Reaching your goal weight is a big achievement, but maintaining this progress can bring new emotional challenges and requires a shift in your mindset.
That’s why we’ve written this guide to support your mental and emotional wellbeing through the maintenance phase.
Let's unpack how to manage the emotional ups and downs of the maintenance phase, handle setbacks, set new goals, and stay confident in your progress.
Three key takeaways:
Feeling your motivation dip after reaching an important milestone is normal.
Progress in maintenance looks different from the weight loss phase. It’s about stability, calmness, and sustainability.
Self-kindness, structure, and enjoying the process are key to long-term success.
Emotional aspects of maintenance
One of the less-talked-about aspects of maintenance is managing the emotions that come with moving into this new phase.
Sometimes after achieving an important goal, you might feel fatigued, burned out, restless, or with less sense of purpose. You may find yourself wondering ‘what now’?
This is when having a plan to deal with these emotional ups and downs can help you feel resolved and empowered.
Reframing success
In maintenance mode, it’s important to remember that your priorities have shifted from transforming to preserving.
You’ve already passed, or you’re getting close to the hardest-to-reach milestone, which is your goal weight.
Now you can take your foot off the gas a little and adopt a more sustainable approach as maintaining your success becomes your new priority.
Success in this phase means maintaining, which means aiming for balance and feeling confident in your abilities and what you’ve achieved already.
You don’t need to put pressure on yourself to be perfect. This phase is about adjusting to the new normal - a healthier, more focused, you.
Fear of weight regain
You may also feel afraid of regaining weight. This is natural – you don’t want to see the results of your hard work disappear.
Regaining weight can happen to some people during a maintenance phase, but it’s very unlikely to happen overnight.
So instead of worrying about possible weight regain, remind yourself of all the steps you can proactively take to prevent that from happening, like:
Eating a balanced diet of unprocessed, nutrient-dense foods
Sticking to a regular exercise routine
Being aware of your emotions and having coping strategies in place
Setting realistic goals
Treating any other health conditions that you’re living with that may affect your weight
Seeking support from a clinician, family, or friends
Coping strategies for setbacks
Setbacks are a natural part of life and a natural part of any weight loss journey.
They can happen to anyone, and they don’t necessarily mean you’ve done something wrong. You may regain weight or have days when sticking to your routine feels harder than usual due to:
The important thing when setbacks happen is to not become discouraged and let them snowball.
One coping strategy you can use to help deal with setbacks is having a plan in place for how to recover from any slip-ups and resetting your attitude to one of positivity and problem-solving.
Try to practice positive self-talk. This will help you develop a solution-focused attitude instead of anticipating future problems. You can do this by reframing ‘what if’ questions as ‘if...’ solutions.
Instead of asking: ‘what if I regain five pounds?’
Tell yourself: ‘If I regain five pounds, I’ll put a plan in place to lose those five pounds within a month, by tracking what I eat week-by-week, noticing what I’ve been eating in weeks when my weight increases, and making adjustments’
Instead of asking: ‘what if I can’t resist having dessert or some cocktails at the dinner party’?
Tell yourself: ‘If I want to indulge a little on social occasions, I can track the calories of whatever I treat myself to, then deduct these calories from my daily intake by a small amount each day over a week, to even it out’.
If you stray from your routine for a day, aim to reset and ground yourself. Practice self-care by focusing on:
This solution-focused mindset puts you in control and empowers you to make decisions that help you balance enjoying life while maintaining the results of your hard work.
Remember, on your weight loss journey, you’re not just a passenger, you’re in the driver’s seat!
Building positive mental habits
Positive mental habits are a cornerstone of sustainable success while you’re in maintenance. It’s about consistency, not perfection.
Try introducing ‘anchor habits’ that you practice weekly to support other healthy habits. Examples of anchor habits include:
Journaling
Write down your goals for the day for ten minutes in the morning.
Then, in the evening, reflect on your accomplishments and what you did in the day.
Celebrate the wins when you’ve achieved what you set out to do.
If you didn’t hit your goal, you can reflect on what you can do differently next time and feel resolved to keep building success in small increments.
Planning meals
Calculate your daily calorie needs (you can do this with our BMR calculator).
Divvy this amount up into however many meals you prefer to eat in a day.
Now that you have a calorie count for each meal, make a list of your favourite healthy foods and ingredients.
Use an app or search online for recipes that fit your calorie count needs featuring these foods and flavours.
