Key Topic
While many people successfully lose weight, research shows that a large percentage regain it over time. We explore why this happens and share practical strategies for maintaining weight loss in both the short and long term. Using our experience as dietitians working in body composition and weight management, we provide insight and cover key factors such as sustainable habits, mindset shifts, and adapting strategies to different contexts.
Framework for Assessing Where the Issue Is
- Identifying where the issue is can often be done simply by looking at the timeline and what happened in each phase.
- I’m going to lay out 3 scenarios, each requiring different strategies
1) You lose weight, maintain that loss for more than a few months and then start regaining. (arguably not really a rebound)
2) You lose weight, feel fine on the way down and then not long after exiting the deficit you are regaining.
3) You lose weight, you don’t feel fine on the way down, and then not long after exiting the deficit, you are regaining.
Scenario 1
- If you fit scenario one and it’s not really a rebound, you just regained it months later, the issue isn’t what you did on the way down. It’s likely not even what you did in the transition. It’s what happened months later.
- The game plan here is simple: Do the thing that worked the first time. Then slightly adjust how you do longer term maintenance after that.
- This is simple, but shiny object syndrome is something that needs to be avoided.
- There are going to have to be aspects of what you did on the way down or in that initial maintenance phase that need to be sustainable long term for continued weight maintenance
- Some common examples could include – maintaining regular structured exercise, hitting a step count, focusing on certain aspects of dietary quality & portion control, meal planning and prepping, minimising alcohol intake and takeout etc etc
- It is not the deficit that needs to be sustainable forever, because we don’t want to be losing weight forever BUT there are likely broader lifestyle changes that need to stick
Scenario 2
- If you lost weight and felt fine on the way down, there is a chance that what you did on the way down was an issue. And there’s a very high chance that how you transitioned out of the deficit is an issue.
- We will talk through how to address these in a bit.
Scenario 3
- If you lost weight and DON’T feel fine on the way down, there is a high chance that what you did on the way down was an issue. There is also a chance that the transition out was an issue, but it’s harder to tell since the approach in the deficit might have set you up for failure.
What to Do About the Stuff on the Way Down
- Don’t be too restrictive. If you avoid all your favourite foods, it will only make you want them more.
- Don’t go too low calorie. Don’t do it for too long and don’t get too lean because this can all make a rebound much more likely
- Like we previously spoke about, you will also want to prioritise developing sustainable habits that you can do long term to support long term weight maintenance.
How to Transition Out of a Deficit
- The first step is actually having a plan. Plan how and when you will exit a deficit.
- Plan what it will look like e.g. how many calories will you add or what habits will you adjust.
- Use the logical adjustment approach e.g. if you undershoot or overshoot the appropriate amount of calories, adjust things a bit over time. Don’t change too much too quickly, but don’t stick to something that isn’t working towards what you want.
- Maintain the same tools and habits that you used on the way down, just do that on higher calories.
- If you reduced food flexibility, slowly increase it. But do NOT do it all at once.
- Also, as a tangent, don’t have your instagram or tiktok be too food focused. This is a trap that a lot of people fall into during a deficit.
- The first month is super important. If you get through that, then the odds of success become quite high. It arguably makes sense to prioritise this phase even more than the deficit.
Summary
- The longer you maintain, typically the easier it becomes to maintain.
- Identifying whether the issue was what you did on the way down or during the transition is important. Sometimes people did everything right on the way down and then just needed to adjust how they transition out.
- So step 1 is identifying where things have gone wrong for you, and step two is adjusting your approach accordingly
Relevant Blogs/Research
Relevant Blog Posts:
Nutrition for Fat Loss: Everything You Need to Know
Relevant Tool:
Calorie Calculator | Ideal Nutrition
Relevant Podcast: