Healthy Body Weight

While losing weight is difficult for many people, it is even more challenging to keep weight off. Eighty to 85 percent of those who lose a large amount of weight regain it.

One theory about regaining lost weight is that people who decrease their caloric intake to lose weight experience a drop in their metabolic rate, making it increasingly difficult to lose weight over a period of months.

A lower metabolic rate may also make it easier to regain weight after resuming a more normal diet. For these reasons, extremely low-calorie diets and rapid weight loss are discouraged.

Losing no more than one to two pounds per week is recommended. Incorporating long-term lifestyle changes can increase the chance of successful long-term weight loss.

Achieving a healthy weight for your height can have health benefits such as lower cholesterol and blood-sugar levels, lower blood pressure, less stress on bones and joints, and less work for the heart.

Once you lose the weight, it is vital to maintain your weight loss so that the health benefits last a lifetime. Keeping extra weight off requires effort and commitment, just as losing weight does.

Many people reach weight loss goals with changes in diet, eating habits, exercise and, in extreme circumstances, surgery.

Weight loss maintenance strategies
The strategies that encourage weight loss also play an important role in maintenance:

• Effective use of support systems during weight loss can contribute to weight maintenance. A study conducted by the National Weight Control Registry found people who lost weight and continued bi-monthly support-group meetings for one year maintained their full weight loss. Study participants who did not attend support-group meetings regained almost half of the weight.
• Physical activity plays a vital role in maintaining weight loss. Studies show that even exercise that is not rigorous, such as walking and using stairs, has a positive effect. Activity that uses 1,500 to 2,000 calories per week is recommended for maintaining weight loss.
• Diet and exercise are key strategies for losing and maintaining weight. A study by the National Weight Control Registry found that nearly all of 784 study participants who had lost at least 30 pounds, and had maintained that loss for one year or longer, used diet and exercise not only to lose the weight, but also to maintain the weight loss.
• Once the desired weight has been reached, try gradually adding calories until you reach the proper maintenance level. Add about 200 calories of healthy, low-fat food per day for one week to see if weight loss continues. If it does, then you may keep adding healthy calories each day until you determine the right balance of calories to maintain your desired weight. It might take some time and record-keeping to figure out how adjusting food intake and exercise levels affects your weight.

Continuing to use behavioral strategies can help maintain weight. Be aware of eating as a response to stress, and use exercise, activity or meditation to cope instead of eating.

A return to old habits does not mean failure. Paying renewed attention to dietary choices and exercise can help sustain behaviors that maintain weight loss.

Identifying situations such as negative moods and interpersonal difficulties, and incorporating alternative methods of coping with such situations rather than eating, can prevent relapses to old habits.