Why You Keep Gaining The Weight Back (+ What To Do About It)

There are three main reasons that I’ve seen in my 10+ years as a Nutrition Coach and someone who has gained and lost weight myself.

But first, why is this such an important topic?

Because, according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 80% and 95% of people who lose a significant amount of weight regain it over time.

Why the range?

Because different studies and organizations define successful weight maintenance differently.

For some, maintenance means regaining less than a set percentage of lost weight, for others it simply means staying in a healthy BMI range, and for others, like the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR) criteria for successful maintenance includes “having lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for 1+ year”.

So, as always, context matters.

But the bottom line is that losing weight is often the easy part when compared to keeping it off.

Why is weight maintenance so fucking hard?

Biology

When you lose weight, you burn fewer calories than before (metabolic adaptation) - this makes maintaining weight loss difficult if you go back to eating the same quantity of food you before the diet because your body doesn’t need that much energy anymore.

Metabolic Adaptation also involves hormone changes. When you begin losing weight, hunger hormones (like ghrelin) increase, while satiety hormones (like leptin) decrease, making you feel hungrier and less satisfied with the same amount of food.

Psychology

Many people follow restrictive diets that are not sustainable long-term, leading to diet fatigue and eventual overeating. Stress, boredom, and other emotional triggers can also cause people to revert to old eating behaviors if new non-food related habits and coping mechanisms haven’t been formed.

Environment

Many people lose weight through short-term efforts but don’t establish sustainable lifestyle changes. Anyone can lose weight by eating fewer calories, but if you don’t build long-term habits that support your lean body and your healthy lifestyle, you’ll slide back to where you started.

Family habits, social gatherings, and having readily available processed foods within reach can also make maintenance difficult.

What can you do to ensure that the weight you lose STAYS OFF?

Here @nutritionwithnicole we use a 3-part formula because ensuring the results our clients create are results they can confidently SUSTAIN is our superpower.

1. Nutrition education and awareness - when you understand how energy balance and metabolism work, you know what to expect and how to adapt your plan based on biofeedback.

2. Mindful eating skills and habits - when you have a sustainable nutrition strategy and healthy coping mechanisms you can use in high-stress situations, you can confidently navigate nutrition in any season.

3. A supportive environment - the people/places/information you learn from and spend time with that either support or sabotage your efforts

If you’re looking for help losing weight and confidently keeping it off without dieting or deprivation, fill out a 1:1 Nutrition Coaching application and let’s chat about how we can make that happen!

Things I do as a Mom that might surprise you when you find out I’m a Nutrition Coach

For context, I have a 2.5 year old and a 4 month old (who is thriving on bottles and avocado). And while I’m not a parenting expert, but I do know a thing or two about nutrition and building healthy relationships with food, so here’s what’s working well for our household right now:

I give my toddler candy every day
I’m not exaggerating when I say that my two-year old is obsessed with lollipops. It’s the first thing he asks for in the morning and the last thing he thinks about before bed. In an effort to avoid demonizing sugar, and teach him the importance of variety and balance, he gets to pick a lollipop to enjoy after lunch every day.

I don’t make my kids finish their meals
Instead of forcing the last few bites because it’s the quantity I think he should eat, I ask, “is your belly happy or are you still hungry?” I might playfully encourage him to take another dinosaur bite to see if he’s truly full or simply distracted (as toddlers often are), but he gets to decide when he’s done - not me.

I sometimes skip the veggies
I do my best to ensure a vegetable is available at lunch and dinner, but if there’s resistance to eating it, or even trying it (in the case of something new), I don’t force the issue. I know that giving him access to vegetables and setting an example as someone who eats vegetables consistently is far more important than getting him to “just eat one bite”.

I don’t always make him eat at the table
There are occasions when we sit down as a family to enjoy a meal together and I encourage him to stay seated (even if he’s done eating), but there are an equal number of occasions when I allow him to eat while roaming, or have a “picnic” with his toys. Because it’s more important to me that he eats than follow table manners. Not to mention, I don’t always eat while sitting down, so it seems unfair that I’d ask him to (especially as a tornado toddler who rivals the energizer bunny).

What’s a mealtime habit that works well for your family? I’d love to know in the comments below!

“I’m worried about gaining the weight back!

Let’s talk about MAINTENANCE.

