Losing Five Stone: 15 Tips to Keep the Weight Off

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Cork has more advice on this, having learnt the hard way that losing weight is one thing, but keeping it off is quite another. A few pounds crept back on, imperceptibly to others, until last November she noticed that some of her clothes felt tight. “I realised I wasn’t wearing some of the outfits I had adored as the new slimline version of myself and knew it was because I had slipped off track,” she says. Stepping on the scales she realised she had regained 1st 4lb in the preceding few months. “I am only human and although I lost 5st to start with — and kept the vast majority off — it still creeps back on unless you are very vigilant,” she says.

Cork, now 62, says she has found the battle to keep the pounds off even harder than losing them in the first place — but it can be done. “Maintaining weight loss is so much harder and much less sexy than the initial weight loss,” she says. “When you drop 5st in body weight as I did, it is a ‘wow!’ scenario and you get a lot of compliments. But if you take your eye off the ball it starts to reappear.”

Regaining weight is a reality faced by many who have successfully reached a target weight. Researchers from the University of Oxford recently looked at 37 studies involving more than 9,000 overweight people. Reporting in the BMJ last month, they found that slimmers on conventional diet and exercise plans typically regained their lost pounds at an average rate of 0.2lb or 0.1kg a month once they took their foot off the diet pedal.

For those who come off GLP-1 agonist weight-loss drugs such as Mounjaro or Wegovy, the pounds creep back up to four times faster — at an average 1.7lb or 0.8kg a month — meaning that many are back to their pre-diet weight within 18 months, leading experts to suggest that users may have to stay on the jabs for life.

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But it is possible to stop a slip-up snowballing and taking you back to square one, Cork says. “Last November it hit me hard that I had been here before and I needed to pull back and trim off the excess pounds I’d put back on. Even with the interruption of the festive season I have managed to lose that extra 8kg in the past 12 weeks and to get my eating and exercise habits back on track.

“Since the middle of January I have been back at my comfortable target weight and aim to stay within a few pounds of that going forward. If I do slip up I now know what it takes to get back on track. It takes effort, but weight maintenance is mostly about sticking to good habits and routine.”

How Alison Cork keeps the weight off

Get on the scales every day

Looking back I realise that once I reached my initial goal weight, I slowly stopped weighing myself every day — but accountability is critical to keeping pounds at bay. There is no shortcut. If you tidy up the bathroom and the scales go in the cupboard, keeping the weight off will be much more difficult than if you stand on the dreaded things every day. I don’t like weighing myself, but it works, as does tracking your daily calories on an app. It is tedious but it really makes you realise how much energy intake matters.

Keep your daily step levels high

Walking is the most underestimated of all activities that are essential for weight loss and maintenance. When I first lost weight I had more than tripled my daily step count to 15,000-20,000, but by November I realised that had dropped back to an average 7,000-8,000 a day. I started to build it up again and the pounds came off. There are so many benefits to walking: it’s free, it’s within most people’s capabilities and it’s good for mental and physical health. You can add steps at any time of day to fit it into your life — walk to meetings, walk to the supermarket and carry your bags back — and you’ll be amazed at the difference it makes.

Focus on training harder, rather than more often

One of the first steps I took in my original weight-loss attack was to join a gym, having never done a gym workout before in my life. I went religiously three times a week, for an hour a session, and was introduced to weight training with progressively heavier weights, which helped fat to melt away. The more muscle you have, the more efficient your body will be at burning fat and the more you can ultimately eat without gaining weight.

I never stopped that thrice-weekly gym habit, but if I am honest with myself, I stopped making as much effort when I was there. It showed when I looked in the mirror as I could see my muscle mass had slightly declined. So I went back to my gym trainer who told me training more often wouldn’t be as beneficial as training more effectively. I had to hone my technique and the effort I put into each exercise. Within a couple of weeks I could see the impact it was having on my body.

Going to a gym works for me but you can do it at home if you are disciplined enough to stick to a programme and build up the weight gradually. I’d suggest investing in a dumbbell starter kit with 3kg, 4kg and 6kg weights to get yourself started.

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Concentrate on what makes you feel — and look — good

At the gym my favourite routines are always upper-body exercises because my arms are on show more than any other part of my body and like most women I’m not a fan of bingo wings. I love exercises with dumbbells, such as lateral raises, lat pull downs, rows and bench presses. Depending on whether I’m lifting lighter or heavier weights, I typically aim for three sets of anywhere between 6 and 15 reps. My goal is to push my body to the maximum it can manage before my technique deteriorates.

Don’t do more cardio than you need to (I avoid running at all costs)

Cardiovascular exercise is important for the body and mind and I feel better for getting my daily steps in. In addition to my daily walking, I like swimming and cycling when on holiday and I do a lot of mountain trekking. But that’s it for my cardio exercise.

The bottom line for me is that walking plus doing weights three times a week with my trainer is enough to maintain strength and weight. I don’t do any aggressive cardio and I actively dislike running, which I don’t think suits my joints and body. I avoid running at all costs. If I don’t run for the bus and then miss it, I’m happy to walk to my destination.

Make sure you’re still eating plenty of protein

Tuna is a great source of protein

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I learnt the importance of protein when I first lost weight. It is essential for building and maintaining muscle strength, but also helps in the burning of fat. When I was trying to lose weight I’d eat 1g protein per pound of my bodyweight every day, from healthy sources such as chicken, lean red meat, fish, eggs, Greek yoghurt and pulses. When I reached my goal weight I was advised to aim for 0.35g protein per pound of bodyweight, but I wasn’t quite as diligent at keeping track of it. So I went back to the 1g per pound a day until I lost my excess weight and have then been careful to stick to the 0.35g a day per pound of bodyweight for maintenance, which for me means eating about 41g of protein a day.

