Weight Loss
How to Maintain Weight Loss for the Long Term
Losing weight is the first half of the job. This guide explains why weight tends to return and the evidence-based habits that help you keep it off.
In brief: to maintain weight loss, eat for the body you have now, not the one you started with. Your calorie needs fall as you get lighter, so recalculate your maintenance number. Stay active, often 150 to 300 minutes or more a week, weigh yourself at least once a week, and treat slip-ups as normal. The habits that helped you lose weight are the same ones that keep it off. If you're still losing, start with how to lose weight safely.
Why Weight Comes Back
Weight tends to return because your body's needs change while your old habits are still waiting. The NIH explains that metabolism slows during weight loss and a lighter body needs fewer calories. Shifts in hormones and other factors can also make it harder to hold your new weight.
The gap doesn't need to be big. Modeling by NIH researchers found that the gradual rise in average US body weight was explained by a persistent daily imbalance of only about 30 kilojoules, roughly 7 calories a day. Small, steady excesses add up over the years.
The same research showed body weight responds slowly to a change in intake, with a half time of around one year. In plain terms, the effect of eating a little more or less builds over months, so a few weeks of drift can be hard to spot until it's well under way.
How to Maintain Weight Loss: 7 Habits That Help
These habits come up again and again in NIH and US guideline advice. Most are continuations of what helped you lose weight in the first place.
| Habit | What to aim for |
|---|---|
| Eat for your new weight | Recalculate maintenance calories once you reach your goal |
| Keep your eating pattern | Stick with the foods and routines that worked |
| Stay active | 150–300 minutes or more a week of moderate activity |
| Keep strength work | Muscle-strengthening twice weekly or more |
| Weigh yourself | At least once a week, and write it down |
| Plan for setbacks | Decide in advance how you'll handle holidays, travel and illness |
| Keep support | Stay in touch with a group, coach or friend |
1. Eat for your new weight
Once you reach your goal, work out a new maintenance figure using your current weight, ideally with a TDEE calculator. Moving straight back to the amount you ate before you started usually means eating more than your body now uses. The NIH suggests following an eating plan suited to your new weight as one of the main ways to prevent regain.
2. Keep the eating pattern that worked
You don't need a new diet. The NIH advice is to keep making the same healthy choices as a lifelong habit, and to build your meals around foods you actually enjoy. A pattern you like is one you're far more likely to keep.
3. Stay active, and probably more than before
Activity is one of the strongest tools for maintenance. The US guidelines say many people need more than 150 minutes of moderate activity a week just to hold a stable weight. People keeping off a significant amount of weight may need more than 300 minutes a week. The NIH gives the same figure: aim for at least 300 minutes of moderate activity a week to help prevent regain. For ideas on building that up, see how much exercise to lose weight.
4. Keep up strength training
The US guidelines note that muscle-strengthening exercises help with weight maintenance, though less than aerobic activity does. They also help preserve lean mass during weight loss. Two sessions a week covering the major muscle groups is a good baseline.
5. Weigh yourself regularly
A weekly weigh-in, at minimum, with the result written down, helps you spot a gradual upward drift early, while it is still easy to correct. Because weight responds slowly, the trend over several weeks is more useful than any single reading. If your weight stalls before you reach your goal instead, see our guide to the weight loss plateau.
6. Plan for setbacks
Everyone has them. The NIH suggests planning ahead for the times your routine will be disrupted: have an indoor option for bad weather, and pack healthy snacks for travel. When a setback happens, the key is getting back on track at the next opportunity rather than waiting for Monday.
7. Keep it interesting, and keep support
The NIH describes the maintenance stage as having kept changes up for more than six months. To stay there, it suggests mixing things up: new activities, new recipes, new goals and new activity partners. Rewards that aren't food, such as new workout gear, help too.
The Best Way to Maintain Weight Loss: Plan It Before You Finish
The best way to maintain weight loss is to treat it as part of the plan from day one, not an afterthought. The NIH says a good weight-loss program includes a plan for keeping weight off, with ongoing support such as counseling sessions after you reach your goal.
Before your last week of weight loss, decide three things: your new maintenance calories, your weekly activity target, and the weight at which you'll take action. One practical approach is to set a small range, such as 1 to 2 kg (2 to 4 lb) above your goal, and return to your weight-loss habits for a few weeks if you reach it.
A Worked Example: Maintenance Calories After Weight Loss
Take Priya, 45, who is 165 cm (5 ft 5 in) tall and lightly active. She has gone from 85 kg (187 lb) to 78 kg (172 lb).
Using the Mifflin-St Jeor equation for women, resting energy = 10 × weight in kg + 6.25 × height in cm − 5 × age − 161.
- At 85 kg: 850 + 1,031 − 225 − 161 = about 1,495 calories at rest. × 1.375 for light activity = about 2,056 a day.
- At 78 kg: 780 + 1,031 − 225 − 161 = about 1,425 at rest. × 1.375 = about 1,960 a day.
Priya's maintenance is now around 96 calories a day lower than when she started. If she went back to her old eating habits, she'd be in a small daily surplus, which is just the kind of slow, steady excess that leads to gradual regain. Her new target is about 1,960 calories, which she checks against her weekly weigh-ins for a month.
Limits and When to Get Advice
Calorie formulas are estimates. Your real maintenance number may be a little higher or lower, so use your weight trend to fine-tune it. These figures are for healthy adults and aren't suitable during pregnancy, for under-18s, or for anyone with an eating disorder.
If you've regained weight despite your best efforts, that's not a personal failure. Talk to a doctor. The NIH notes that some prescription medicines can be used to help maintain weight loss, and a doctor can check for other causes.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take for your body to adjust to a new weight?
There isn't a fixed date. The NIH notes that metabolism and hormone changes can keep working against you after weight loss, which is why maintenance is treated as a long-term habit rather than a short phase. Its habit-change guidance describes the maintenance stage as keeping your new routine going for more than six months.
How can I maintain weight loss without counting calories?
Keep the habits that created your loss: similar meals and portions, regular activity and a weekly weigh-in. If your weight stays within your chosen range, you don't need to count. If it creeps above, a short period of tracking can show where the extra is coming from.
Is it normal to regain some weight after a diet?
Small ups and downs are normal, and the NIH says setbacks happen to everyone. What matters is responding early. That's why a weekly weigh-in and a set action point work well: catching a regain of 1 to 2 kg (2 to 4 lb) gives you a small, manageable correction instead of a large one months later.
How much exercise do you need to keep weight off?
More than many people expect. The US guidelines say some people need over 300 minutes of moderate activity a week to keep off a significant amount of lost weight. That's about 45 minutes a day. Brisk walking, cycling, swimming and active hobbies all count, and you can spread it across the day.
To recalculate your maintenance calories at your new weight, use the TDEE calculator.
Sources
- Eating and physical activity to lose or maintain weight (NIDDK, National Institutes of Health)
- Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2018)
- Choosing a safe and successful weight-loss program (NIDDK, National Institutes of Health)
- Changing your habits for better health (NIDDK, National Institutes of Health)
- Quantification of the effect of energy imbalance on bodyweight (Hall et al., The Lancet, 2011)
- Mifflin-St Jeor equation: a new predictive equation for resting energy expenditure (Mifflin et al., 1990)
- Treatment for overweight and obesity (NIDDK, National Institutes of Health)
This guide is general information, not medical advice. It was written by the CaloriePro Editorial Team from the sources above; see our editorial policy. Speak to a doctor or registered dietitian before making big changes to your diet, especially if you are pregnant, under 18, or have a medical condition.