Make a shopping list of everything you’ll need to make a week’s worth of healthy calorie-smart meals.
Set some time aside once or twice a week to prepare and store meals in batches, so you’ll always have healthy food to hand that fits your calorie needs and reduces the temptation to snack on fatty or sugary foods when hunger strikes.
Mindfulness and stress management
Stress can be a big trigger for drifting from your maintenance routine. Many of us reach for snacks or unhealthy options when we feel uncomfortable emotions.
Help keep yourself centred and calm by:
practicing daily deep breathing
meditation
keeping a gratitude journal to help you stay positive
taking time in nature as often as possible, whether that’s a hike, a short walk, or sitting in the garden
practicing a ‘digital detox’, by turning off all devices like phones, tablets, and computers for a set period of time
Dealing with weight gain or fluctuations
It’s common for anyone who’s successfully reached their goal weight to experience occasional weight fluctuations.
The key difference is whether these are small fluctuations of a few pounds, or more significant.
Sometimes, your weight can go up or down by a few pounds regardless of how many calories you eat. Factors that can influence weight fluctuations include:
other health conditions like thyroid issues or diabetes
Maintenance isn’t linear, so your weight will naturally go up and down a little. This is not the same as gradual weight regain.
If you find seeing the numbers go up and down on the scale discouraging, try weighing yourself weekly instead of daily. If you see the numbers on the scale creeping up from one week to the next, you’ll know it’s time to make some adjustments.
If you notice you’ve regained more than five pounds, try tracking your progress in a little more detail.
Instead of recording what you eat, try recording how you feel day to day.
If certain thoughts, feelings, or events throughout the day trigger eating outside of your meal plan or skipping exercise sessions, recording your daily activities can help you identify these triggers.
You can then avoid them or develop healthy coping strategies for when they occur. You could also try talking therapies like cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to help you reframe your thoughts and beliefs and how you respond to them (such as by emotional eating).
If you’re still concerned about weight regain, talk to a clinician for support.
“Weight fluctuations are normal during maintenance, but the key thing is to make sure that the regain of a few pounds doesn’t discourage you or cause you to slip from your routine until it turns into a few kilos. Focusing on self-kindness through sleep, healthy meal planning, and enjoyable physical activity can help you get back on track. If you have any worries about weight regain, talk to your prescriber. We’re always here to help!”
Maintenance is a long-term process, rather than a milestone to hit. And, like your weight, sometimes, your motivation can go up and down.
You may find yourself lacking drive without a specific goal to aim for and an external reward, like seeing numbers on the scale going down, or having friends and family comment on how well your weight loss journey’s going.
The key to long-term motivation is enjoying the process and understanding that it’s about progress, not perfection.
In fact, research shows that enjoying a challenge provides more motivation than external reward, even if the challenge is extremely difficult.
The good news here is that you’ve already done the difficult part – the weight loss. Your new challenge is to maintain that success and the key to realizing that goal is to enjoy the process and set new goals around this.
This could be fitness goals like strength and stamina, taking up a new sport or hobby, or improved mental health. If you feel your motivation dip, remind yourself of everything you’ve already accomplished.
One way to do this is to celebrate maintenance milestones, such as the month, three-month, or year since you hit your goal weight and started your maintenance phase.
Look back on the progress you’ve made already for inspiration to remind yourself of the healthier future you’ll be able to enjoy as a reward for your hard work.
Frequently asked questions
Why do I feel anxious even though I’ve succeeded?
You may be feeling what psychologists call ‘happiness anxiety’ or ‘success anxiety’. Unlike regular anxiety, this is when you’re worried your current positive state won’t last. Remind yourself that you’re in control and you have the capability to maintain the progress you’ve already achieved.
Is it normal to regain a few pounds?
Yes, it’s normal to regain a few pounds during maintenance. This could be due to water weight, glycogen storage, hormone fluctuations, or increased muscle mass. If you’re concerned about how much weight you’ve regained, talk to your prescriber as you may need your maintenance dose increased.
How do I stay motivated without a goal weight?
Research shows taking enjoyment in a task and relishing the process rather than the goal is a more reliable source of motivation than external reward. So, learn to enjoy the maintenance process by planning meals you look forward to eating and workouts you enjoy doing.
What should I do if I slip back into old habits?
If you find yourself slipping back into old habits, the most important thing to do is not blame yourself for being human and slipping up. Focus on resetting by getting back to your routine and prioritising quality sleep, healthy eating, exercise, and hydration.
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