10 TIPS ON HOW TO MAINTAIN WEIGHT LOSS

10 Tips on how to maintain weight loss

You may have heard that something like 95% of people who lose weight put it straight back on again. That’s simply not true, but it is true that, once you’ve lost weight, it can be tough for some people to maintain their optimum weight. It’s not just beating the initial urge to eat all the things that you deprived yourself during a diet that makes it difficult, it’s also the getting into a new healthier routine that takes time. If you have just successfully lost weight and you want to stay the weight you are, read these ten tips on how to maintain weight loss and stay healthy.

1. Keep active

Once you have successfully lost weight, you will need to stay active to keep it off, and the best way to do that is to find a form of exercise that you enjoy. If your days of hard graft at the gym when you were losing weight may have put you off workouts for life, take up a team sport, or join a new fitness class. If you make exercise fun, it won’t feel like exercise at all.

2. Weigh yourself regularly

Another good tip on how to maintain weight loss is to weigh yourself regularly. Your weight will fluctuate naturally, but keep an eye on it and you will be able to spot any trends that might indicate that you are gaining weight again. It sounds like an obvious thing to do, but many people are so busy celebrating their weight loss success, they forget this simple step, and the weight sneaks back on again.

3. Set yourself some new goals

Now that you have achieved your original goal of reaching a certain weight, set yourself some new fitness goals to aim for. Simply maintaining your weight is not a particularly inspiring goal and there is no end point for you to celebrate. It would be much better if you set out to run a race, or set yourself some personal best fitness targets to go for.

4. Eat regularly

This is another important tip on how to maintain weight loss. Some of what you learned when you were losing weight will need to be carried on, and one of those things will be eating regularly. Don’t skip any meals, especially breakfast, or you will be tempted to eat an unhealthy snack that you shouldn’t. Now that you have lost the weight, the temptation might be even greater, because you will say to yourself that ‘just this once’ won’t make a difference.

5. Be smart when you indulge yourself

Next tip on how to maintain weight loss is to be smart when you indulge yourself. The occasional treat won’t make you pile on the pounds again and, after all the effort you have put in to weight loss, you deserve it. However, be aware of how often you treat yourself and try to compensate for treats by making your diet extra lean in between those treats. If you know that you will be going out for a big meal next week, cut back on the calories this week. It will make the meal even more delicious and your overall calorie intake will have been maintained.

6. Plan your meals in advance

It’s much easier to ensure that you eat a balanced diet if you plan your meals in advance. If you do that, you can create a healthy menu for yourself for the week ahead and you can go shopping with a pre-prepared shopping list. That way, you will be less likely to impulse buy less healthy food and there will be no excuse for you ordering any takeaways.

7. Favour fibre

Another useful tip on how to maintain weight loss is to keep on loading your plate with veggies, because fibre is still going to be your best friend now that you have lost weight. This is another one of those habits that you probably got into when you were losing weight, so stick with it, because things like, fruit, vegetables, nuts and legumes, will keep you feeling full for longer, but they don’t contain too many calories.

8. Don’t deprive yourself

You’ve probably had your fill of depriving yourself of the things you love, so don’t feel guilty about eating some of those foods you deprived yourself of while you were losing weight, just be careful not to go too far. In fact, if you completely deprive yourself of something, you will be more likely to overindulge on that thing at some point in the future.

9. Be consistent

What you want to avoid is getting into the weight roller-coaster game of putting on weight and then losing it again, so, when you find the right balance of diet and exercise that keeps your weight stable, stick with it. That means regular exercise, regular meals and the occasional treat. It will help if you keep a diary and note down what you eat, how much exercise you do, and track your weight. That way, you will be able to see what works for you and what does not.

10. Stay vigilant

Be proud of what you have achieved, but remember that you will have to be vigilant. Don’t beat yourself up over the odd slip, you’ve come a long way, but do be aware if those slips start to become more frequent. It will be very easy to slip back into your old bad habits, so you will still need some will power to keep the weight off.

How to maintain weight loss? What are your best tips?

Stay happy and healthy!

1. Prev:10 AMAZINGLY EFFECTIVE TIPS ON HOW TO LOSE BELLY FAT
2. Next:10 WAYS TO LOSE STUBBORN FAT