If you do the work, you lose the weight!

Not surprisingly, participants in the first year of the Montana CVD and Diabetes Prevention Project who most closely followed the DPP curriculum lost more weight than participants who did not.

Participants who monitored their fat grams (by writing them down in a food journal) at least 4 days of the week, every week and exercised at least 150 minutes per week (about 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week) lost an average of 19 lbs.

By contrast, participants who exercised at least 150 minutes per week, but never kept track of their fat grams only lost 4 lbs, on average.

Why monitor fat grams?

In order to lose weight, we must eat less calories than our body burns. High fat foods are calorie dense, meaning there are a lot of calories packed into a small amount of food. There are 9 calories in 1 gram of fat, compared to 4 calories in 1 gram of carbohydrates (or carbs). We can cut more calories by reducing a high fat food than we could if we reduced the same portion of low fat food. Also, eating a diet high in fat is associated with high cholesterol, which can put us at risk for heart disease and diabetes.

MT CVD and DM Prevention Project Update

The Montana Cardiovascular Disease and Diabetes Prevention Program has been underway for the past eight months promoting lifestyle change to decrease the incidence of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The first group of participants completed the 16 session core curriculum at the end of the summer, and is now enrolled in the six month follow-up phase. Throughout the 16 weeks participants worked towards the goals of 7 % weight loss and 150 minutes/week of physical activity.

Preliminary data from the four sites show a total enrollment of 355 participants, with 293 completing the 16 week core curriculum. Participants lost an average of 14.6 pounds or 6.6 % of their total body weight. The 7 % weight loss goal was achieved by 45 % of the participants and 38 % of participants met the physical activity goal over half of the time. Ninety-seven percent of participants lost weight and reductions were seen in blood pressure, LDL, blood glucose levels, triglycerides and total cholesterol.

The six month follow-up period that participants are in now is referred to as the After Core. During the After Core, participants attend six monthly face to face meetings covering a wide variety of topics including diet, exercise, diabetes risk factors, healthful cooking and others related to weight maintenance. This phase of the program provides critical ongoing support to participants still working on lifestyle changes.

The four sites have also started enrolling participants for the next 16 week session and some have groups currently underway. Sites will be enrolling 125 participants for the next year with half starting in the fall and the other half starting after the New Year.

How-to

Keeping track tips and tricks:

1. Keeping track with the "little blue book"

Physical Activity

• Physical Activity Guidelines
• Being Active in Cold Weather
• Winter Weather Walking

Try a new activity

• Fencing