Research indicates that 95% of all dieters regain their lost weight within 5 years. 

I am  a “reduced obese” person who has been maintaining my body at or near a “normal” BMI for the past 13+ consecutive years, so I am one of the 5% who has maintained their weight loss for more than 5 years.

Long-term Maintenance of my very large Weight-Loss requires me to Diet continually. By this I do NOT mean that I “Yo-Yo Diet”. I mean that I must CONSISTENTLY Diet.  Minute-after-minute, hour-after-hour, day-after-day, week-after-week, month-after-month, year-after year.

I am not, … nor will I ever become, … a “normal” eater who can effortlessly maintain a “normal” weight.  Even after all these years of consistent weight-loss maintenance, I've found that as a "reduced obese" person, I must fight my body continually in order to keep it from taking me up back into morbid obesity.

Basically, I engage in ongoing calorie restriction.  Over the years I’ve chosen to experiment with a variety of diets, ways-of-eating, lifestyles, and diets-that-claim-not-to-be-diets.  However, every one of these eating variations involves restricting calories in one way or another.

I log all of my daily food in a computer journal, and keep an eye on my calorie intake. 

Generally, I follow some basic eating guidelines which tend to give me freedom from specific diet rules, in the following ways.

My preferences matter.  I get to say what I like and what I don’t, and I can’t be wrong.


I manage my eating in a flexible way, similar to the way I budget my money, — not spending an absolute set amount every day, but keeping an eye on the bottom line.

Financially, I live within my means.  Although I don’t track every single purchase, I do look at price tags, comparison shop, and have a general idea of whether I can afford something.


I do the same with eating,
… paying attention to:

    ▪    The energy value (i.e. calories) in the foods I eat, or think about eating;

    ▪    My own energy needs (i.e. calorie burn);

    ▪    The health effects of certain foods (i.e. I have some protein every day; avoid foods that upset my stomach; etc.)

In this way I am able to make wiser decisions about which, and how much, food is appropriate for me and why.  I choose to eat the foods I love in small amounts, while I choose to do without the foods that I don’t love or need as much.

As a grown-up, I understand that Living Life involves a multitude of basic ongoing tasks. 

    ▪    I have to shower or bathe frequently if I want my body to be clean.

    ▪    I have to keep up with my laundry if I want to wear clean clothing.

    ▪    I have to perform various household tasks if I want to live in a clean house.

    ▪    I have to keep putting fuel in my car, if I want to drive places.

    ▪    I have to pay my utility bills if I want access to water, electricity, gas, and garbage removal.

    ▪    I have to diet if I want to maintain my body at a size which is considered to be “normal” in our culture.


Dieting consistently to Maintain my Weight-loss is simply one of those basic ongoing tasks.

Originally posted on January 16, 2018; Bumped up for new viewers.

The podcast below contains a relatively simple, very understandable
and exceptionally accurate explanation of Set Point.

Below are links to some additional DietHobby articles involving the Set Point issue.

Set Point  

Running DOWN the UP Escalator - Weight Loss & Maintenance

Winner of the “5 Percent Lottery of Hell” 

Is the type of eating behavior that causes obesity primarily based on: Psychological issues or Physiological issues?  Is the cause primarily mental and emotional, or is the cause primarily physical?

A common belief is that negative behaviors and bad habits are only symptoms of a bigger, psychological problem, and once you’ve dealt with that issue an unwanted behavior will end up falling away.

That might be true sometimes, but I've never seen it happen in myself, or ....in any kind of proveable way... in others.

It is now also becoming apparent that the type of eating that causes ongoing obesity involves deep biological roots. 

So, if the primary “behavior battle” is actually rooted within one’s own physiology, rather than merely inside one’s own mind, perhaps “WHY” I desire to eat more food than my body needs to stay “thin” or inside a “normal” BMI is not really all that important .

Was Bob Newhart actually on track when he told his patient to “Stop It”?