. So that is mandatory. 45% of these patients were able to accomplish their weight loss and weight maintenance on their own. 55% utilize some sort of program. There was not one particular program that they were using in general, and that highlights that there is no right or wrong way to achieve your weight loss and weight maintenance. If you've tried doing it on your own, maybe it's time to join a program. And especially one that is focused on not only weight loss, but improving your health, because that is really what the goal here is. Another really important thing to note is that 94% of participants increase their physical activity, and the majority of this was done by walking. So by no means do you need to run a marathon, join a CrossFit gym, do yoga, or any other type of exercise that you do not enjoy. You get to pick here, and it can be as simple as walking. But 90% of these participants exercise on average one hour per day. But these people are moving, they are staying active, they are maintaining their muscle mass through this activity, they are burning calories through this activity. This is what is going to help with weight maintenance. Exercise is not, is most likely not going to help you with the weight loss itself, but once you've reached your weight loss goal, exercise is going to help you maintain it. So while you're on that weight loss journey, it's important to start to develop the habit of exercise so that you can continue that during your weight maintenance journey so you can be successful. Next thing may come as a surprise to many people, and it is that 78% of participants ate breakfast every day. Intermittent fasting has become so popular that many people think that they have to skip breakfast or even eat once per day to be successful, and that is just not the case. Most people can't maintain that lifestyle long term. And again, our goal is not short-term weight loss, it is long-term health. And so, if that is what your goal is, then consider eating a healthy breakfast each morning, something that has some protein in it that will help stabilize your blood sugar and your hunger levels throughout the day. You're much less likely to eat or binge at nighttime if you eat breakfast. So definitely something to consider again for that long-term success. This next point may also be somewhat controversial, but 75% of participants weigh themselves at least weekly. Now, many people have a negative relationship with the scale, and that is something to definitely take note of. Now, this is probably the hardest one for most of us, but 62% of participants watch less than 10 hours of TV per week. This really, I think, ties into a couple of things. One, the importance of being physically active. So if you're not watching TV, you are most likely up and doing something else, moving your body in some sort of way. Whether that is exercise or not. Food is tasty, it can add to an experience, but if that is your only source of joy in your day-to-day life, then you're going to need to rely on it. You're going to need more food during periods of stress and when you're not doing so well. So if you are able to have other sources of joy, other things that you can lean on to, those relationships that you've built over time, that is going to help you cope through the struggles that life is inevitably going to bring to you if you have that developed rather than turning to food during that time. I'm gonna add on an extra bonus, extra bonus tip here is that if you are using a medication for your weight loss, it is likely that you are going to need to continue that medication long term for your weight maintenance. And that could look like reducing the dose and being on a lower dose. It could look like spacing out the medication, taking it less often. It may look like switching to a different medication, but it whatever you do to lose weight, you usually have to continue to maintain that weight loss. And again, that makes sense. If the medication is helping you to suppress your hunger, once you take that medication away, your hunger is gonna go back up. And it is never a bad or a wrong thing if you have gotten off a medication, you're noticing that your weight is coming back on, you can start the medication again. That is okay. Do not hesitate to reach out to your doctor for support and guidance during that time. I hope this helps. I hope more and more people are able to maintain that weight loss that they worked so hard for. You deserve it, you deserve health, happiness. But remember, do not wait for happiness and self-love for a certain body shape or size. You can have that now, but you can also want improved health for yourself. And with that self-love now, you'll be able to achieve that health and maintain it long term. Thank you for listening and learning how you can improve your metabolic health in this modern world. If you found this information helpful, please share with a friend, family member, or colleague. We need to do all we can to combat the dangerous misinformation that is out there. Please subscribe and write a review. This will help others find the podcast so they may also improve their metabolic health. I look forward to our conversation next week.