Adherence
Post-treatment maintenance programs combining behavior therapy with ongoing therapist contact significantly improve long-term weight loss maintenance compared to behavior therapy alone.
To keep weight off long-term, you cannot just finish an initial diet or exercise program and stop. You must engage in a structured maintenance phase (at least one year) that includes regular check-ins with a professional or support group. This phase focuses on problem-solving skills to handle setbacks, rather than just strict dieting. Without this ongoing support, you are likely to regain most of the weight you lost.
At an 18-month follow-up evaluation, all four conditions that combined behavior therapy with a posttreatment maintenance program yielded significantly greater long-term weight losses than behavior therapy alone.
Why this rating
Randomized controlled trial with N=123, 18-month follow-up, but self-reported adherence measures used.
Source
Effects of four maintenance programs on the long-term management of obesity.
Michael G. Perri et al. · Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology · 1988
DOI 10.1037/0022-006x.56.4.529
More from this paper
- Adding social influence strategies (monetary incentives, peer support) to maintenance programs improves adherence to weight loss strategies, though it does not necessarily lead to greater weight loss compared to therapist contact alone.Good
- High-frequency aerobic exercise (up to 180 min/week) during maintenance does not significantly improve long-term weight loss compared to lower exercise levels, likely due to adherence difficulties.Good
- Combining high-frequency aerobic exercise with social influence strategies and therapist contact yields the best long-term weight loss maintenance, with one condition maintaining 99% of post-treatment weight loss at 18 months.Good
Related findings · Adherence
- Regular physical activity (at least 150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity) reduces all-cause and cardiovascular mortality by 20-30% and lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes by 25-35%.Strong
- Increasing physical activity from a sedentary lifestyle to an active one in middle adulthood significantly reduces the risk of coronary events compared to remaining sedentary.Strong
- Resistance exercise is the only intervention capable of consistently restoring muscle function and strength in sarcopenia, partially overcoming age-related anabolic resistance.Strong
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