Why do so Many People Regain Weight?

It is rather depressing to know that most people who lose weight usually gain some, if not all, of the weight they lost back within a couple of years. You obviously want to believe that you're going to be one of the few who manages to keep the weight off, but there are always doubts lurking in the back of your mind. At least when you're losing weight you have something to keep your mind fixated on. You may have a particular dress you would like to fit into for a wedding or you may want to get down to a certain weight before going on holiday.

Once you are trying to maintain your weight, though; there is no such incentive. You don't get the same boost of stepping on the scales each week to discover that your healthy eating and exercise routine has helped you to lose a pound or two. Indeed, you may try to keep track of your weight for a few weeks or months after reaching your goal weight, but, eventually, you may decide to avoid the scales, even though this usually proves to be a big mistake. If you don't know how much you weigh it is much easier to go back to your old eating and exercise habits, since you are oblivious to the impact it is having on your weight.

Of course, you can generally tell that you're gaining weight, as your clothes start to get tighter, but you don't know just how bad the situation is. The trouble is that it doesn't matter how exactly you lost the weight – you could have gone on a crash diet or simply followed a healthy eating plan – your inclination is always going to be to revert back to your former habits. It takes a long time to make something into a habit, and once it is established it is even harder to get rid of. If you're used to eating at certain times during the day or after experiencing particular emotions, then this is what comes naturally to you.

Unfortunately, if you have the type of habits which leave you consuming too many calories, the inevitable result is weight gain. You may be able to lose weight when losing weight is your main obsession; when you're giving it your full attention and planning every single thing you eat and making yourself exercise. The difficult part is when you're at your goal; everyone has stopped praising you for your weight loss and you come down to earth with a bump. You realise that to keep the weight off you're going to have to constantly watch what you eat and make an effort to exercise.

However, the chances are that life will get in the way or you will grow tired of calorie counting and exercise, so that, in the end, you simply give up. Consequently, you become one of the failed dieters, and like so many of them you may find that your weight constantly yo-yos up and down, rather than ever stabilising and remaining within a healthy range. Thus, to achieve weight-loss success you have to be just as determined to maintain a healthy weight as you were when you were actually losing the weight in the first place.