Being able to keep the weight off is one of the healthiest strategies you can learn from any weight management plan or program. After all, if you work hard to achieve a healthy bodyweight only to watch the pounds climb back on again, the wellness benefits you’ve achieved for yourself are limited.
How to Keep the Weight Off Once You’ve Lost It
Whether you’re only partway to reaching your goal or you’ve already thrown yourself a party for reaching your target, sustainability of your accomplishment should be at the front of your mind. After all, when you read the statistics, it can appear that the odds are against you. Most people who lose weight will gain it back again, and many will regain more than they lost in the first place.
How do you make sure you are among those who keep the weight off instead of being among the majority whose achievement is short-lived?
Tips to Maintain a Healthy Bodyweight
The following are some helpful tips recommended by the Cleveland Clinic that can help to make sure you maintain a healthy bodyweight over time.
- Get active and stay active – Of all the habits you can adopt to keep the weight off, pay attention to this one. Studies show that people who keep up high activity levels are much more likely to maintain lost weight than those who don’t stay as active. Make exercise a priority throughout your week. Walk often, do yoga, strength train, go swimming, join a sports team, hike in nature. Do whatever it is that will keep you moving and do it as close to daily as possible.
- Stay hydrated – Water is fantastic on so many levels. It doesn’t contain any calories, it provides metabolism support, it gives you energy and it helps to avoid unnecessary feelings of hunger. Drink water in the place of any sugar-sweetened beverage and you’re already skipping avoidable calories without feeling any hungrier.
- Choose nutritious foods – Whenever possible, choose foods prepared with whole foods and skip highly processed foods. You’ll get more nutrients and fiber while avoiding unhealthy sugars, fats and “empty calories”.
- Plan your meals – It sounds like a nuisance that takes a lot of time, but in truth, it is a massive time-saver. What might take a half hour before you grocery shop so you’ll know what meals you’re going to make and make sure you buy the ingredients you need will save you more than double that time throughout the week as you already know what you’ll be having and that you have all the ingredients required. This also saves you money while avoiding the inclination to get take-out or heat up a highly processed meal because of a lack of motivation and inspiration at mealtimes when you’re hungry.
- Be accountable for what you eat – Don’t forget that to keep the weight off, you still need to pay attention to what you eat. You might not need to track your meals and snacks as consistently as you used to but keep it up on occasion. For instance, every month or so, track your food for a week just to see how you’re doing. This will help you to stay mindful and accountable too!
