Gaining back lost weight need not happen. This also doesn’t mean a diet “failed.” It means there’s room for a strategy to keep the weight off: a minimum steps total per day.
Many people who lose weight through diet don’t regularly incorporate physical activity.
Putting back on the pounds they lost then becomes easier. But there’s something you can do to combat this: strive for 8,500 steps a day, says research.
Research that was presented at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2026) suggests around 8,500 steps per day as a potentially useful target for preventing weight regain.
Weight regain is common, not to mention extremely frustrating. But it doesn’t happen without a reason.
Why Weight Maintenance Can Be Tough
The reason is quite simple: It’s difficult to sustain the dietary change that caused the intentional weight loss.
It’s exciting to see the pounds drop and formerly tight clothes begin fitting perfectly and especially loosely.
Once the goal is reached or a lot of weight comes off, that high kind of fades.
This causes management of the dietary change to weaken, leading to regain.
Another factor may be that of feeling deprived if favorite foods were cut out of the diet.
If there was no strategy set in place for times of high temptation for overindulging, such as at family events, then going overboard can result, then leading to a gradual return to old eating habits.
You must also dig deep and find out why you overeat: is the reason emotional? Is it environmental?
If these triggers aren’t addressed, then gaining back the weight is more likely.
The study set out to examine whether increasing daily step counts could help address the problem of regain, regardless of reason.
Large Review of Walking and Weight Outcomes
The research team conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 18 randomized controlled trials, with 14 studies included in the final analysis.
In total, data from nearly 4,000 adults were evaluated.
Participants were mostly middle-aged, with an average BMI in the obese range.
The studies spanned multiple countries and compared lifestyle modification programs against control groups that received little or no structured support.
These lifestyle programs typically combined dietary changes with guidance to increase daily walking and track step counts over time.
At the beginning of the studies, both groups were similarly active, averaging just over 7,000 steps per day.
During structured weight loss programs, participants increased their activity to roughly 8,454 steps per day during the weight loss phase, and maintained around 8,241 steps per day during the maintenance phase.
Control groups, by comparison, did not significantly increase their walking levels and did not experience meaningful weight loss.
More Steps Linked to Better Weight Maintenance
While walking more did not appear to significantly increase weight loss during the initial dieting phase, it did make a clear difference in keeping weight off later.
Participants who consistently reached higher daily step counts were more likely to maintain their weight loss over time, while those who stayed closer to baseline activity levels were more likely to regain weight.
On average, individuals in the walking-increased group maintained around 3-4% body weight loss over the longer term.
Researchers suggest that diet may drive most early weight loss, but sustained physical activity like walking plays a bigger role in long-term maintenance.
There are many ways to get in significantly more steps a day than your usual baseline.
