“What will I do after I reach my weight loss goal?”
This is one of the most important questions that people need to ask themselves as they start their weight loss journey because at some point you will have a “life after weight loss” and having the skills, tools, and mindset to live in maintenance is important.
I will start a short little series here on maintenance. In this series we will cover a lot of the main topics that we discuss with our clients during the transition from weight loss and help you build your toolbox and mindset to properly prepare for life during maintenance.
Here is part 1.
How quickly should you reverse back to maintenance?There are two main philosophies for how to go from a deficit to maintenance.
1) Instantly
2) Slowly.
The honest truth is that you can do either.
If you go to true maintenance instantly you will not gain any weight, you will have more energy quickly, your sleep will return faster, and you should look more “full” (like your muscles), your hormones should return to normal faster, etc.
The only downside here is if you overshoot you might gain ~1-2 pounds while you figure out maintenance. If you choose to go slowly, all the same things above happen, they just take longer (weeks to months). But your likelihood of overshooting maintenance and gaining 1-2 pounds is lower.
Deciding which path really comes down to who you are and what your goals are. If you are an athlete, instantly may make more sense. If you have a long history of dieting and quick scale changes can be upsetting to you, slowly may make more sense. It all comes down to your context, but realize either approach can work.
On the next installment we will talk about how to prevent weight rebound.
