Lost weight - What now?

3 mins to read

How do you go about keeping weight off once you’ve lost it? Online weight loss coach Andrew Cate believes that a whole new set of weight stability skills are needed.

Weight management

Is weight maintenance different to weight loss?
Losing weight is a challenging process for many people, but maintaining that loss over the long-term can be just as difficult. Once someone loses weight, it’s not uncommon for them to cut back or to cut out the lifestyle changes that helped initially transform their body shape. Without healthy eating, physical activity and diligent record keeping, people can regain a large proportion of what they have lost within 12 months. It may be possible that maintaining weight loss requires a different set of strategies and habits to those used for weight loss.

The research
A study published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology examined whether learning a number of "stability skills” before losing weight improved long-term weight management. The “maintenance first” group and a control group who focused solely on losing weight achieved a similar result after an initial 28 week period. However, after a 12-month follow-up period, the maintenance first participants regained half as much weight compared to the weight loss only participants. Maintenance first participants regained 20% of the weight they lost whereas the weight loss only participants regained 43% of the weight they lost. This was described as a striking result for the maintenance first group considering both groups had no contact with intervention staff during the 12-month follow-up. It was noted that no men were involved in this study, so more research is needed before broader conclusions can be drawn.

Strategies to maintain lost weight
The concept of learning a set of weight maintenance skills before attempting to lose weight is new. It’s designed to capitalise on initial motivation, provide an awareness experience for weight stability, and increase an individual’s perceived ability to maintain a stable weight in the future. Ultimately, the result was positive, and it’s worth investigating the types of maintenance skills the participants learnt in this study to keep weight off over the long-term.

1. Be savvy
Learn and understand the basic principles of nutrition, physical activity and energy balance (kilojoules in vs. kilojoules out).

2. Enjoy lifestyle habits
Be more physically active and adopt a healthy diet in appropriate portion sizes without feeling deprived or dissatisfied. A number of strategies were suggested, including:

Find low-kilojoule alternatives to favourite high kilojoule foods that taste good
Actively encourage yourself to savour small portions of favourite high-kilojoule foods, and not see this as a slip up
Learn to develop a positive association with moderation, and focus on food quality rather than quantity
Reduce feelings of deprivation by avoiding comparisons between good foods and bad foods

3. Make peace with the bathroom scales
Monitor your weight regularly to develop a better understanding of fluctuations. Use the information to identify a personal range with distinct lower and upper limits within 1-2 kilograms to account for life’s natural disruptions like vacations or water weight. Develop a relaxed attitude of awareness about your weight, and learn how to deal with small daily fluctuations calmly without feeling pressure to lose weight all the time. When your weight goes past the upper limit, determine how to fine-tune your lifestyle habits in response.

4. Fine-tune lifestyle habits
Make quick, small, and easy adjustments to remain at a steady and stable weight without dramatic shifts in effort or attention. For example:

Make adjustments without keeping daily food/activity records
When your weight nears the lower limit of your range, allow yourself a small indulgence
Avoid weight loss gadgets and gizmos
When weight nears the upper limit of your range, use fine-tuning habits, such as eating smaller portions, savour and enjoy smaller portions mindfully, add 10 minute roundtrip walks, nurture yourself with outlets for stress such as reading for 10 minutes, and focus on how lots of small changes add up.

5. Navigate inevitable disruptions
Recognise that there will be setbacks, and learning to navigate them successfully is essential to avoid an “on/off” approach to weight maintenance. Some suggested strategies were to:

Acknowledge there will be disruptions and setbacks such as holidays, illness and injury
Consciously lose a little weight before a known upcoming disruption such as a holiday so you can indulge a little without guilt
Practice adjusting your lifestyle to navigate disruptions, such as doing extra exercise for 1 week. Reflect on and learn from your experience of successfully navigating a simulated disruption while not being under pressure to lose weight or maintain a weight loss.

References available on request