Understanding Fat Loss, Maintenance and the Behavioural Patterns That Shape Your Results

Most women go into a fat loss phase thinking the hardest part will be eating less. What actually makes fat loss difficult is the behavioural, emotional and psychological load that sits underneath those food choices. Hunger is manageable. Life stress, self-talk and old coping patterns are what usually pull people off track.

This is why so many women start strong, see progress, then fall into the exact same cycle. Motivation drops, life gets busy, emotions flare, food becomes reactive again, guilt kicks in, and the whole thing feels like failure. It is not failure. It is a pattern. And you can learn to interrupt it with the right approach.

In this blog we are going to unpack both phases of the journey. Fat loss and maintenance. How they differ. Why they are both challenging for different reasons. And how the behavioural piece plays a far bigger role than most people realise.

The Two Approaches To Fat Loss: Hard And Fast or Slow And Steady

When someone decides they want to lose weight, they generally choose one of two paths. None of which are wrong - there's just two ways of commonly getting the job done.

Some prefer to go in hard and fast. They reduce calories aggressively, tighten their habits, and commit fully for a very short period of time, usually within the space of 4-12 weeks. Usually you are looking at 500g to 1kg loss a week. This approach can work extremely well for people who have the discipline, environment and emotional bandwidth to stay consistent. The benefit is simple. You enter a deficit, you create change quickly, and you get out. Main point is to GET OUT. The challenge is that if your life feels chaotic or emotionally unpredictable, this approach leaves no buffer. One stressful week and the wheels fall off. When that happens repeatedly, you get the classic micro gain and micro loss cycle. A pattern where you spend most of your time undereating during the week, then overeating in bursts, then feeling guilty, then restricting again. It is exhausting and rarely leads to long-term change. So if you do not have the devotion and skills to commit short term - you might not find this one works for you.

Slow and steady is the opposite. You take your time, work on foundational habits, eat in a milder deficit, and let the results unfold slowly. Usually around the 200g -500g per weekly drop. This is a gentler approach but the emotional challenge is different. Because progress is slower, it is easy to lose motivation, feel like nothing is changing, or start doubting the process. Some women sit in a slow deficit for months and months but mentally feel like they are always dieting and never reaching their goal. The behavioural fatigue sets in long before the body reaches its outcome.

Both approaches work. Both approaches have consequences. The real question is which one suits your life, your stress levels, your personality, and your current emotional capacity.

The Nutritional Reality: You Are Eating Less Than Your Body Needs

Regardless of which approach you choose, a deficit is a deficit. You are purposely eating fewer calories than your body requires. That means you are giving your body less energy and often fewer nutrients. Fat loss is not a long-term home. It is a controlled, intentional, temporary phase.

This is why the goal is never to diet forever. The body thrives when it returns to maintenance. Better hormones, a steadier nervous system, metabolism firing properly, better sleep, better digestion, better energy. Being at your goal weight and eating enough is the healthiest place to live.

But getting there is only half the journey.

Reaching Your Goal Weight: The Hidden Challenges No One Talks About

Every woman believes fat loss is the hardest part. Until they reach their goal weight. Then the questions start:

What now?
Do I stay here?
Do I try for a little more?
Do I even know how to maintain?
How do I eat enough without regaining weight?

Maintenance is actually the hardest phase for most people because everything that once motivated you disappears. The scale is no longer dropping. Your body is no longer changing rapidly. The dopamine hits are gone. You are left with discipline, routine and self-responsibility. This is when people discover just how much their behaviours were driven by external validation and excitement instead of internal steadiness.

It is also where the micro regain starts if you have not built strong enough habits. A few extra bites. A slightly bigger portion. A couple of higher calorie days in a row. Not tracking. Not planning. Not prepping. Nothing dramatic. Just softening around the edges. And over weeks or months, the scale creeps up. Not because you failed but because maintenance requires just as much attention as fat loss, just in a different way.

The Behavioural Patterns That Derail Progress

Understanding the behavioural side is the key to breaking the cycle.

Here are the most common patterns I see in clinical practice:

1. The All Or Nothing Trigger

Many women go from complete commitment to complete collapse after one imperfect day. One emotional eating moment. One chaotic day at work. One skipped training session. The brain registers this as failure which activates the narrative of “I’ve ruined it now” and the behaviour spirals.

For example:
A client has one stressful day at work, grabs takeaways, feels embarrassed, decides the week is ruined, eats off-plan for three more days, and then restarts Monday feeling ashamed. The problem was not the takeaways. The problem was the meaning she attached to it.

2. Emotional Overload

Stress, busyness, family pressure and emotional overwhelm reduce your cognitive capacity. You default to old coping strategies. That usually means food. Not because you are weak but because the brain seeks quick relief.

For example:
A mother doing school events, work deadlines and late nights finds herself snacking mindlessly at the end of the day. She is not hungry. She is drained. Without a plan for emotional decompression, food becomes the fastest outlet.

3. Decision Fatigue

When life is full, planning meals feels impossible. You grab whatever is available. And when that becomes the pattern, guilt follows. Then restriction follows. Then overeating follows. This cycle repeats for months or years.

4. Fear Of Maintenance

Some women avoid maintenance because it feels uncertain. They fear gaining weight back. So they stay in a diet mindset long after the deficit should have ended. This leads to chronic underfueling, stalled progress, hormonal disruption and binge cycles.

How To Actually Break These Patterns

Awareness is the first step. Strategy is the second. Here is what works clinically:

1. Anchor Your Non Negotiables

In both fat loss and maintenance, strip it back.
Protein goal.
Vegetable intake.
Steps.
Water.
Sleep boundary.

When life gets chaotic, these are the habits that keep you grounded.

2. Plan Micro, Not Perfect

Instead of attempting full weekly perfection, plan one meal ahead. Prep one snack. Set up one safety net. Big plans collapse under stress. Micro plans survive.

3. Separate Emotion From Behaviour

When the old pattern shows up, pause and label it.
“This is my stress response.”
“This is my tired brain.”
“This is my all or nothing talking.”

Creating that pause is what allows you to choose differently.

4. Learn To Sit In Maintenance

It will feel unfamiliar at first. You will second guess yourself. You will want the excitement of fat loss again. But staying here is what allows your metabolism to stabilise and your body to thrive. Maintenance is not passive. It requires planning, structure and intention.

Final Thoughts: Fat Loss Gets You There. Maintenance Keeps You There.

The women who succeed long-term are not the ones who diet the hardest. They are the ones who understand these phases, manage their behaviours, and learn the mental skills required to move between deficit and maintenance with confidence.

You do not have to be perfect. You just have to be consistent. You just have to understand that fat loss and maintenance are two different skill sets. And you need both if you want your results to last.

If you want personalised guidance to navigate these phases without burnout or yo-yo cycles, this is exactly what I help my clients build inside their plans.

See the maintanence membership is perfect for a long term fat loss strategy and coaching; CLICK HERE TO CHECK IT OUT