17 Proven Strategies for Keeping the Weight Off

17 Proven Strategies for Keeping the Weight Off

Congratulations! All your hard work and perseverance have paid off and you have finally achieved your ideal body weight. Now, you do not want to gain back what you have lost and it is important to know how you can maintain your current numbers. Keeping it off is a challenge that you can breeze through as long as you wean yourself from bad habits and faulty beliefs. Besides, the idea that you can easily gain back what you have lost is actually a misconception. Research has it that when you are able to sustain the behavioral changes that you have made, you can keep the weight off for more than 5 years just like the participants in the study. And so strategies are everything in weight management with the goal of making the weight loss permanent and more of a lifestyle instead of a fleeting phase. Here are 17 strategies that you can start with in this new journey:

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• Believe that weight loss can be long-term

When you start believing that weight loss can be a long-term state, you can make it happen. First off, you have to change your point of view about weight loss as some kind of sacrifice or suffering that you have to endure for the rest of your life. Understand that losing weight is just the surface because deep down, what you are trying to achieve is healthiness, self-love, and ultimately, happiness. In this case, it is important that you are able to create a maintenance plan in relation to your diet and exercise that is practical, realistic, and can be easily meshed with your current lifestyle.

Also crucial is a strategy against slip ups or when things don’t go as planned because there will be times when they won’t. Psychologist Dr. Holly Parker who is the author of the book, “When Reality Bites,” confirmed that slip ups do happen. But instead of seeing them as a form of failure, you have to start considering them as opportunities for you to learn from. Weight management is a process that you go through and you have to expect it to include periods of ups and downs that occur naturally. Just ensure that you do not dwell on the slipup and instead learn from that lapse and know how to deal with it in case you encounter it again in the future.

Dr. Parker recommends that you take control and get back on the horse immediately. It will put you back on track right away with your diet plan and workout routine. If you dwell on the slip up and stay passive, it well tend to make you feel helpless at the same time overwhelmed with what you need to do to get back in shape again. As you know, this can result to a vicious cycle of poor diet decisions and abandonment of physical activities. You have to avoid this from happening at all costs. Be aware of the fact that you can also resort to overeating or binge eating to deal with the stress and negative feelings. Dr. Aline P. Zoldbrod is a Massachusetts-based psychologist as well as American Psychological Association spokesperson. Dr. Zoldbrod sees it best that you be patient with yourself during these times, set small goals, and focus on achieving them. Practice mindfulness and be aware of your food tendencies so you do not hang on to unhealthy foods when the bad times roll.

• Nurture a healthy relationship with food

How is your relationship with food? Is food the best friend that you run to for comfort or is it the enemy that you avoid at all costs? A good number of women who are working to lose some weight either fear food and run away from it or only have food and nothing else to run to. The sad thing is that, neither of these relationships are healthy because both have a negative effect on wellness. If you want long-term weight loss, it is important to renew your relationship with food and make it as balanced as possible. For one, you cannot run away from whole food ingredients because they are meant to nourish you and not fatten you. However, you cannot also run to food alone for comfort or binge eat each time you feel bad – like some kind of addiction – as it is definitely going to result in weight gain in the long haul. Have a relationship with food that is nourishing and well-balanced to help you keep the weight off for good.

• Consider a 16-hour fasting

The Director of Nutrition, Daniel O’Shaughnessy, from The Naked Nutritionist espoused that allowing the body to fast for 16 hours can help with weight loss and maintaining your weight. So instead of eating at any time, try eating within an 8-hour window. That will mean no more late night snacks for you but you need to develop that healthy discipline for long-term weight loss. He further recommends consuming all your meals as well as snacks starting at noon until 8 in the evening. In this way, you can avoid resorting to overindulgence and adding to your weight. Give it a shot and see how well it will work for you.

• Don’t force yourself to eat foods you don’t like

Forcing yourself to do something you abhor is not going to help you succeed at anything including maintaining your weight for the next 5 to 10 years. If you think that weight management is about eating foods you do not like, then you have to ditch this train of thought. These days, social media can be highly influential in recommending what’s best for you and from time to time, you will see posts of testimonials about certain foods that are deemed magical for weight loss. It will seem like, you either have to eat them too or you will be missing out a lot in keeping your plate healthy. But what if kale, salmon jerky, or beet smoothies aren’t your thing?

