2899: [Part 2] From Weight Loss to Maintenance: How to Navigate a Tricky Transition by Rachel Trotta

[00:00:00] This is Optimal Health Daily, From Weight Loss to Maintenance, How to Navigate a Tricky Transition, Part 2 by Rachel Trotta of racheltrotta.com and I'm your narrator Dr. Neal. Hey there, happy Thursday and welcome back to Optimal Health Daily where I simply read to you from the best health and fitness blogs for free.

[00:00:19] I cover fitness, nutrition, stress management, weight management and more just like an audiobook but from a bunch of different authors and always with permission from the sites and always with a bit of my commentary at the end. Now, today's post is part 2 from yesterday so if you're new here or skipping around I'd recommend listening to yesterday's episode first but if you're all caught up let's jump right in and hear part 2 and continue optimizing your life.

[00:00:51] From Weight Loss to Maintenance, How to Navigate a Tricky Transition, Part 2 by Rachel Trotta of racheltrotta.com Concept 3. Continue to Watch Your Weight Over time my professional recommendations about the scale have gradually changed. When I first began my personal training work I was of the never weigh yourself school of thought. I assumed that changes in the way clothes fit would be enough to help people keep track of small shifts in weight.

[00:01:20] For years now however, I've been a proponent of weekly, bi-weekly or even daily weighing whatever is a good fit for a client. This is because over time I have learned that pounds on the scale can catch up quickly with someone especially in the age of spandex. And the adage holds true that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

[00:01:42] Once you're in maintenance mode, I highly recommend that you weigh yourself semi-regularly to catch trends in weight that are beyond normal fluctuation like within 5 pounds or so. It's easier to course correct a 5 pound weight gain for example than it is a 20 pound weight gain. The National Weight Control Registry backs this up, finding that 75% of their successful weight losers weigh themselves at least once a week.

[00:02:08] This is what Gretchen Rubin would call the strategy of monitoring. As Gretchen says on her website, quote, Monitoring has an almost uncanny power. It doesn't require change, but it often leads to change because people who keep close track of just about anything tend to do a better job of managing it. End quote. Ironically, people often avoid weighing themselves at times when it would help the most.

[00:02:35] A study from the journal Obesity shows how effective it can be to monitor your weight during the holidays for example. Participants in the study were told that the goal was to maintain their weight over the holidays, but weren't given any specific instructions on how to do so. However, roughly half of the group was given instructions to weigh themselves daily, and they could see a graphical representation of their weight each time they did so.

[00:03:00] As you can probably guess, those who weighed themselves daily maintained or even lost weight, whereas the control group who were not told to weigh themselves gained weight over the holidays. I often see this pattern in my clients, taking a break from the scale during times when it would be most helpful to stay attentive. For maintenance, my advice is to stay on top of your weight with at least a weekly check to make sure that things aren't trending in a direction you don't want.

[00:03:28] By the way, the kind of course corrections that work are usually very small shifts rather than dramatic overhauls. So don't worry that weighing yourself over the holidays means you're going to have to miss out on a favorite treat or deprive yourself. On a practical level, I always advise using the app Happy Scale for my weight loss clients. It gives you the graphical representation of your progress, and you can also set it so that you always see your moving average instead of your daily weight.

[00:03:56] This helps to smooth out natural fluctuation so that you see trends instead of spikes. Note, I would define weighing as being a good fit for an individual if they do not struggle with an eating disorder, disordered eating, or severe body image issues. Concept 4 Remember that the same tools will always work. For many who have lost weight, it's easy to relax back into old habits. It often happens gradually.

[00:04:23] A few more meals out here, a few less workouts there, and you suddenly panic when your genes don't zip up as easy as they used to. Take a deep breath. Relax. The good news is that whatever you did to reach your goal weight will still work, albeit with some modifications sometimes. Often, all it takes is some old-fashioned tracking and self-honesty. For a week or two, use monitoring and tracking to answer questions like

[00:04:50] How many total minutes did you exercise in one week? And how many calories did you take in per day? And how often are you dining out? How is your consumption of lean protein, fruits and vegetables and whole grains? And how many treats are you having or how many exceptions are you making per week? You can also expand this line of questioning to ideas like What's going on in your life? Are you extra busy? Are you extra stressed? Are the seasons changing?

[00:05:20] Your standards that you maintained while you were losing weight may have relaxed a little without your full intent or comprehension. Even a change in temperature can cause daily patterns to change. By being observant of your habits and shifting daily patterns where needed, you'll be surprised to find that results show up just as easily as ever. But what if you just can't muster the motivation? Concept 5. Tackle fresh goals. Sometimes the extended experience of slow and steady weight loss

[00:05:50] can create a kind of mental burnout. It's often disappointing that once you lose weight, you have to maintain some level of focus and work to keep it off. Wouldn't it be much more fair if the weight just stayed off after all of your hard work? But as someone who has lost 50 pounds myself, I know this is wishful thinking, and the kind of thinking that leads to regain. Unfortunately, some people find it hard to get back in the right headspace for weight maintenance once they've lost weight.

[00:06:19] They're just over it by that point. So how do you muster the motivation to keep going? I highly recommend refreshing your goals every 3-6 months, even if you're still on the weight loss journey and haven't reached your goal yet. This helps to keep burnout at bay and keep life interesting. It's important that these goals support weight loss or weight maintenance, but aren't exclusively focused on it. For example, if you've been focusing diligently on losing weight for 3 months

[00:06:47] and have successfully lost 10-15 pounds, I think it's time to train for a 5K or learn how to do a pull-up. Also, you could switch up your approach to nutrition by trying new recipes or making a dietary switch for which the writing has been on the wall. For example, say you've known for a while that you need to cut out dairy because you experience painful belly cramps whenever you have it. Now might be the time to do that. These small changes can breathe fresh air into a dead routine, giving you the motivation you need

[00:07:17] to keep trends moving in the right direction. You just listened to part 2 of the post titled From Weight Loss to Maintenance How to Navigate a Tricky Transition by Rachel Trotta of racheltrotta.com and I'll be right back with my commentary. Dr. Neil here for my commentary. Today's author, Rachel, mentioned one of the most helpful tricks we can use whenever we find we've relapsed into old habits. Did you catch it?

[00:07:46] I've talked about it many times before. The trick is to start monitoring and tracking behaviors again. Just by committing to writing down the foods and drinks you've consumed or your steps or activity for the week and anything else that's important to help you reach your goals, you'll likely find you'll automatically get back on track. You don't even have to track everything. Just start somewhere. And you'll probably find yourself recommitted to your goals. Alright, that'll do it for today.

[00:08:14] Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for listening every day. I hope you're having a great week. And of course, I'll see you back here tomorrow for our usual Friday Q&A and where your optimal life awaits. Let's see you back here. Thank you. We'll see you next time. Thank you.