Ask Dr. Schwarz

Why can’t I ever maintain a weight loss?

This is an understandably difficult part of the process of dieting. Sometimes the excitement and activity of actually being on a diet can carry you, involve you fully and keep you to the task at hand. It is the time after you achieved a desired weight loss that can be the biggest challenge of all.

There is no easy answer for keeping the weight off. It involves many things. A central issue is that just because you lost weight doesn’t mean that you are a completely new person. Once you lose the weight you wanted to lose, you need to pay a lot of attention to yourself and your surroundings.

First, you can work on staying away from dangerous situations―situations which have always caused you to overeat. This may even include avoiding certain people who contribute to that tendency in you. You can also prepare yourself for high risk, tempting situations. That party or wedding or dinner at a restaurant can throw you right back into your old behavior. If you can anticipate these trigger situations, you can plan for them.

Then there are those difficult situations that come up unexpectedly, situation that you didn’t have time to prepare for. Even if you do have a lapse during one of these unexpected situations, you don’t have to go back to your old ways. You can accept the cheating episode, understanding that it had to do with this particular challenge. Then you can go back to your new way of eating, which will help keep your weight loss in place.