Many of us like to think of a diet as a temporary suspension of our usual way of life. Knowing that we are working towards a specific goal can help us to stay motivated when the going gets tough, whether the endpoint is a certain amount of time participating in a weight loss program or a particular goal weight. So, what happens when we get to the “end?” What changes when we reach the “post-diet” point in time?
Think of the diet not only as a means to an end, but as one stage in your progression to a new phase of your life. The diet stage is a time to establish new eating habits, overcome obstacles to weight loss, and begin to prioritize healthy living. For many people, this is the most challenging phase, as it is a time when multiple lifestyle habits must change, and these habits have been developed, rehearsed, and solidified over the course of a lifetime! Having achieved your goals in the diet stage, you can use the post-diet stage as a time to solidify the “New You.” This does not mean that you will be dieting forever, but that your approach to thinking about food, eating, and physical fitness has shifted. The “New You” is more educated about food and nutrition, more mindful of what and how much you eat, able to successfully adjust your food intake when needed to sustain a healthier diet, more satisfied with your weight, and more physically fit. The “New You” wants to stay that way!
Before considering how to keep the “New You” healthy, it is important to ask yourself whether you have reached your goals during the diet stage. Did you reach your goal weight? If not, can you envision feeling satisfied with the “New You” at your current weight? The next steps you will take in redefining your lifestyle habits will depend upon how you answered these questions.
Next: If you reached your goal weight...
If you reached your goal weight, take a moment to appreciate the New You! At this stage, you are officially “post-diet” and it’s time to focus on maintaining the changes you worked so hard to achieve. The following tips may be helpful to you in the post-diet stage:
(1) Give yourself credit…repeatedly. Every time you act in the interest of your health, whether it’s exercising, resisting temptations to overeat, or eating healthy, balanced meals, remind yourself that you’re doing a great job!
(2) Remind yourself of your successes. Your motivation to continue working on the New You will flourish when you feed it with reminders of how far you have come. Think about how you looked and felt before you lost weight. Consider the physical, psychological, and other benefits of weight loss in your life. Keep a list of these benefits and read the list to yourself at least every other day.
(3) Continue monitoring what you eat. Studies show that people who monitor their caloric intake lose more weight and are more likely to maintain weight loss than those who don’t keep track. You can do this either formally or informally, whatever works best. Some people have a general plan in mind at the start of each day as to what their meals will look like; others write down menus for meals and snacks in advance and follow the written plan pretty closely. You can experiment with this and see whether you are able to follow informal plans or if you need more structure. Either way, be sure to keep your menus somewhat varied so that you don’t get bored with the same foods day in and day out.
(4) Keep up your exercise regimen. Although research consistently shows that exercise is essential to maintaining weight loss, it’s easy for exercise move to the bottom of the priority list when we get busy, so it will take effort to keep it going when you enter the post-diet phase. Like eating healthy, we are most likely to follow through with exercise when we plan for it. Keep a written or electronic schedule and block off time for your exercise regimen. Give yourself credit every time you follow through, and if you find it challenging to get yourself to the gym or other activity, try pairing up with a friend or trainer for at least the first couple of weeks. Do not let more than a week go by without doing any planned exercise; if that happens, re-prioritize!
(5) Give and get support. Continue reaching out to friends, fellow participants in your weight loss program, and anyone else who has been supportive of your diet to help cheer you on, work through obstacles, and keep the New You motivated. Acting as a mentor to someone else who is in the diet stage is also a great way to keep yourself on track.
Next: If you did NOT reach your goal weight...If you did NOT reach your goal weight, this is an ideal time to step back and reassess whether to stop where you are and work on maintaining or continue to try to lose more. Have you hit a plateau? Here’s what you need to know to figure it out:
Plateaus and weight gain do not imply failure. Short-term plateaus and weight gain are part of the process. Most people do not consistently lose weight week after week when dieting; rather, we usually lose for a few weeks, then plateau for a week or two, and sometimes gain a few pounds back at some point during the process. This doesn’t mean that you are not succeeding. Often the plateaus are short-term; you may stay at the same weight for a week, and then, if you are still doing all of the right things, you will begin to lose weight again the next week. If this is the case, you don’t need to move to post-diet just yet; be patient and give yourself a chance to get closer to your goal weight!
Consider the length of the plateau. If you continue to follow your diet and exercise regimen and the plateau persists for more than a few weeks, then you have two choices: (1) You can modify your diet and exercise plans after consulting your primary care physician or other healthcare professional and continue to try to lose, or (2) You can consider this your goal weight and move into the post-diet phase. If you decide to follow #2, the following tips can help:
(1) Your ideal weight may not be the same as your maintainable weight. Keep in mind that the lowest weight you are able to achieve (your ideal weight) may not be a realistic weight for you to maintain. If you can come to terms with this, it will be easier to accept your lowest maintainable weight and re-focus your efforts on staying healthy where you are at.
(2) Your maintainable weight must be compatible with your lifestyle. By now you have made a number of healthy lifestyle changes. Which ones can you maintain long-term? As you adjust your expectations in terms of the actual weight you will strive to maintain, take into account the types of restrictions in your lifestyle that you would like to see lifted, versus the ones you can comfortably sustain. Maybe you’d like to eat dessert or drink wine with dinner in the post-diet phase. Perhaps you can work out 3 times per week, but not 4. Be realistic about what the New You can do, and adjust your goal weight accordingly.
(3) Remind yourself of the positives. Sure, you’d rather be at your ideal weight with pounds to spare, but as you come to acceptance of your maintainable weight, remind yourself of all of the benefits of the weight loss you have achieved, and focus on the parts of your body that you feel the best about.
(4) Make peace with yourself. Imperfections are a part of life. There are a lot of things we actively work to change in our lives to conform to our ideal expectations, but things don’t always work out exactly as we planned. Making peace with these things can improve your mental well-being. Try saying to yourself, “Even though I wish I could lose more weight, I can be satisfied where I’m at now…” or “I’m grateful for other people and things that I have in my life.”
(5) Focus on life balance. To keep things in perspective, remember that your weight is not the most important thing in your life. Much like you have devoted time and energy to your diet, in the post-diet phase you can reinvest some of that energy into your family, friends, hobbies, and other meaningful areas of your life. The more satisfied you are with your life all around, the less the pounds will matter.