But first, an unpopular opinion: diets actually do work. Most conventional diets will put you in a caloric deficit, and, if you stick to them, you’ll achieve fat loss!

The problem is that most conventional diets help you create a calorie deficit using unsustainable methods: drastically cutting back on carbs, only eating in a small feeding window, following a strict meal plan, or eating very low calories, and they don’t actually teach you how to eat for real life (or how to maintain the weight loss).

Sadly, 80-85% of people who lose weight will gain it back, but that doesn’t have to be your reality! Here’s what you need to know about maintenance in order to achieve lasting fat loss:

1. Expect the scale to go up a little bit. The goal of maintenance is NOT to stay at your lowest weight for the rest of your life. As you transition from fat loss to maintenance and begin eating more food, the scale will trend up a few pounds as a result of eating more food and having more water in your body. Instead of expecting to stay at a specific weight forever, aim for a 5 pound range you feel good in and know that small fluctuations are normal.

2. In an ideal scenario, maintenance simply means more food. If you used a sustainable method to lose weight where you ate mostly whole foods, prioritized protein and fiber, and didn’t eliminate any food groups, transitioning to maintenance is simply about adding a few calories back in. This can look like making your meals a bit bigger, adding a snack throughout the day, and/or allowing for more flexibility around meals out and fun foods. It shouldn’t look drastically different from the method you used to lose weight in the first place. Note: You’ll want to start slow, adding only a couple hundred calories back in at a time, and adjust, as needed.

3. If you lost weight by tracking, it does’t mean you have to track forever. Maybe you enjoy tracking your food but want a break, or maybe you’re ready to move away from tracking entirely, either way, you can do so without gaining the weight back. Transitioning away from tracking can take many different forms, depending on what feels best for you: You can reduce the number of days/ week you’re tracking (e.g. only tracking Friday-Sunday since they’re often less predictable), stop tracking the meals you eat on repeat (e.g. if you eat the same thing every day for breakfast and know it works for you), or quit cold turkey and lean on the meal making skills and hunger/fullness cues you have. Here @nutritionwithnicole we believe that tracking is an amazing tool, but should never be something you feel you need in order to make/maintain your progress.

4. Similar to fat loss, maintenance is a skill! Many people have spent a significant amount of time living in dietary extremes - eating as little as possible/being “good” and going off the rails. Being able to confidently maintain your weight is about mastering the space in the middle - building mostly balanced meals, honoring your hunger and fullness cues, enjoying meals out and fun foods without overeating them, and feeling confident about your food choices without micromanaging or obsessing over them. It takes time, practice, and a lot of patience. Be gentle with yourself and celebrate the small wins along the way.

If you’ve struggled with maintaining weight loss in the past, it’s likely because you didn’t lose the weight in a way you could realistically stick with long-term. Remember: the way you lose weight is also the way you keep it off - with a few additional calories and more flexibility. :)

If you’re looking for a sustainable fat loss solution that allows you to lose weight and confidently keep it off, reach out. We’re here to help.

Whether by way of 1:1 Nutrition Coaching, or our monthly nutrition membership, NOURISH, our goal is to equip our clients with the tools and skills they need to lose weight without dieting or deprivation, so they can confidently keep it off through every season.

Is Social Media Destroying Your Daughter’s Body Image?

As one of the biggest influences in our current culture, social media might be making your daughter feel bad about her body image every time she picks up her smartphone.

Let’s talk about it…

97% of American adolescents use the internet daily, with over a third admitting they spend too much time on social media and would struggle to give it up. Which makes sense when you learn that apps like Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok are designed to be addictive, and can cause obsessive use even when the user wants to quit or reduce their screen time.

That might not be news to you, but did you know that research shows 1 in 10 thoughts we have involve comparison? And that those who compare their appearance to the images on social media have a greater body dissatisfaction?

Social media can be harmful to all of us, but it can be especially devastating to young girls and adolescents. Nearly 50% of social media-active girls say they often or always worry about their bodies. And the numbers only get worse with age—at 13 years old, nearly half of American girls are already unhappy with their bodies, increasing to a whopping 80% by age 17.

Something that seems like innocent fun (social media) can be incredibly harmful when you take developing, impressionable brains and bombard them with filtered, edited, and curated images of perfection that encourage unrealistic body standards and body dissatisfaction.

