'Weight maintenance' is key to dieting These included weighing yourself daily, occasionally allowing yourself unhealthy snacks, deliberately slimming before events like holidays where weight gain is likely, and attempting not to lose or gain more than five pounds overall. The study, published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, showed that both groups lost about 17lb, or nine per cent of their body weight. But the women who carried out the weight maintenance course before their 20-week diet gained only 3lb over the following year on average, whereas those who dieted first and took the eight-week maintenance course afterwards lost 7lb in 12 months. Dr Michaela Kiernan of Stanford University, who led the study, said: "Those eight weeks were like a practice run. Women could try out different stability skills and work out the kinks without the pressure of worrying about how much weight they had lost. We found that waiting those eight weeks didn't make the women any less successful at losing weight. But even better, women who practised stability first were more successful in maintaining that loss after a year.