{"id":46483,"date":"2021-08-26T08:25:37","date_gmt":"2021-08-26T12:25:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=46483"},"modified":"2025-09-03T16:01:02","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T20:01:02","slug":"how-to-maintain-weight-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-maintain-weight-loss\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Maintain Weight Loss: Tips for Success"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Do you cycle through losing and gaining weight endlessly? How can you keep the weight off for good?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his book The Hacker’s Diet<\/a><\/em>, John Walker says that most people who go on diets tend to gain back all of the weight they lost and sometimes more. Walker proposed two methods for keeping weight off: daily weight tracking and meal planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading for Walker’s advice on how to maintain weight loss<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Editor\u2019s note: This article is part of Shortform\u2019s guide to success<\/a>. If you like what you read here, there\u2019s plenty more to check out in the guide!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perfect Weight Forever<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The majority of people who lose weight end up gaining back every pound they lost.<\/strong> You might have gone through a few cycles of this yourself and don’t know how to maintain your weight loss. You might feel hopeless<\/a> that even if you do lose weight, you will inevitably gain it back \u2014 so what\u2019s the point?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reason people regain weight is that they don\u2019t change their eating behaviors after they lose weight.<\/strong> Meeting their goal, they blissfully return to using their broken eat clock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assuming that you were born with a broken eat clock and it\u2019s not possible to develop a working one, keeping your weight for a lifetime requires a lifetime of guidance about how much to eat<\/strong>. Specifically, this means continuing the best practices of what got you here: 1) daily weight tracking and 2) meal planning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Someone with poor eyesight has to wear corrective lenses to see properly. Without them, she is lost. Likewise, you may have to accept that you have genetically problematic eating controls. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the cost of being healthy and avoiding yo-yo weight fluctuations. It\u2019s also the cost of earning valuable freedom \u2014 in the foods you eat, your meal schedule, and how much or little you exercise. You can return to eating whatever you want \u2014 just in limited, predetermined portions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember the pain you felt during your weight loss. You don\u2019t want to go through that again, do you? Look back at your starting photo. You don\u2019t want to look like that again, do you? It\u2019s worth it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note this does NOT mean being on a diet for the rest of your life. It simply means eating at maintenance calories forever.<\/strong> You can still enjoy all the foods you like \u2014 just in moderation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if you\u2019ve failed before, why will you succeed this time? After reading this, you now understand your body and weight to a degree you never had before. You\u2019ve devised your own successful diet plan. You\u2019ve stabilized your weight, rather than yo-yoing back into bad habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daily Weight Tracking<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Once you reach your target weight, you must not lose discipline in tracking your weight daily.<\/strong> Day to day variations are hard to detect in the mirror. Without measuring yourself, you can gain 5 pounds within weeks, with the only warning sign being your clothes one day fitting less well. By then you have to endure the painful transition to calorie deficit once again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The goal is to keep tight thresholds around your target weight. If you go overweight and break a threshold, you have to modify your behavior to lose the weight again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n