No one ever says, “I want to lose 30 pounds, keep it off briefly, then gain it all back, with some extra pounds for good measure.” But that’s exactly what happens to most people who lose weight. How do good intentions — and the investment of time and effort needed to lose weight in the first place — unravel?
We look for the fast track
One
of the biggest stumbling blocks is quite simply dieting. Most
traditional weight-loss plans call for adopting new food and exercise
behaviors that you aren’t able to — or won’t want to — maintain for
life. It’s about doing whatever it takes to lose weight, with weight
maintenance taking on a nebulous “I’ll worry about that later” quality.
One could argue that contestants on “The Biggest Loser” work harder at
weight loss than anyone, and most of them have regained the weight.Anyone beginning to shape their behaviors with weight loss in mind would be wise to ask themselves, “Will I be happy eating this way or exercising this much for the rest of my life?”
We see a weight goal as the finish line
Even
among those who choose to make satisfying, sustainable changes to their
nutrition and exercise habits, long-term adherence doesn’t always
happen. Why? One danger is treating your weight goal as a finish line.
Once you’ve crossed the line, the “diet” is over, a mindset that sets
the stage for regain. This is amplified by the fact that the body
adjusts its metabolism as weight drops — particularly in people who lose
a lot of weight. The truth is that the effort required to maintain new
habits never ends.A better approach is to set goals around things that you actually have control over, such as consistently exercising five times a week or eating four cups of vegetables each day, and let weight loss be the outcome. Identify your triggers to overeat — stress, fatigue, being overly hungry — and build strategies to deal with them rather than relying on willpower. For example, plan a nutritious afternoon snack, keep tempting foods out of sight and so on. If you have a tendency to eat for emotional reasons, it’s critical to develop non-food ways to comfort yourself.
We diet for the wrong reasons
Another
challenge is that the initial motivators for weight loss — health
concerns, an upcoming class reunion, a tropical vacation — often fade.
Compliments on your changing appearance and the need to buy smaller
pants can keep the motivational fires burning, but what happens when the
number on the scale stops moving? Waiting for fresh motivation to
strike can cause you to slip back into old habits, but being open to new
ways to eat well and stay active can help keep you action-oriented.
That’s important, because action is often what primes the pump of
motivation, not the other way around.
We have unrealistic expectations
How well our expectations match reality can also affect motivation — and
the odds of successful weight maintenance. People who are disappointed
by how much weight they lost are more likely to regain. So are people
who expect that losing weight will make them happier. The truth is that
people of all shapes and sizes struggle with body image, relationships
and job satisfaction.
We aren’t flexible
It’s
also important to expect — and prepare for — life’s inevitable
curveballs. People who think in all-or-nothing terms tend to be less
adaptable to change and more likely to revert to old habits. This leads
to deciding “anything goes” on vacation, skipping exercise if weather or
other circumstances preempt your normal routine and abandoning healthy
eating when life becomes “too busy.” Part of treating health and
wellness as a journey includes always having a plan B and being ready to
course-correct immediately when life briefly knocks you off track. 