And unfortunately, it doesn’t end there…

Studies link excessive social media use to higher rates of body dysmorphia, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, eating disorders, and even self-harm.

Not to mention, girls struggling with poor body image are more likely to engage in unhealthy behaviors like restrictive dieting, obsessive exercise, and disordered eating. In some cases, these behaviors lead to long-term health risks, including nutrient deficiencies, weakened immune systems, chronic stress, and eating disorders.

So, what can we do?

While big tech and media companies need to be held accountable, parents have the most power to change this cycle. Here’s how:

• Be a model, not just a rule-maker – Your children are watching how you talk about your body, food, and social media. If applicable, work on healing your own relationship with body image in an effort to help foster health relationships with food and body for your kids.

• Delay the smartphone – The longer you wait to introduce social media, the better. Kids’ brains are still developing, making them highly vulnerable to unrealistic images.

• Encourage breaks & set boundaries – Implement tech-free family time (dinner, bedtime, weekends, etc.). Encourage offline activities that build confidence.

• Talk about the highlight reel effect – Social media is not real life. Have open conversations about how images are edited, filtered, and curated to look perfect.

• Use parental controls wisely – Limit screen time, track usage, and discuss why certain content can be harmful to consume.

Click here to learn more about social media and body image.

The bottom line is,

Social media isn’t going anywhere, but we can change the way our children - especially our daughters - interact with it. By helping them build resilience, confidence, and critical thinking skills, we can equip them to navigate these platforms in a healthier way and we can break the cycle of comparison and body dissatisfaction that has trapped so many women for generations.

Struggling with fat loss? Your MINDSET might be the missing puzzle piece!

If fat loss, food freedom, and body confidence were as easy as eating the “right” foods and working out enough, my guess is most of us would have achieved our dream bodies a looooong time ago.

How you think about these things matters more than you realize. It’s true that eating goal-supportive foods and moving your body is important, but so is having supportive thought patterns around these behaviors.

Too many women approach fat loss from a place of hate and shame. They focus their energy on restricting food intake and forcing themselves to push through long, sweaty workouts.

The reality is, punishment and shame can only take you so far before you crash and burn. And instead of progress and improved health, you’ll be left with disappointment and frustration that you failed yet again.

Follow these steps, alongside healthy eating and movement habits, for true, lasting change you can actually feel good about:

1 >> Recognize unhelpful or self-destructive thought patterns:

“I’ll never be successful, I might as well quit.”

“It’s easier for her because of X.”

“I have no self-control, if I eat one cookie I’ll eat them all!”

“I hate exercising and vegetables so I’ll never be healthy.”

“I ate some pizza and now everything is ruined. Guess I’ll start again Monday.”

“I have to eat clean foods only. Processed food is bad.”

These are all common but completely unproductive thoughts. Instead of helping you towards your goal, they only serve to hold you back. In order to create change, you must first create awareness.

2 >> Focus on reframes or fact-check yourself. Now that you have awareness of your personal thought patterns, it’s time to do something about them! You can choose to reframe them or simply decide they’re untrue and no longer worth your time. This can look like:

“This process is taking longer than I thought, but every day I’m closer to my goals.”

“Actually, I’m an adult and no one is forcing me to finish the cookies. Eating 2 cookies is great, and now I’m going to put the rest away even though I wish I could eat more. That choice doesn’t align with my goals.”

“I don’t like traditional workouts but I enjoy walking with a friend and playing tennis. I’ll focus my energy there.”

“I overate some pizza today. That’s totally fine, I’m human and allowed to be imperfect. I’ll wait until I’m hungry and then eat a more goal-supportive meal.”

3 >> Practice patience and self-compassion. You’ve likely had some of these thought patterns for years, if not decades! They won’t go away overnight. Expect them to stick around for a bit. That doesn’t mean you’re failing! It’s hard for your brain to rewire them. Stay focused on your reframes and fact checking. Be kind to yourself when you fall back into old habits. The longer you stick with this, the quieter your old thought patterns become.

Creating lasting change isn’t always easy, or pretty. It requires that you get honest and vulnerable about what’s truly holding you back. But rest assured, leaning into that discomfort does pay off in the end!

As always, if you need any help, do not hesitate to fill out a Coaching Application.

