Maintaining Weight Loss

Everyone thinks that weight loss is the hardest trial but the truth is maintaining weight loss can be even more difficult. When we are focused on a diet plan, and the end of the diet plan, we can motivate ourselves by saying, “almost done, almost there” but keeping the weight off is a lifelong goal that can leave us feeling overwhelmed.

Everybody wants to have the freedom to not eat only grilled chicken and brussel sprouts for the rest of our lives but be able to enjoy a piece of cake once in a while! In reality we want to be in shape and eat whatever we want. But unfortunately getting to keep the pie and eat it too is a whole different story!

Maintaining weight loss means that you will have to permanently incorporate good habits in your eating routine and your exercise schedule. This is one of the reasons that fad diets are ultimately unsuccessful. If a diet is too strict you won’t be able to keep it up long term so be real about this.

One of the best ways of maintaining weight loss is to make exercise a part of your daily routine. Just a 20 minute walk can help. It is also important to do some strength training because it builds muscles and in the end muscles are what burn calories.

The Secret to Maintaining Weight Loss

Maintenance of weight loss is far more probable if we all bring in a food journal to make us aware of what we consume especially during those times when it seems no matter what we do we are not getting any slimmer around the waist.

This is helpful because it lets us know what we have eaten in a day and identify where we can eliminate calories. It also works as a make-shift conscience so that when we are faced with a bowl of ice cream we hear, “Do you really want to write that in your food journal tonight?”

So what about weight gain anyway?

Portion control is a huge factor when it comes to weight gain. If you can master portion control then you are golden. The truth is that you can eat a slice of pizza now and then and still be successful at maintaining your weight loss. You just can’t eat four slices of pizza every other day and be successful.

But let’s take portion control a little further and split our meals to five to six small meals a day. If that is unrealistic for your lifestyle then stick to the three meals a day but keep them medium sized and have two healthy snacks in between. If you give your body fuel on a regular basis you will reduce the chance of feeling really hungry and going on a binge.

Finally it must be said that we also need to keep the junk out of our homes in order to maintain weight loss long-term!

How many times have you gone to the store and bought a box of cookies or a bag of chips and told yourself that you would only eat a couple each day, only to find the container empty two days later? If it isn’t in your face and readily available than chances are much more likely that you will opt for a healthier option.

By making junk food a chore to find you give yourself a buffer of time to ask if you really want it that badly.