Was Ernest Successful at the DPP Lifestyle Change Program?

Weighing 200 pounds at five feet eleven inches, with BMI of 27, Ernest joined the Diabetes Prevention Program. He wanted to prevent diabetes especially so his brother was already diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. His doctor told him he probably will have diabetes so he signed up for the DPP lifestyle intervention program.

Ernest had never tried to lose weight before so everything was new to him. his wife supported him 100% and in fact joined him in this intervention program. The 7% weight loss goal would bring his weight down to 186 pounds.

His goal for fat gram was to consume not more than forty-two grams of fat each day. He found it interesting to have to read the nutrition labels on the food they purchased. He was bent on making changes on his fat gram intake by reducing fat from salad dressings and butter. How did he do this?

He substituted lower fat variety of the butter and salad dressings. His wife started preparing food using less cooking oil and on days when they ate their favorite food with more fat content, Ernest looked ahead by consuming less fat at breakfast and next day's lunch so he won't go over his goal of the forty-two grams of fat per day when calculating his weekly consumption.

As for his physical activity, Ernest enjoyed playing basketball but he could do this only once a week. So he was not consistent with the 150 minutes per week that he would like to have. In order to get around this, Ernest thought he should put in lifestyle activities into his every day routine. How did he do it?

He decided to ride his bike to work every day. He also rode his bike to go home from work. He also asked a buddy of his to jog with him several times a week. Slowly but surely, he started to lose weight over the sixteen sessions of the lifestyle intervention program.

He observed a problem though. Every time he went on vacation he would gain some weight back. The same thing happened whenever he went to barbecues with his friends. His favorite food was Italian dishes which were sometimes high in fat. Do you think he will solve this problem? Tune in next week and let's see what happens to Ernest.