We’re always here to help,

Coach Lauren

Taking a weight loss drug is NOT “cheating” 👀🚫

and you shouldn’t feel any shame for using science, or the advancement of medicine, to improve your health and quality of life. Here’s why ⤵️

Obesity is not a willpower issue.

Biology plays a role! Some bodies are naturally hungrier and have a harder time reaching fullness (influencing how much a person consumes), and when prescribed under the right circumstances, GLP-1 medications can help to correct imbalances and make weight loss more achievable for those who struggle.

GLP-1 medications do not replace healthy habits. 🙂‍↔️

They simply help to level the playing field for people whose biology makes weight loss harder. Creating and sustaining healthy eating habits is still required ✅ in order to create, and maintain, positive health outcomes. In fact, when taking a GLP-1, some healthy habits (like protein intake and strength training) become even more important.

Choosing to use GLP-1s (assuming you meet the criteria and have considered the risks), or weight loss support of any kind (therapist, Nutrition Coach, etc.) to support your health and quality of life is NOT you should be ashamed of.

Your No-Nonsense Nutrition Coach, Nicole

Make Healthy Eating SIMPLE With These 6 Steps:

#1. Schedule a standing weekly grocery shopping/delivery date

Because if you don’t have access to the food you need for the week, even the best plan won’t work.

#2. Always have pre-made, ready-to-eat options on hand

Greek yogurt, string cheese, steamable rice and veggies, canned tuna/salmon, rotisserie chicken, etc.

Having a healthy alternative that’s just as easy as takeout will save you calories and cash!

3. Don’t sleep on canned and frozen produce

It’s often as nutritious and more cost-effective when compared to fresh fruits and veggies!

#4. Stop wasting time searching for the *perfect* 32-step recipe. Pick a protein and pair it with a vegetable and a favorite carb

#5. Stop overcomplicating food prep

You don’t have to be a chef or love cooking to set yourself up for healthy eating success.

Hard boiling eggs, grilling protein, and/or stocking up on steamable carbs and veggies in advance of the week is food prep. Keep. It. Simple.

#6. Slow down and sit down when eating

Instead of standing over the sink or scarfing food down in the car, make enjoying your food a priority. Sit, chew, taste, and embrace how food makes you feel.

Tune in to episode No. 305 of the Health, Wellth & Wisdom Podcast with Ali Elman to learn more about how to make healthy eating SIMPLE + enjoyable.

5 healthy habits to STICK WITH

Now that the 73 days of January have passed, it’s officially love month and according to most research, 80% of New Years resolutions have been abandoned by February.

And while, in some cases, that could be a good thing (like if your resolution was too restrictive or aggressive), here are five healthy habits you definitely want to stick with this season:

Prioritizing sleep 💤 

Skimping on sleep is a great way to ensure you’re hungry more often and feel like working out less often. 😬 So stay up late when it really matters, but make sure you’re still prioritizing sleep whenever possible. 

Gold ⭐️ goal = 7-9 hours/night

Eating veggies 🥗 

There is nothing quite like a happy digestive system and easeful bathroom trips! 🚽 Enjoy your favorite fun foods and beverages, but don’t forget your fiber too!

Gold ⭐️ goal for women = 25+ grams of fiber/day

Gold ⭐️ goal for men = 35+ grams of fiber/day

Getting steps 👣

Inside or outside, fast, or slow, walking is a healthy habit you can (and should) stick with all yearlong. The risk is low and the benefits - blood sugar stabilization, mood boosting, weight management, bone and heart health - are wiiiild. 

Gold ⭐️ goal = 8-10K steps/day

Prepping protein 🍤 

Carbs and fats are always easy to find and can usually be prepared quickly. But protein requires forethought and preparation. Make balanced meals easy by having 1-2 prepared options in your fridge at all times. 

Gold ⭐️ goal ‎ = -.7-1 gram of protein per lb. of ideal body weight or lean body mass

Planning for your faves 🍪 

You can enjoy ALL foods and still make amazing progress, it’s true. But it’s easy for foods hyper-palatable, low-nutrient value foods to add up quickly. In an effort to more easily balance them with the foods your body NEEDS (like proteins, fiber, complex carbs, and healthy fats), plan for them! 

Know weekend cocktails are your jam? Commit a drink max that will leave you feeling good but not hungover. 

Look forward to Friday pizza night all week long? Plan on eating a high protein, high fiber meal beforehand knowing you’ll get plenty of carbs and fats later. 

