Weight loss isn’t easy, but keeping the weight off can be even harder. This is well-recognized, with reviews of several long-term weight loss studies showing that more than half of all people regain the lost weight within two years, while the figure climbs to 80 percent by five years. This can be extremely disheartening to anyone trying to lose weight, but it helps to recognize this problem, so that you can change your approach at the outset. Because people who are successful in long-term weight management are clearly doing something different, it helps to look at what actually works for sustainable healthy weight loss.
Strategies for Healthy Long-Term Weight Loss
1. Change Your Mindset
A large part of the problem with people regaining most of their lost weight is the attitude towards excess weight and obesity. It’s often viewed as an aesthetic problem, wherein weight loss is the ultimate goal, and our efforts are mainly driven by body image issues, insecurities, low self-esteem, and other negative feelings. While this may push you to lose weight initially, it sets you up for failure, because long-term weight loss is tied to a healthy mindset in which you see excess weight not as a personal flaw but as a serious health risk. Your goal is not to achieve a quick fix and shed the pounds, but to get fitter, stronger, and healthier. When you change the way you see yourself, your body, and obesity, it changes everything.
2. Get Routine Health Checks and Treat Underlying Conditions
Obesity and weight gain are not always the result of behavioral problems, so if you’ve been struggling to shed the extra pounds or have been gaining weight inexplicably, make it a point to talk to your healthcare provider. Routine screening can help detect metabolic syndrome disorders like diabetes and thyroid disorders, for which treatments can lead to more sustainable weight loss. More importantly, emerging evidence suggests that weekly or bi-weekly dosing of GLP-1 medications can also help keep the weight off. This seems to be central to sustainable weight loss, especially for individuals whose weight gain is linked with underlying health conditions.
3. Start Small but Be Consistent
Don’t look for big gains and complete makeovers, no matter how tempting they may be. People who achieve long-term success typically start small and gradually increase their efforts, first setting the groundwork for healthy habits. This could mean walking for ten minutes or simply to the grocery store daily, instead of taking up gym sessions. It could also be something as small as portioning meals instead of entirely restricting some foods. Once these healthy changes become part of your routine, it’s easier to move on to the bigger changes. Besides, every little step that you take in this direction will get you closer to your weight loss and health goals, setting you up for long-term success.
4. Don’t Aim for Weight Loss Through Restriction
Aside from the fact that restrictive eating, whether through calorie counting or extreme diets, is not sustainable, there’s another reason why such approaches backfire spectacularly in most cases. Experts believe that restrictive eating leads to a reduction in your metabolic rate as your body adjusts to the deprivation. Once you reach your weight loss goal and resume your normal diet, you’re much more likely to gain weight as your metabolic rate is still lower than it was before you started dieting. This is why weight loss targets should be small and spread out over time, with no more than a pound or two lost per week.
5. Eat Healthy and Exercise
This may seem like a no-brainer, but it bears repeating. Healthy, sustainable weight loss cannot occur or be maintained without a healthy diet and consistent exercise routine. This means that eating healthy balanced meals made up primarily of plant-based whole foods, while limiting processed foods and red meats, should be a part of your lifestyle, not a quick fix for weight loss. Similarly, physical activity levels need to be maintained over the long-term, so find activities that you enjoy and can see yourself engaging in for years to come, whether it’s sports, walking, swimming, rock climbing, or dancing. Remember that these behavioral changes benefit every aspect of physical and mental health, so don’t just fixate on the weighing scale.
6. Talk to a Behavioral Therapist
It should be clear by now that most of these strategies for long-term weight loss require a change in mindset and behavior. This can be challenging under the best of circumstances, which is why it’s so important to cultivate a healthy support system. This can include loved ones and friends who have a healthy non-judgmental attitude towards weight loss, but it’s best to talk to a behavioral therapist. Therapists can help address underlying emotions or stressors that you may not even realize are affecting your behavior. They can also train you with coping skills and relaxation strategies so that you’re better prepared to endure the challenges that come with trying to lose weight.