Nobody tells you that losing weight is only half the battle. You’ve managed to shed those pounds but how do you keep them off for good?
Weight control can be tricky if you dive into it unprepared. Weight management is nothing like weight loss you see. For weight management to succeed a diet plan is not enough, you need a mentality makeover that will ensure you will stay right on track.
1. Accountability
Now that you’ve lost weight or are very near your weight loss goals, it’s time to implement an accountability plan to ensure those pounds don’t come for a revisit. Being accountable means monitoring your body and habits as a way of staying on track.
For some it’s a weekly weighing, for others is a tape measuring routine. Others yet have a food and exercise journal in which they keep track of what they eat and most importantly, they keep track of their exercising victories. Keep a journal where you mark off all the days you work out. This visual evidence of success motivates you to keep exercising as you don’t want to go a day without some form of exercise, even if it’s walking your dog for only 20 minutes.
2. Exercise as a Way of Life
People fail to keep their ideal weight. Do you know why? Because they adopt the wrong mentality. Those who gain back weigh are more likely the ones who consider exercising intolerable. Feeling hostile to something that’s good for you can only have bad results. Instead, you need to develop a more healthy relationship with physical exercise.
If you’re only going to the gym due to pressure or fear of gaining weight it won’t work. What will though is to consider exercising as an indispensable aspect of your newly-discovered healthy lifestyle. Doctors and scientists that champion active lifestyles, must know something, right?
A new Danish study for instance, has found that daily 30-minute workouts are in fact better than hour-long ones for weight loss.
3. Impulsive eating triggers
What’s your emotional eating trigger? An annoying colleague, workload frustration, your kids throwing yet another tantrum can be a source of great emotional disturbance. If you learn what triggers impulsive eating you make it easier to resist it.
Stress, failure and fatigue are common culprits that sabotage your weight control efforts. So, before reaching for that scrumptious cookie, ask yourself if stress/fatigue/failure is what’s behind your craving.
4. Developing a get-along relationship with food
For successful weight management it’s crucial that you develop a healthy relationship with food. Food shouldn’t scare you nor should it be your stress dumping place. Food should be about nutrition and wholesomeness.
If you use food as a reward or punishment, those pounds will rush back in. If you on the other hand consider food to be your fuel, then you make it easier to control your calorie intake and your food’s quality.
5. Develop a health body image
Self-respect is what will prevent you from eating that midnight snack. Self-respect gives you a sense of utter control over your weaknesses. Love your body image and suddenly, that cheeseburger won’t look as appetizing.
Self-love means you value your health and body more than a temporary pleasure.
When everything else fail, self-love is what will keep you on track. To maintain your self-respect high, pamper yourself every now and then. To get love, you need to show love; relish in no-food related pleasures, a new dress to show off your slimmer waistline, a mini day trip in nature to refuel. Anything that will inspire and empower you will do.
6. Be flexible
People that gain back their weight do so because they are too harsh on themselves. You don’t want weight control to become a torture, you want a weight control plan that will seamlessly blend in with your lifestyle. In fact, you want a plan that won’t even look like you’re trying to maintain your new weight! You can achieve this be being flexible. Flexible of course, doesn’t mean not accountable. It means you give permission to yourself to indulge every now and then and most importantly not feel guilty about it.
7. Be inspired – Inspire Others
Life can be stressful as it is, with its packed schedules, tight deadlines and increasing responsibilities. Finding the time to zoom out of the chaos and zoom in a place of inspiration and motivation will keep you going. Seek inspiration everywhere, from Youtube fitness videos, to a classic comedy.
Surprisingly, being a role model and an inspiration for others will also help. Knowing that others look up to you for their own weight loss goals puts your life into context as well, giving you more reasons to stay healthy.
8. Focus on distractions
Willpower is not unlimited. There will be days when the mere sight of a luscious cupcake will make you drool and eventually give in. The more we use our willpower, the less of it we have. So relying on your willpower to turn down another piece of birthday cake is not that much wise.
In fact a new study has shown that people are more likely to cheat during the afternoon, when they’re energy depleted. What this means is that willpower will eventually betray you. So what’s your backup plan?
Distractions. These are more powerful than willpower. Have various distractions for when your willpower abandons you. A friend to talk to, an activity in or out of the house (walking your dog, playing with catnip toys with your cat — if she feels up for it of course). Injecting these distractions in those weak moments will allow you to focus on matters other than sugary desserts and decedent snacks. Remember that distractions work best when they’re enjoyable, so do choose activities more fun than eating a brownie.
9. Eat food that nature provides, avoid processed food
We’re not rooting for the Paleo diet here, but we do endorse its philosophy that eating the least processed foods can only benefit your health and waistline. If you are preparing your own meals always opt for wholesome and low-processed food.
These foolproof tips will help you maintain your ideal weight long enough for them to become habits.
This article is provided by Stanley Burnett, nutrition and fitness expert from the United Kingdom who teaches people the basics of healthy fat loss, and also contributes to the blog reviewing popular weight loss supplements, slimming teas and diet programs on the website http://www.slimmingpillsinfo.co.uk.