Need help establishing these healthy habits and ensuring you can confidently maintain them all year long?

We’re here to help.

Your Online Nutrition Coach,

Nicole Hagen

What does it mean to have a healthy relationship with food?

If you ask 10 people this question, you might get 10 different answers, but here’s what we mean @nutritionwithnicole when we say that we help our clients create healthy, confident relationships with food:

We teach them how to create long-term behavior change 

Anyone can demonstrate compliance without understanding only for old habits to resurface once the diet ends. Building a healthy relationship with food teaches understanding, addresses the root causes of eating patterns, and allows our clients to make mindful and informed choices moving forward. 

We help them address their emotional patterns 

We all eat in response to stress, boredom, and emotions rather than physical hunger sometimes. Learning to understand the emotional triggers behind those choices creates awareness that allows us to build healthier coping mechanisms moving forward.

We teach them how to irradicate food morality 

Labelling foods as "good" or "bad" creates guilt and shame around eating, which leads to a cycle of restriction and overeating. A healthy relationship with food, on the other hand, allows for balance, where all foods can fit in moderation, and reduces the likelihood of overindulging in “forbidden” foods.

We help them improve their quality of life 

Rather than being a source of stress (as is often the case with dieting), food becomes a source of nourishment and pleasure, contributing to a life without food noise, as well as improved mental and physical wellbeing. 

We help them create autonomy 

Creating a healthy relationship with food equips individuals with the tools to make choices that align with their needs and values, fostering habits that are healthier, more enjoyable, and sustainable over the long term.

Having a healthy relationship with food DOES look like eating a balance of nutrient-dense foods most of the time in a quantity that allows you to look, feel, and perform your best, but it’s also so much more than that.

If you want to address the deeper issues contributing to your current eating habits and lack of results, fill out a 1:1 Nutrition Coaching application and let us help you create true, lasting change in your diet, your body, and your relationship with food.

How to *Actually* Make American Healthy Again

In case you missed it, there’s currently a massive movement to “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA).

MAHA’s current initiative? To remove artificial food dyes, particularly Red40, from our food supply. 

For reference, more than half of American adults have one or more diet-related chronic diseases. 74% of American adults and 40% of children are overweight or obese. 45% of adults have hypertension, a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. 35% of Americans are prediabetic. 13.5-23 million Americans live in a food desert, many of them families with children. Nearly 14 million kids live in food insecure homes. That’s 1 in 5 kids who don’t have enough to eat, with black and Latino children twice as likely to face hunger. 14 million adults owe over $1000 in medical debt and 3 million owe more than $10,000. 1 in 4 Americans can’t afford the drugs prescribed by their doctors. 

It isn’t the food dyes or the seed oils that we need to be worried about. Our current systems and legislation are keeping us sick.

What Americans actually need to get (and stay) healthy are things like: 

1. Higher incomes and a livable minimum wage  

2. Better access to nutritious foods 

3. Access to affordable medical care 

4. Access to mental health services 

5. Address the gap in health outcomes for minority groups 

6. Paid parental leave 

7. Increased funding for services like SNAP and WIC 

8. Safe, walkable spaces to move 

9. Gun control legislation 

Admittedly, these are not small things, but they are the steps that need to be taken to ensure that ALL Americans, regardless of socioeconomic status or race, can truly become healthier. 

There are also steps that we, as individuals, can take such as: 

1. Increasing fiber consumption. Currently the average American is only eating about half of the recommended 25-30 grams of daily fiber. 

2. Increasing fruit and vegetable consumption. Only 12.3% of Americans eat the recommended 1.5-2 cups of fruit each day and only 10% eat the recommended 2-3 cups of veggies per day. 

3. Decreasing added sugar intake. The average American is eating more than double the recommended limit (9 teaspoons per day for men, 6 teaspoons per day for women).  

4. Walking more. Aiming for a minimum of 7500 steps per day can help reduce the risk for heart disease, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and depression, yet the average American only walks about 3000-4000 steps per day. 

5. Incorporating 150 minutes of physical activity/week. Currently almost half of Americans don’t reach this number. 

Improving the health of America will require work on individual, community and national levels. The goal should be to focus on the steps that will make the biggest difference according to the evidence, and not get distracted by flashy headlines. 

written by Coach Lauren Goehring