Maintaining your weight

Vicki Koenig, MS, RD, CDN

Yo-Yoing is for kids. Do you lose and gain, lose and gain plus? One of the hardest things I help my clients do is lose weight, and then maintain the loss. Practice makes perfect. Research shows that the longer you try, the more successful you are at maintaining your loss. So don’t give up!

If you were very restrictive during dieting, you may have lost fat and muscle. This lowers your metabolic rate. You now need to eat less to maintain the weight loss. This is why dieters plateau and then regain. Yo-yo dieting is frustrating and ultimately not healthy.

You’ve reduced your calories, cranked up the exercise, changed your habits and lost the weight. Now what?

How many calories do you need now?

The amount of calories needed depends on your height, weight and age plus activity level. As a shortcut, try this quick estimate:

Guidelines for keeping the weight off

• Slowly add 50 calories per day to get to maintenance level. If you gain, drop back down.
• Weigh yourself every few days.
• Keep your protein up. In a 2004 article, a slight increase in protein during maintenance after weight loss demonstrated 50% less weight regain with increased satiety. 
• Successful weight maintenance has been associated with continuing low-fat diets, exercise and self-monitoring. Contact with a health professional increases the chances of weight maintenance.
• Eat when you’re hungry. Distract when you’re not. Don’t turn to food to soothe and solve.
• Only eat when you’re eating. This means not during TV, driving, stressful conversations, etc.
• Watch less TV. Successful maintenance is associated with less TV.
• Drink water. Water can thwart weight gain.
• Eat breakfast. Also, eat regularly every 4–6 hours to not get too hungry.
• Be consistent. Don’t binge and deprive. Balance food in.
• Change your lifestyle and you’ll keep the weight off. If you fall back into previous habits, you’ll return to your previous size and then some.

“Your body is the baggage you must carry through life.
The more excess baggage, the shorter the trip.” — E. Glasgow

For more information:

• Layman DK et al. “A Moderate-Protein Diet Produces Sustained Weight Loss and Long-Term Changes in Body Composition and Blood Lipids in Obese Adults.” J Nutr Mar 2009;139(3):514–521.
• Layman DK et al. “Dietary Protein and Exercise Have Additive Effects on Body Composition during Weight Loss in Adult Women.” J Nutr Aug 2005;135:1903–1910.
• Raynor DA et al. “Television Viewing and Long-Term Weight Maintenance: Results from the National Weight Control Registry.” Obesity 2006;14:1816–1824.
• Westerterp-Plantenga MS et al. “High protein intake sustains weight maintenance after body weight loss in humans.” Int J Obes 2004;28:57–64.