Maintaining Weight Loss: Why It’s Important and How to Do It

Losing weight is only half the battle. Once you've reached your goal, you might face a new challenge: maintaining that weight loss. 

A research analysis of 29 long-term studies found that people regained more than half the weight they lost within two years and gained more than 80% of the weight they lost after five years.¹

Losing and maintaining weight can be challenging, but it is certainly possible. Below, we detail exactly how to maintain weight loss for the long term so your hard-earned efforts don't feel like they went to waste.

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Why Maintaining Weight Loss Is Beneficial for Your Health

Once you lose the weight, the goal is to keep it off. And that's where all of the health benefits kick in.

Maintaining a healthy body weight is synonymous with living a healthier life. People living with obesity or those who are overweight often have a higher risk of many health conditions, including heart disease, certain cancers, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, stroke, joint issues like osteoarthritis, fertility issues, and breathing problems. Not to mention all the mental health effects of obesity and overweight.

Getting your weight to a healthy range means lowering your risk of developing and dealing with these chronic health conditions. 

If you have osteoarthritis and you're overweight, maintaining a weight loss of just 10 pounds can cut the disease's progression in half. Losing just 5% of your weight (from body fat) can help lower your blood pressure and potentially protect you from heart disease and stroke.^{2, 3}

Maintaining weight loss becomes even more important as we age. As we get older, our metabolic rate changes, often slowing down. A slower metabolism means you have to eat fewer calories or burn more calories during the day (think walking more, adding an extra workout into your week, or finding ways to be more active) to maintain your healthy weight.⁴

<div class="pro-tip"><strong>Also Read: </strong><a href=metabolic-adaptation>What Is Metabolic Adaptation and How Does It Affect Weight Loss?</a>.</div>

Effective Strategies to Maintain Weight Loss

No one embarks on a weight-loss journey to gain back the pounds. But weight regain is very common, and many dieters understandably struggle with it. 

When it comes to maintaining weight loss, you'll find yourself turning to the methods you used during your weight-loss journey — and the key here is staying consistent with them. 

Here are some tried-and-true tricks to help you stay in your happy and healthy weight range:

Take Advantage of Support Systems

The company you keep matters; it's easier to gain weight if your friends and family are also overweight or obese. That's why finding a solid support system can spell the difference between keeping the pounds off or bouncing back into old habits. Research shows that having peer support during your weight-loss journey is linked to reaching a lower weight and body mass index (BMI).⁵

So, what does it mean to have a good support system? If friends and family aren't quite the right fit, try joining online weight loss communities and support groups, hiring a dietitian or fitness trainer, joining group workout classes, or working with a health coach. Having that extra layer of accountability can help make sticking to your goals just a little bit easier… and enjoyable. 

Make Regular Physical Activity a Habit

Making exercise a lifelong habit is one of the best things you can do for your overall health. The list of the health benefits associated with exercise is a very long one.

Research shows that exercising regularly for more than the recommended (150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity per week) helps with long-term weight loss and maintenance.⁶

The key is finding a workout you enjoy because you'll stick to it and reap its long-term benefits. Try different group fitness classes, HIIT, yoga, pilates, CrossFit, weight training, or cycling. 

Combine Diet and Exercise

Exercise helps you achieve a caloric deficit because working out burns calories. This combo is the ultimate recipe for weight loss success when coupled with a healthy diet. Maintaining a healthy, nutrient-dense, calorie-controlled diet can help keep your energy intake at a level that supports weight loss. Meanwhile, resistance and strength training can help you build and maintain lean muscle, which burns more calories at rest. 

Combining a healthy, calorie-controlled diet and a regular fitness regimen can help you strike a balanced approach to weight management.  

