The show is on 7 pm eastern time tonight...looks like the Atkins guy didn't do so well after the challenge was over.
By John Larson
Dateline NBC
Updated: 3:32 p.m. ET March 14, 2004
By the time they reached their 25th high school reunion, the hard work had been already been done. In nine months they all had lost a boatload of weight. At their reunion last October, their classmates raved at our dieters' new look. But the question on many minds is, could they keep it off?
John Larson: “How many of you think this change will essentially be permanent?”
Everybody thought so, except one: Rick Burnes, our high school football touch guy who went from 328 to 220, losing a 108 pounds on the Atkins diet.
Rick Burnes: “I don't know, I just had the attitude of just, you know, let's do the challenge, see what happens.”
So what happened? Rick planned to take a little time off and then return to his diet, but...
Rick Burnes: “That went a little longer than a little time off.”
He started gaining weight almost immediately. By the end of the football season he'd put on 24 pounds.
Rick Burnes: “I blame that on the Patriots.”
After all that hard work, Rick was now up to 244. But that's not so unusual according to experts.
Lisa Sanders: “Most dieters, fail in this part, not in the weight loss part.”
Dr. Lisa Sanders specializes in obesity at Yale University and is the author of "The Perfect Fit Diet.” She believes keeping weight off is much more complex than just losing weight.
Lisa Sanders: “It's the difference between dating and marriage. When you think about a diet as aberration, then you're looking for the motorcycle, tattooed guy that's going to be fun to be around. But you're not thinking long term. You have to think of a diet as a long term relationship between you and your body.”
Recent national research is discouraging, showing that nine out of 10 people who successfully lose weight gain it all back within a year. Our dieters did great losing weight with their high school reunion approaching and Dateline's camera's watching. But that was then. This next year may be the most telling of their lives.
Who of our six will best unlock the secrets to long term weight loss?
Marc Merlis, a ladies man back in high school, went from 245 to 210. He lost 35 pounds on hypnosis. When we last left the Merlis family, things couldn't have been better.
Cheryl Merlis: “We had a phenomenal year.”
But within a few weeks, Marc had stopped going to the hypnotist, stopped exercising and started overeating.
Cheryl Merlis: “Once he starts –“
Marc Merlis: “I can't stop.”
Cheryl Merlis: “He can't stop.”
Marc Merlis: “I don't know if you call that binging.”
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4488471/