Maintaining Weight Loss: Obesity affects about 40 percent of Americans, which has enormous repercussions for their physical and mental health as well as their ability to pay for medical care. Even though there are fewer obese people in California (approximately 25%, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), the expenses to the state as a whole are still quite high.

It should come as no surprise that the diet industry is a lucrative one. Everywhere you go, someone is pushing a diet, such as the ketogenic diet, which is high in fat and low in carbohydrates; the paleo “caveman diet;” basic low-carb or low-fat diets; or vegan, flexitarian, or Mediterranean eating regimens.

The possibilities and the buzz appear to have no limit. And many of these diets do result in weight loss for their participants.

Weight Loss Maintenance

The difficult part is going to be keeping the weight loss. According to Katie Rankell, a registered dietitian and the program director of the UCI Health Weight Management Program, studies reveal that the majority of dieters end up regaining the weight they lost within three to five years after going on a diet.

Why is it the case? According to Rankel, there is a powerful psychological factor that is responsible for weight loss, and it plays a significant role.

“When most individuals start their quest to lose weight, they believe that dropping the weight will be the most difficult aspect of the process. When they reach their goal weight, they experience a sense of accomplishment. But in the end, they immediately go back to their previous ways.”
When this occurs, Rankell will tell you that you will gain weight.

Changes in both behavior and lifestyle are required.

According to Rankell, the key to successfully maintaining weight loss is to make a variety of modifications to one’s behavior and lifestyle to combat deeply established, lifetime behaviors. And this is not a simple task. She claims that a “large amount of one’s weight is psychological.” “If it were just a matter of hunger, we would eat only when we were hungry and quit only when we were satisfied.

“I believe that maintaining a healthy lifestyle after weight loss needs much more work than it did to lose the weight in the first place.”

Prepare yourself to achieve your goals.

The eating behaviors that are responsible for weight gain need to be replaced with better meal choices, which necessitates different approaches to grocery shopping and meal preparation.

Rankell suggests the following adjustments for dieters who have been successful once they have returned to their normal lives after going on a diet:

• You should plan your meals by deciding in advance what you are going to make, then going grocery shopping with only those items on your list.
• Maintain access to nutritious snacks. If you have apples, almonds, and other healthful snacks readily available in your workspace, you will be able to avoid the pastries that are put out on the conference table and the goodies that are passed about in the break room.
• Get healthy sleep and manage stress: You may obtain the necessary amount of sleep and reduce stress by using relaxing applications, mild yoga, or meditation. This will allow you to concentrate on making good choices and prevent the weight gain that is connected with not getting enough sleep and having too much stress.
• Avoid engaging in psychological eating by selecting non-food-related incentives for yourself as a substitute for treating or consoling yourself with food. Some examples of such rewards include listening to music, reading a book, going on a trip, or shopping for new clothing.
• Instead of berating yourself with criticism or words of discouragement such as “I’ve blown it, I’ll never be able to keep the weight loss,” search for methods that can help you refocus your thinking and remain optimistic.
• Exercise: Get moving. In the Weight Management Program offered by UCI Health, ninety percent of participants who have successfully maintained their weight loss for five years exercise for one hour every day.
• Take responsibility: Perform a daily self-weight, maintain a journal of your physical activity, and document your daily food intake. Pick a number on the scale and make a pact with yourself that if you reach that number, it’s time to get help and go back to the way of eating that got you to your goal weight in the first place.

A dedication to one’s way of life.

Keeping one’s weight under control over an extended period typically needs more than just adhering to a predetermined calorie intake and an established workout routine. According to Rankel, to keep the weight loss, a framework needs to be put into place. Because of this, graduates of the weight management program continue to participate in the weekly sessions after they have completed the program.

“The average length of time that our alumni spent participating in our long-term program is seven years. They are aware that their weight loss is a problem for them, but they believe that it is worthwhile to come in once a week to maintain their current weight.