Switch to full-fat dairy and aim to eat more healthy fats every day

Your body can live with limited carbs, but it cannot function without protein or fat. So while keeping my protein intake high I also aimed to eat more healthy fats every day. I was secretly delighted that my trainer suggested this because I naturally gravitate towards fatty foods. I use olive oil to cook and add it to everything. I love nuts and the crispy skin on roast chicken, so I just ate more of these and other healthy fats, from avocado and nut butters.

I also went back to eating full-fat dairy — reduced-fat versions are often higher in sugar, flavourings and colours — which is more satiating and tasty. I love full-fat Greek yoghurt, and you eat less of it because it’s so delicious and filling. In the first week of adding more healthy fats to my diet, a kilo of weight (2.2lb) fell off. I lost fat by eating fat, so I am sticking to it.

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Away for the weekend? Cut yourself some slack

If I am away with friends or family, I legislate for it by adapting my diet beforehand and after I get home, by cutting back, so that overall my calorie intake is fairly consistent across the entire period. This is what I did at Christmas, which in 2025 fell in the middle of my weight-loss programme. I eat and drink anything I want to at these special times, but there’s no guilt or feeling of loss of control or progress, because I have remained accountable overall.

Follow an 80:20 rule for treats

Even when trying to lose weight again I stuck to my 80:20 rule for treats. Life is for living. I have a very sweet tooth and allow myself some 90 per cent dark chocolate at the weekends, as it is about the best for you in terms of low sugar content. I also keep a wide variety of nuts, even the salted variety, in my cupboards at home. A handful is great as a snack after exercise, replacing the salt lost in sweat. You have to be able to adapt at meetings and gatherings and can’t be a diet hermit. So, yes please, I’ll have that cinnamon swirl, just not every day.

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If I am eating out at a restaurant I’ll always look for the cleanest protein options — that is, a source of protein that’s not smothered in some unidentifiable sauce — that I can find. Often this means grilled steak or fish, with some good carbs and a side salad or vegetables. I normally don’t have bread or dessert but again, I apply the 80:20 rule. If I see something I really fancy on the menu, I indulge and enjoy it.

Keep an eye on your alcohol intake: you can limit it rather than cut it out

I cut out alcohol completely whenever I am trying to lose weight. When I was overweight in my food critic days I would consistently drink considerably more than 14 units a week, but I have a much better understanding of the dynamics of alcohol, sugar and weight gain. Even now that I am back at my goal weight, I barely touch alcohol. When I do, it’s something I really want and will enjoy as a treat, like a glass of champagne. But typically, I’ll go for one of the many seriously good zero-alcohol products out there, like Asahi or Leffe, low-alcohol sparkling wine like Wild Idol or French Bloom, or alcohol-free spirits such as Seedlip or Three Spirit, whose flavours stand up in their own right and are not a second best to alcohol. They contain some sugar, but they’re still better for you than alcohol.

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Think about switching the time of day you exercise — I moved my morning workouts to midday

When I first started going to the gym I would train at 6-6.30am. But over time I have discovered that I am much better if I delay my workouts until midday. By then I’ve fully woken up, moved around to get joints mobile, had some breakfast (I am a big breakfast person) and boosted my energy levels. Sometimes it just helps to switch things up if you are in a bit of a rut. The first time I trained at noon I shocked myself as to how much easier it felt to achieve the same volume and intensity of effort. Everyone is different and you might be better in the mornings or evenings. Find out what works for you.

Try going to bed at exactly the same time each night

Sleep is essential for weight maintenance. Your body needs that time to digest and process food and a lot of fat burning takes place at night. If you are not sleeping your body’s energy is diverted. I have never been a particularly good sleeper but I have come to realise that sleep routine is much more important than people realise. It’s easy to let sleep habits slide a bit, as I had before last November. So I have instilled better habits in recent months. I go to bed no later than 10pm every night. I take magnesium glycinate, which seems to help me relax and drop off. I use blackout blinds and make sure my bedroom is not too warm. I also keep all electronics out of arm’s reach until the morning.

If you slip up and gain a bit back, here’s how to reset

When I realised that I had regained some weight I started eating pretty much the same foods every day for a couple of months — omelettes with artichoke for breakfast; turkey, beef or chicken mince with vegetables at lunch; tuna and a salad mix for dinner. This is entirely personal, but it works for me as I am someone who likes consistency, doesn’t mind repetition and they’re foods I love. It was just about making life easy for myself by taking as many variables and uncertainties out of the process as I could until I got rid of the extra pounds and I was back to where I wanted to be.

An occasional fast can help you reset

I never believed in intermittent fasting and thought it was a fad. But when I actually tried a 48-hour fast for myself last year — only drinking water or herbal tea — it left me feeling surprisingly energised and helped me to reset my mind and body. Going forward I will try to do a complete fast maybe two or three times a year just as a mini clear-out.

Some people practise time-restricted eating, a form of intermittent fasting. Much as I like breakfast, if I’m not hungry I will wait to eat until my stomach starts to grumble. This means I might only eat two meals between midday and 6pm, which is effectively an 18-hour intermittent fast. I have learnt to be less panicky about food. I now need and want to be hungry before I eat and there’s a lot less random snacking.

Fit & Fabulous Over 50 by Alison Cork is available from Amazon and alisoncork.com