Gradually Add Healthy Calories to Find Balance

Once you hit your target weight, you can play around with your calorie intake and see if your body can still maintain the weight loss. Start by adding 200 calories daily from healthy foods prioritizing lean proteins. Try this for a week; if you can maintain your goal weight after the seven days, you can up your calories a bit more, focusing on healthy, high-protein foods.⁷

It might take some time and effort to track what you eat, but adjusting your food intake will help you figure out what works best for keeping your weight steady.

Track Your Food Intake

Whether you prefer tracking calories or macros, keeping tabs on your daily calorie intake is a smart strategy for weight loss and maintenance. Researchers looked at about 72,000 reviews from people who use calorie-tracking apps and found that users agree these apps help them effectively manage their weight.⁸

As you work to find your new perfect daily calorie intake, a food-tracking app can help you see how your meals, snacks, and drinks all factor into your day and figure out how to adjust to fit your new nutritional needs.

Prioritize Protein in Every Meal

Adding more protein to your day can help you combat cravings and avoid overeating. You'll take in fewer calories throughout the day, resulting in a calorie deficit. 

Research shows that eating a low-glycemic diet that's high in protein can help with weight maintenance. So, how high should you go? Aim to get around 30 percent of your daily calories from protein. Eating 1,600 calories a day works out to about 120 grams of protein per day.⁹ 

Prioritize low-calorie protein foods to help you get more of this important macro in your meals. Healthy options include egg whites, lean fish (like tuna, branzino, tilapia, and cod), white meat poultry, unsweetened and non-fat Greek yogurt, and protein powder.

Make It a Lifestyle

The whole point of adopting healthy habits is sticking to them; that's how you avoid weight gain for good. Making sustainable lifestyle changes is where the success lies. Research shows that restructuring your environment (like your home and workplace) to promote healthy behaviors can help you stick to your weight loss goals and maintain your success.¹⁰

That also requires planning ahead. You'll want to keep healthy foods stocked at all times and even set aside some time during the week to meal plan and prep so that you can always find a wholesome meal. Planning ahead requires time and effort, but it'll save you loads of both in the long run.

Consult a Dietitian for Guidance

You could read all the diet advice worldwide, but working with a registered dietitian will help you develop a personalized plan based on your lifestyle, eating habits, goals, and preferences to maintain your new weight. 

Think of it this way: Dietitians take the guesswork out of everything nutrition-related.

Dietitians are pros at analyzing your eating patterns and helping you get all the nutrients you need while maintaining your calorie goal. If you've hit a weight loss plateau or are having trouble maintaining your current calorie intake, working with a dietitian can help you better understand how to adjust your healthy eating plan as your weight and activity levels change. 

What Is Weight Cycling?

Weight cycling, or "yo-yo dieting," is when you repeatedly lose and regain weight.  So you're constantly cycling between a lower and higher weight. Some people think yo-yo dieting can mess with your metabolism, but there isn't any conclusive research that proves this.⁷

Still, weight cycling can be very frustrating. 

Weight cycling is often a result of not setting sustainable habits in the first place. If you lost weight through restrictive practices, such as intense workout regimens, an extreme calorie deficit, and completely cutting out the foods you love, chances are, you won't be able to stick with this in the long run. And that's when you'll regain the weight. 

That's why it's so important to maintain realistic, sustainable weight loss practices. You have to think of it as your new lifestyle. 

Learn How to Improve Your Nutrition and Monitor Your Glycemic Index Levels With Signos’ Expert Advice.

Maintaining your hard-earned weight loss is challenging, so you'll want to find nifty ways to help streamline your efforts. A continuous glucose monitor (CGM) like Signos can help you keep the pounds off in the long run by giving you real-time insights into how your body responds to different foods and workouts. That way, you can better predict (and prevent) energy crashes and cravings. 

Ready to try CGMs? Take this quick quiz to find out if Signos is right for you. Discover how to live well with diabetes with the help of Signos' wearable CGM.

<div class="pro-tip"><strong>Learn More: </strong><a href=weight-loss-myths>Weight Loss Myths Debunked</a>.</div>