No More Diets

How do I stop losing the same weight over and over again and just keep it off? I can’t get to my goal weight because I start eating too much as soon as it looks like I am getting even close to my goal.

That’s a question I often get asked - “How do I lose weight permanently”. Many people manage to lose weight  but so few keep it off.

There may be a number of factors working against you here, separately or in combination.

1. There is the feeling of deprivation after “being good” for so long and the feeling that you deserve a reward
2. Boredom with whatever diet you have chosen
3. Rebellion against rules (even though they are self-imposed)
4. Seeing a diet as a temporary measure needed to reach a target weight rather than a lifestyle change
5. Self-sabotage where a person finds it a bit uncomfortable to experience the attention being more attractive brings.
6. Just slipping back into what you are comfortable with - your habits, how you look etc

It’s no wonder that more than 95% of dieters fail to keep off the weight they worked so hard to lose - you’re in good company.

To become one of the few who succeed, you need to

1. Choose changes to your eating and exercise habits which are you happy to live with forever. This generally means making small changes and getting used to them one at a time.
2. See weight control as a lifetime project not as a one-off goal
3. Continue to monitor your weight weekly (or even daily) and take action if you see you are slipping
4. Don’t set rules - make choices based on your own best (long-term) interests
5. Allow yourself to get comfortable with changes by going slowly and work on improving your confidence at the same time as you improve your shape

I’ve already lost 52 pounds, but I’m having trouble with the rest. I would be grateful for any tips and especially motivation. I sometimes think about giving up and just settling with my current weight as it is still better than before. I seem to have lost my motivation and I need a good kick in the pants, so to speak.

Far from needing a good kick in the pants I have to tell you that you are very special. Do you know how hard it is for most people to succeed at losing 52 pounds? Please see this huge achievement for what it is and reward yourself for how much you have done so far (just don’t choose a food reward!)

However I have to warn you that the most dangerous time is now, when you have come so far and still have a way to go. This where it’s easy to slide back into old habits and put the weight right back on again. How heartbreaking is that?

If you are finding it hard to keep on losing it may be that you are just bored with your food and bored with your exercise routines.

It is probably not you who needs to change but them! Remember that food quantities need to be readjusted as you lose weight especially if you have lost a lot - it takes a lot of calories just to keep 52lbs alive and ticking over.

Rather than adjusting portions downwards again and feeling hungrier take the opportunity to hunt out some new recipes that will excite your taste buds as well as kick start your weight loss again. And try some new activities too so that you are not bored with the same old routines.

This is the time to inject some new life into your efforts so that you enjoy the process as well as the sense of achievement.

Once you have lost weight how do you keep it off?

When you go on a diet there is a major challenge to overcome when you hit your target weight. You see, diets are seen as a temporary thing, a period of abstinence, of denying yourself the good things in life.

And chances are when you reach that happy milestone and you reach the weight you want to be you will go back to what you see as a normal pattern of eating.

The trouble is your normal pattern of eating is what made you overweight in the first place and therefore the day you reach your target weight is the day you start putting weight back on again - in fact, faster than ever because your new lighter body needs fewer calories to just stay alive than your heavier body did.

So my whole approach is different. Don’t bother to diet. Just make gradual healthy changes in your lifestyle - ones which you are happy to live with forever. Take up some fun activities. Find healthier recipes and foods you love. Learn to eat smaller portions and stop when you are satisfied but not stuffed. In short, learn to live like a slim person not one who is constantly thinking about having to lose weight. The weight will come off anyway without the diet and when it does you won’t have to do anything any different to stay the slim person you have gradually learned how to be.