Thankfully, nutritionists are saying that you don’t have to worry about it. There is no such thing as a one and only ultimate food. Each food has its own macronutrient and micronutrient profile so each one is unique. In the same way, each body has a different makeup and have nutritional needs that are also incomparable with others. As such, the whole puzzle that is your body’s nutrition is most important to total wellness and not the singular pieces. Tammy Lakatos Shames is a New York City-based dietitian who co-authored the book, “The Nutrition Twins’ Veggie Cure” with her sister. Shames conveyed that there is no one food that can ruin your diet in the same way that there is not one super food that is the healthiest of them all on their own. To illustrate, she pointed out that while it is okay to eat cake once in a while, it is never advisable to have them at every meal. Needless to say, if you have a poor diet overall, making up for it by eating quinoa or kale from time to time is not going to make up for it.

Most importantly, the nutrition profile of a certain food might be very impressive but if you do not like eating it, then it will not do your health any good. It does not matter if you eat something healthier when you resent it because in the long run, you will opt not to eat them or just have them once in a while. So instead, go for food that may not be super healthy but is one that you like eating and will like to keep eating for the sake of long-term, healthy weight loss.

• Do carbs at night only

Have your carbs, especially starchy ones, only in the evening. When you consume carbs that are starchy, you are likely to crave for more and effect fluctuations in your blood sugar levels. It can also tend to increase your cravings for sugary and unhealthy foods. Moreover, starchy carbs tend to make you feel exhausted and having them only at night will help you maintain your focus during the day. For a healthier diet, you can have veggies and protein for the most part of your breakfast and lunch. In the evening, you can go for healthy starches such as quinoa, rice, potatoes, and buckwheat.

• Have comfortable workout clothes for motivation

Comfortable is not always synonymous to expensive but evidence suggests that comfortable clothes can play an important role in motivation. When you just wear whatever you have to a workout, including baggy cotton shirts or low-cut legging, then it can get heavy with your sweat and make you feel uncomfortable during a workout. The Journal of Experimental Psychology published a study and it showed how subjects who wore their lab coats performed at tasks better especially when it required their undivided attention. It lead the authors to a conclusion that clothing may just possess a symbolic meaning as well as meaningful associations in some people.

Moreover, choice of clothing may also have an effect on an individual’s psychological processing. This could explain the reason behind how wearing your favorite workout clothes can boost your energy and make you feel inspired. Sometimes, the simple act of tying the shoelaces of your most comfortable sneakers makes you want to just go outdoors and go for a leisurely walk, or a liberating run. Dr. Parker states the obvious and says that comfortable clothes can make your workout more pleasant and that in turn makes you want to work out some more. On the other hand, uncomfortable clothing can squash your positive mental energy so invest in clothes that are comfortable but not necessarily expensive.

• Become your number 1 fan.

Developing the self-discipline to keep the weight off for good is a difficult feat. When you fail, you can easily beat yourself up for being inconsistent or being lame. You can do that all day but it will never help you get back on track. What will be most helpful though for long-term success is focusing on the positives and what you have done right instead of the failures. Not making it to your yoga class one time is not the end of the world nor it is the end of your fitness journey. Remember all the other classes you have religiously attended and how you have been made stronger by them. Besides, you can exercise on your own or explore a different kind of physical activity this time. Be your number 1 fan and cheer yourself up to continue moving on despite the occasional setbacks. Setbacks are temporary if you make them. Believe in your ability to get past them and look up on yourself like you would a world-class athlete.

• Do not overreact to a meager weight gain

Your weight isn’t constant and you can experience a bit of a weight gain over the course of your journey. You can get invited to a wedding or indulge in a much-deserved vacation which will make you forget about your diet plan for a while. These are things in life that are meant to be fully enjoyed for the sake of your mental and emotional wellness. However, you can gain some weight after you get back to reality and that is perfectly normal. Meanwhile, you can also overreact, feel guilty, and resort to quick-fix diet plans to get back in shape – or so you think.

If you happen to consult with a dietitian at this point, you will certainly get advised not to be tempted by fad diets, especially those that restrict your calorie intake severely or those that limit the kind of foods that you can eat. And if you want to be pragmatic about your approach, you should steer clear of these quick fixes because they are only as good as the short-term. Even worse, when you go way below a particular calorie level, your body will tend to hold on to the fat stores for dear life so it can prepare itself for what looks like starvation up ahead.

This backfire phenomenon with your metabolic functions can happen with extremely low calorie diet plans and this was confirmed by Shames. Initially, you will experience weight loss but part of what you are actually losing is muscle tissue and in the long run, it will have adverse effects on your metabolism’s speed. It further implies that when you go back to your regular diet, you might find it hard to keep your weight off. Certainly, it is not sustainable and will just leave you back to where you have started in the first place.

What will work then is a kind of nutritional balance that will answer your particular and unique needs. Once you have that custom-tailored diet plan made, you have to transition slowly and make small goals each week. Try adding a serving of veggies each day until you get used to eating them once again. Slowly incorporating changes in your life make them manageable and less difficult to achieve.

• Give weight training a go

Lifting weights is an essential part of long-term weight loss and a Harvard University study can shed some light on this. Apparently, 20 minutes of weight lifting per day is bound to help you gain less in terms of belly fat than those who do 20 minutes of cardiovascular exercise each day. When you lift weights, you become leaner as compared to just pure cardio. And as you know, more muscles would mean weight loss maintenance for you. Let your gym coach guide you as to how much weight you should be lifting with each exercise you do with your arms, legs, back, and other areas that you can target. In this way, you can avoid injuries while you are building and strengthening your muscles.

• Think about exercise as extremely fun

Nope, you might think it but exercise is not some boring chore that you are simply obligated to do. If you hold on to this kind of thinking, then you will tend to get tired of exercising for life. You must realize however that exercise is part and parcel of a healthy lifestyle whatever your current weight is. Most importantly, your exercise routine is a determining factor as to whether you will be able to keep the weight off or not as time goes by. To do this, the key is to find an exercise activity or activities that you enjoy the most and thus you will tend to do on a regular basis. You can go for individual or group activities depending on your personal preferences. Some people are motivated to exercise with a buddy or a group of friends in some sporty action. They have more fun that way. Meanwhile, others like to exercise in the privacy of their own homes or in their own swimming pools.

The bottom line is that, you have to be able to develop a desirable habit out of exercising until it becomes a part of who you are as a person. Dr. Parker believes that when you are able to take on this identity, you will begin to think of yourself as a runner instead of just someone who likes running. When you start to have this kind of language, you will be more likely to conform to this identity as it becomes a non-negotiable part of who you are.

• Toughen up your willpower

The power to succeed in keeping the weight off for good lies in developing a strong willpower. You do not have to immediately become a health guru who never has any setbacks but you can take it one day at a time. It is in the everyday survival and the small wins that you can overpower any challenge that will come your way. Janine Delaney is a fitness expert and she believes that to strengthen your willpower, you have to keep your eye on the prize as you go through each day. She also recommends recognizing your small wins to help keep you goal-oriented and motivated. While you have long-term goals, the daily, short-term goals are what’s going to build your confidence and strengthen your will to keep going despite the challenges. So no matter what life gives you, do not give up and keep moving forward.

• Enjoy occasional drinking

The most effective way to keep the weight off for good is to make your actions sustainable instead of impossible. It is impossible not to have a few drinks on occasions but having a drink once or twice a week is sustainable. Ditch thinking that you cannot enjoy your favorite alcoholic drinks ever. However, alcohol should be a treat that you give yourself once in a while and when you do this, you have to do it the right way. You simply have to know your limits and make it a point not to go beyond them. This is more sustainable than abstaining from alcohol for weeks and then coming back with a vengeance and consuming more than is healthy for you. Shames points out how some clients would abstain for weeks but then feel deprived of the alcohol and then end up craving for more.

What will work better is to create a plan that is realistic enough and one that will help you monitor your alcohol consumption to make sure that they are still at a healthy, weight-loss level. Setting your limit in advance with a specific number of drinks in mind is also good practice. Try drinking water in between your preferred alcoholic drink and it will help you slow down your consumption and keep you hydrated at the same time.

• Take some necessary breaks

The founder of Buti Yoga, Bizzie Gold understands how tempting it is to over-train. Some people go to the gym almost every day thinking that it is the best way to exercise, lose weight, and keep the weight off. But Gold recommends that a healthy workout schedule is composed of 3 days straight workout followed by 1 day of rest. This will allow your body to integrate the hard work that you done in the past days. It will also help you rest and recover which is an essential part of muscle building. The point is to give yourself and your body the necessary break that it needs to recuperate and keep going again. Certainly, this practice is most sustainable.

• Blend in with the crowd

Another reliable strategy that will help you maintain your ideal weight for the long haul is to go with the flow of the occasion instead of resisting it. Obvious danger zones such as birthday parties, anniversaries, happy hours, and get-togethers are all bound to get you in a party mode that involves unlimited eating and drinking till dawn. While you can’t avoid these danger zones forever, you can blend in and still party but with the awareness of your limits this time as to what you can and what you can’t have. Making friends and family aware of the healthy lifestyle that you are currently adapting can help them support you with your goals and prevent you from feeling guilty or ashamed about partying in a different way. They can even push you to stay on track when you do not want to stray from your diet plan and make you accountable for your actions at these occasions. Asking for their cooperation will make the load lighter on your end and will allow you to truly enjoy parties without the guilt.

Instead of showing up with an empty plate, come up with a plate that has small portions of healthy food so you can avoid curious eyes and nosy questions. A plastic cup with soda water in it tends to draw less attention than holding nothing in your hand while the rest are drinking to their heart’s content. You just have to be creative about how you can blend in. You just have to take control of how much you will allow yourself to enjoy without jeopardizing your goals.

Parker points out the efficacy of reminders, having choices, and how the power to choose is yours when you are determined at developing and maintaining healthy behaviors. In a 2015 study, two signs were posted at the mall where people can either take the stairs or go for the elevator. Those who read the signs chose the stairs more than those who did not read them. Posting reminders for yourself about having these choices can empower you to make a healthier choice each time. When it comes to eating or drinking behavior, remind yourself about your choices and empower yourself to make the right choice. Imagine chocolate cake and banana on the dessert table. Which would you choose at a party?

• Take it easy on the water

Gold has noticed how some people tend to overdo water – walking about bringing gallon jugs with them everywhere. However, this might not actually help with hydration as too much of it can have a negative impact on the ability of your brain to check salinity or to tell you whether it’s time to hydrate more or urinate. Instead, Gold recommends eating plenty of fresh veggies and fruits all day and drinking water only when you feel the thirst. This way, you do not drown your body but hydrate it enough with healthy sources that have high water content.

• Stop body-shaming your own self

Body-shaming is quite common but shaming yourself almost constantly is a huge crime. Negative self-talk does not only make you feel worst about yourself but also makes it difficult for you to make healthier choices along the way. Some people have this idea that if they are hard on themselves, they just might be pushed to do better like they would in some kind of a military boot camp. Parker however shares a study that shows the opposite of that where fat-shaming does not actually discourage people to eat more because they do eat more.

Dr. Zoldbrod calls it a vicious cycle that starts with negative talk and cruelty to your own self. That is when you say nasty things to yourself, feel bad than you ever did before, run to food for comfort, feel guilty and disgusted afterwards, and then binge-eat to forget about all the disgusting feelings. It just goes round and round, almost endless until you decide to stop it once and for all.

Each time you catch yourself talking negatively about your body and your weight, flip the scripting and tell yourself how you are working hard to make that change now. You may be a work in progress but you are determined to lose weight and become healthy. You are doing everything to become a stronger person and an occasional ice cream eaten or a workout missed is not going to bring you down. You will keep going no matter what and you will never hear any negative self-talk ever again. Focus on what you can achieve and tell yourself that you will not stop unless you achieve it.

• Keep stress levels under control

Stress has to be managed well and kept under your control. Remember that high levels of stress can take its toll on your physical and mental health. In particular, the body’s stress hormones called cortisol affects how your body stores fat including belly fat stores. Cortisol can also increase the anti-weight loss, appetite-stimulating hormones and you definitely don’t want that to happen. It is imperative then that you master the art of effective stress management if you want to maintain your weight.

Stress is a part of everyday life and if you binge eat or eat junk food to deal with it then you can expect to gain back the weight that you’ve worked so hard to lose. The key is to create a healthy eating plan that will be good for a week and then include your favorite food but go for the healthier alternatives of the original. This way, you do not deprive yourself completely and prevent incidents of binge eating. Also enjoy some small treats from time to time as a reward to yourself.

Other helpful activities to manage stress includes exercise, sports, dance, swimming, running, going out with friends, quality time with the family, and anything done outdoors. These are the ones which make you feel better and rejuvenated afterwards. To boost your serotonin and endorphin levels naturally, go for physical exercises.

Are you ready to lose weight, build muscle, or feel more fit? Join Beachbody On Demand, and get unlimited access to Beachbody’s world-famous programs, including 80 Day Obsession, Liift 4, 21 Day FIX®, Body Beast, Insanity, TurboFire, PiYo, P90X®, 21 Day Fix Extreme, T25 and 100’s more. Don’t miss out on your chance for amazing results. Sign up today!