Participants on a self-directed dietary education program who had the greatest success at losing weight across a 25-month period consumed greater amounts of protein and fiber, a study found. Personalization and flexibility also were key in creating plans that dieters could adhere to over time. 

At the one-year mark, successful dieters (41% of participants) had lost 12.9% of their body weight, compared with the remainder of the study sample, who lost slightly more than 2% of their starting weight, according to a paper on the study published in Obesity Science and Practice. 

The dieters were participants in the Individualized Diet Improvement Program, which uses data visualization tools and intensive dietary education sessions to increase dieters’ knowledge of key nutrients, enabling them to create a personalized, safe and effective weight-loss plan, said Manabu T. Nakamura, a professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the leader of the research.

Read more from the Illinois News Bureau.