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
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