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!

“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.

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