Key Topic

Weight loss is hard—but keeping it off long term? Even harder. The stats aren’t great, but instead of dwelling on that, we’re asking a better question: What do the people who succeed have in common? In today’s episode, we dive into 8 research-backed habits shared by those who maintain weight loss long term. No gimmicks, just practical, proven strategies to help you beat the odds.

Self Monitoring

  • A very common theme is that they have some form of self-monitoring in place. 
  • This shows up in a variety of ways. 
  • Some involves food portions, either through tracking in an app, using a food diary, or measuring in some way
  • Another angle involves weighing themselves regularly
  • Tracking and weighing too frequently is arguably a controversial topic, but it is also a common theme among people who maintain weight loss.

Meal Planning And/or Prepping Meals in Advance

  • People who maintain weight loss often plan and prep meals in advance

Planning for Events in Advance

  • They are far more likely to research in advance when their routine would be different, for example while travelling or eating out at a restaurant.
  • Obviously we don’t want to take this so far that we are being disorded about it – but some level of mindfulness and planning ahead makes sense 

Home Cooking More Frequently

  • On average they cook/eat at home as a much larger percentage of meals
  • Without thinking too deeply this is obvious
  • For me it’s kind of an interesting one, like a lot of other aspects here. It’s an example of how even though there are so many different ways you can succeed, there are still things that dramatically improve the odds.

Consistent Routine

  • Often people who succeed with long term weight loss have a consistent routine
  • For us, when working with people, this is one of the biggest things that stands out. Among people with larger weight losses, it is often even more noticeable. 
  • Once again you can achieve this goal without a routine. It’s just easier with one.

Clear Plan for What to Do if Body Weight Starts to Increase Again

  • They typically have a clear trigger point where they identify “If X happens, I’ll do Y.”
  • There’s two parts to this. The first is the “If X happens” part. This is part of why either weighing or having some form of monitoring in place makes sense. That way they identify the change a bit earlier. 
  • The other part is the “I’ll do Y” part.
  • My advice is that in most cases, you should just do the thing that worked the first time.
  • It’s so easy to not do that though. For example, many people lose weight, maintain that weight loss for ages, and then when they start to regain it, they try a completely different approach.

Higher Levels of Physical Activity Than Prior to Weight Loss

  • While exercise is not a great tool for short term weight loss, it obviously has a bunch of benefits.
  • For long term weight loss and maintenance of a lower body weight,  it is hugely beneficial.
  • There are some crazy stats out there showing that keeping exercise up during and post-weight loss massively improves the odds of weight loss maintenance.

External Support and Accountability From Professionals

  • This isn’t meant as a shameless plug but it obviously helps to work with a professional. This could be due to helpful knowledge, experience and structure. 
  • Or it could be due to the accountability and support.
  • Or it could be partly due to investing in the process.
  • Either way, it’s cool seeing the research has identified this as a common theme that plays a role in weight loss maintenance.

Summary

There are so many ways to achieve long term weight loss. Technically the main thing is you just need to keep eating maintenance calories roughly on average after weight loss occurs but doing these things just tend to increase the odds of that actually happening.

Relevant Blogs / Resources

Relevant Studies: