You’ve been waiting for this a long time, surviving on Wheat Thins, Diet Anything and wilting lettuce for two months. It was worth it, however, as you lost that nagging 10 pounds.

Once your plane landed and you slid on your SPF 8, you thought you were free. You emptied a 12-pak within minutes and gorged on ice cream sandwiches, Fritos and Pop Tarts. You thought The Diet was over once March 11 hit. Ha.

As you are soaking up rays and the god/goddess next to you, you hear a noise. “Blub.” Yes, it’s fat. Cellulite. F-A-T. How could this happen to you after you worked so hard? How did the weight dare to creep back up?

Contrary to popular belief, diets do not end once the pounds melt off and you bid a belt notch adieu. According to Kenneth Fox, an NIU specialist in the psychology of exercise, anyone can lose weight but the hard part is keeping it off. He added 95 percent of dieters regain the weight within a year.

“Anything that improves that percentage is a success,” Fox said. He said people who exercise are most likely to keep the weight off.

Fox is currently researching how obese people feel about exercise and themselves and why some are more successful than others in keeping the scale the same. “If we know the key factors, we can modify the exercise program to deal with important variables,” he said.

In his research, Fox has found many different factors and variables among dieters. “What impresses me is that there are so many different types of people in terms of exercise history, obesity history, psychology,” he said.

According to Fox, some of these people are self-confident while others are not. He said females are extremely dependent on self-confidence, adding “If they don’t believe they can do it, they won’t do it.”

He said that is true for women more so than men. According to Fox, many obese men are former athletes and more responsive to achievement and enjoyment.

Achievement in dieting most often comes in the form of exercise. Fox said there is much psychological research on how to use successful dieters as models for struggling ones. “We can teach people how to exercise,” he said, adding that many people with weight problems shunned exercise as children.

According to Fox, both society and the media may be responsible for fostering avoidance of exercise. There is a tendency for exercise to be associated with a high level of sports performance and health-related programs, he said.

People often do not relate with Mr. Muscle or the slim-and-flat-tummied women they see working out, Fox added. He believes exercise is something that should fit in a family setting, including working in the garden or backpacking on weekends.

He added the glamorized view of exercise must be changed, beginning in altering the focus of physical education in schools. “We must rediscover what success (in exercise) is. It isn’t how fast you can run, not how much weight you can lift, but whether you do it or don’t,” he said.

In his research, funded by the SANDOZ Corporation, Fox plans to administer a questionnaire to 500 members of the Optifast weight-loss program. The six month method, which includes a medically supervised fast, cognitive therapy, a “re-feeding” phase and exercise, boasts newly svelte talk show host Oprah Winfrey as a graduate.

Fox and NIU doctoral candidate Gregory Mucci will be surveying Optifast participants at seven hospitals, three of which are in Illinois. Pre-screening questionnaires will provide full physical and demographic data, he said.

Fox is interested in post-treatment data and the participants’ history and psychosocial factors. He said he also intends to discover their perceptions about exercise and when they first felt that their weight was a problem.

According to Fox, even the most obese have hope. “The amount of overweight is not a predictor of how well people will do in the program_and that shows that success is available to everybody,” he said. He added he used to think some dieters could be limited in weight loss potential, but now believes “people can get a fresh start.”

Fox, who holds a doctorate in fitness education and exercise psychology, said his findings will be published in the “International Journal of Obesity.” He also plans to conduct long-term follow-ups on participants, as well as studying program dropouts.

His research may shed light on our peculiar diet and exercise habits. So, before and after you hit the beach, you may consider going the Heather Locklear/Cher route and venture over to the Rec Center. You may find you will keep that flat and firm bod long after the tan fades. You may even get to enjoy a Twinkie or two.

Or then again, a Wheat Thin.