So, you've reached your weight loss goals, but how do you maintain the 'new you' now that your official diet is over? Kate Brinton outlines the smartest ways to stay on track

After months of hard work and abstinence, you've finally reached your target weight and it's time to return to your regular eating habits. But without a specific diet plan to follow, how can you make sure you don't gain the weight back?

According to Catherine Collins, a spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association and Chief Dietitian at St Georges Hospital in London, maintaining weight loss after a diet can sometimes be harder than losing weight in the first place. Collins says that the solution to making the transition is to find ways of incorporating aspects of your weight loss plan into your life. 'The secret is to realise you can never go back to the diet or lifestyle you had before you lost the weight,' she explains. 'It's important to keep up the eating rituals and food habits you used on your diet. Continuing to plan your meals, carrying a piece of fruit in your bag and using the stairs instead of the lift, are simple but effective post-diet tactics,' she adds.

Collins believes that with a little planning and a lot of determination you can successfully establish new, healthier eating habits on your own. As for temptations like crisps or chocolate, the key is self-control. 'You can reintroduce things you banned from your diet, but make sure you do it in moderation,' says Collins. 'If you want a piece of cake, have a small portion. Don't deny yourself anything, but keep your eating under control and try to choose healthy alternatives for snacks, such as fruit or crispbread,' she adds. According to Collins, erratic eating patterns are the main culprit for weight gain.

Exercising regularly is also imperative to maintaining weight loss. According to a study by the National Weight Loss Registry, an American organisation founded in 1993 to monitor weight loss maintenance over time (see their website at www.uchsc.edu/nutrition/nwcr.htm), subjects who successfully lost 30 lbs and kept it off, did so by maintaining their exercise regime. 'Not only will keeping physically active burn calories, but it also keeps your resting metabolic rate up, which means your body is working even while you are at rest,' says Collins.

One of the major problems people face when gaining weight after a diet is feeling like their previous efforts have been pointless. They often think, 'I might as well eat what I want now.' If this occurs, you need to 'remember the determination you found to lose the weight in the first place,' advises Collins. And if you need the motivation to keep up the effort, she suggests putting an old photograph of yourself on the fridge and remembering how unhappy you were with the way you looked before the diet.

Clinical Nutritionist Linda Barr of The Nutrition and Health Company suggests another useful strategy for keeping weight off in the long term: choosing the right plan. For people starting a new diet, look for a weight loss programme that is a healthy lifestyle plan rather than a diet. 'If you change your eating habits to incorporate a healthy eating plan rather than a restrictive calorie-controlled diet, you need never come off it,' says Barr. Gradual changes in eating habits help encourage a permanent lifestyle change, which is essential to weight loss maintenance.

Barr adds, 'You must ensure that your weight loss programme is suitable for your body type. A lot of people lose weight on a diet and then put it straight back on as soon as they stop. This indicates that they've been on the wrong weight loss programme for their body.'

Part of the advice Barr gives her clients is to make sure they eat breakfast, have lots of leafy green vegetables, increase the amount of pulses and lentils in their diet and avoid sugars and processed foods. She explains, 'I don't believe this way of eating is about dieting. It's about creating a healthy lifestyle for yourself.'

Next page: post-diet weight management tips

Try these basic tips for weight management and a healthy lifestyle after your diet:

• Change your eating habits so that you eat a balance of fresh fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy products and lean meat (chicken or fish are the lightest sources). Choose complex carbohydrates, such as whole grain breads and high fibre cereals as opposed to bleached flour products like white bread.
  
• Do aerobic exercise such as walking, running, swimming or cycling regularly. This will increase muscle tone and burn calories. Even developing a simple, healthy habit like walking to the train every day instead of taking the bus, can make a difference in how you look and feel.
  
• Eat a healthy breakfast every morning. Smart, energy-packed choices include bran, bananas, orange juice, porridge, muesli or low-fat yoghurt.
  
• Swap low-fat milk for semi-skimmed milk and focus on other low-calorie foods.
  
• Plan your meals in advance so you don't eat fast food on the run or fill up on high-calorie snacks.
  
• Don't eat meat more than once a day. Fish and poultry are recommended over red or processed meats because they are less fattening.
  
• Avoid fried foods, which absorb fat from cooking oils. Also, food tends to lose more of their nutritional value when fried. Instead, bake, broil or grill food. In the case of vegetables, lightly steam them.
  
• Drink alcohol in moderation.
  
• Eat fibre-rich foods such as leafy green vegetables, fruit, beans, bran flakes, roots and whole grains. These will fill you up and keep your digestive system healthy.
  
• Choose fresh fruits for puddings and snacks.
  
• Keep your portions small.
  
• Watch your weight, but only weigh yourself once a week as the numbers on the scale may fluctuate slightly on a day-to-day basis. Also, gauge your target weight by how you feel and how your clothes fit rather than by what the scales say.
  
• Don't panic if you put on weight. Think about what could have caused the gain and amend your diet accordingly.

For a sensible healthy eating and exercise plan that you can follow for life, check out the Shape Up Challenge.