25 Strategies to Keep the Weight Off You’ve Lost

It cannot be denied. It’s a difficult journey of sweat, blood and tears just to lose all that unwanted body weight. You know this deep down and you will not want to put all your past efforts and sacrifices go to waste. You also know that it is much easier to just gain back the weight you have lost than losing them so you have to be very careful with the next steps that you take. The huge challenge however is that, once you have attained your ideal body weight, it’s inevitable to just celebrate, slack off, and slowly gain back what you have lost in the first place. Losing weight is one thing but maintaining that weight is an entirely different beast all together. Consequently, you need to arm yourself with the most effective strategies to combat weight gain. Here are 25 strategies to keep off the weight you’ve already lost:

Tip #1: Exercise on the Daily

One of the best ways to maintain your weight loss is to exercise regularly. It helps burn off those extra calories that you may have gotten for that day. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention or the CDC, regular exercise also helps with reduced risk of disease, improved brain health, and bone and muscle strength. With all these in mind, it is recommended that you should have at least 30 minutes to an hour’s worth of exercise every day. However, you should not hesitate to make your own exercise plan as everybody has different exercise levels. If you can’t afford to spend too much time, then you can go for shorter but intense workout versions such as HIIT or high-intensity interval training.

Tip #2: Get the Right Mindset

Having the right mindset, especially a strong positive one, can help maintain a healthy lifestyle which, in turn, helps in maintaining weight. It also enhances your self-esteem and helps with your ability to grow as a person. It is hard to stay on course with your diet or fitness routine if you are feeling stressed out or anxious. You might end up binge eating or skipping the gym if you have a negative mind. Start with the right mindset and everything else will follow.

Tip #3: Drink Lots of Water

It has been said many times before but drinking water is very important to the body and it cannot be stressed enough especially when it comes to maintaining your current weight. What happens is that water allows the body to have an increase in metabolism which helps burn fat. It also helps remove waste from the body, maintain body temperature and improves blood flow. A study done in 2014 has shown that drinking an excess of 1.5 liters of water, on top of the 6-8 glasses a day, significantly improves weight loss. Be generous with your water intake for the day.

Tip #4: Sleep Well

There are times when sleeping is the last thing on your mind especially when you are out partying, have a lot of work to get done, or finishing your favorite Netflix series. However, you need to remember that depriving yourself of sleep could be one of the nastier things you can do to your body. You may not see it now but it builds up overtime and may cause several health complications down the line. Getting a good night’s rest not only helps you maintain your weight but allows you to gain energy for that early morning jog. Lack of sleep may lead to hormone imbalances as well, affecting hormones like Leptin and Ghrelin. Leptin is a hormone that decreases your appetite while Ghrelin does the opposite and increases your appetite. As such, it is better for you to get your beauty sleep as much as you can each night. Try a nice comfortable sleep mask for a better night sleep.

Tip #5: Track your Diet

Another habit that’s important to have is learning how to track your diet. Being careful with what you eat is not only a good way to help lose weight but to maintain it too. Ultimately, this means that whatever habits you have developed that has allowed you to lose weight, do not abandon them and instead continue with updating your food journal.

In addition, it’s always good to do your research on healthy foods. Exercise is certainly a factor but it’s not the entire thing. A good diet should always be combined with daily exercise. It’s also recommended to keep a list of things to avoid to help you maintain that summer body all year round. Now, wouldn’t you love that?

Tip #6: Limit the Carbs

A good rule of thumb is to always count your carbs consumption. This is because if you want to maintain your weight, you must spend whatever carbs you’ve taken in for that day through exercise or any other physical activity. Consuming carbs isn’t always bad but learn how to consume the appropriate amount as to not gain more weight than necessary. Depending on your goals, 25-40g of carbs daily is a good number to maintain to steer clear of the extra pounds you have already gotten rid of.

Tip #7: Get some Friends

Friends are a great way to help you maintain your weight in a lot of ways. But mostly, this is because of Herd Mentality. Herd Mentality is the tendency for people’s behavior or beliefs to conform to those of a group they belong to. In simple terms, it means that people like to have the same ideas as the group they’re in. If you and your friends all work towards the same goals and mindset, chances are that Herd Mentality will kick in and it will be easier for you to keep doing your daily exercises and sustain your healthy eating habits.

Tip #8: Be Consistent

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is nothing when you can’t stay consistent. Consistency is the key to everything. To be consistent, you must learn to have a goal and strive for it. Focus on making tiny improvements on the daily so you won’t get overwhelmed. Remember, you’re doing this for the long haul and you need to make it a sustainable habit. Most importantly, try not to overcompensate as that will lead to inconsistency.

Tip #9: Always choose to eat healthy

Eating fruits and veggies is a sensible part of any nutritional diet. It’s recommended to do your own research or consult with your dietician about the perfect healthy foods that will suit your diet plan. Not only that because if you’re the kind of person that dislikes your leafy greens then it’s good to learn a few new recipes to help make it tolerable for you. The temptation to consume cheat food can be everywhere and the emotions can be strong when you have been trying not to cheat for so long. But if you want to maintain your weight, then choose healthy at all costs.

Tip #10: Manage your stress

Being too stressed can cause hormonal imbalances just like sleeping. Some people have bad habits they unconsciously do like stress eating or being lazy. Try to learn new techniques to manage stressful situations better other than binge eating. By doing this, you’ll have more discipline and have the ability to achieve your goals better.

Tip #11: Stay motivated

It’s sometimes difficult to stay motivated especially when everything that’s wrong seem to be going on in your life. But being able to motivate yourself is a good way to stay consistent in keeping your weight. To maintain your motivation, try focusing heavily on a single goal. Don’t overwhelm yourself too much. The most difficult part about staying motivated is starting out but once you get the ball rolling, you will be unstoppable. Even if you are feeling demotivated, conquer the bad feelings and get back on track right away.

Tip #12: Eat your fiber rich foods

One of the ways eating fiber-rich or high-fiber foods can help you maintain your weight is by tending to be more filling than its low fiber version. And when you don’t feel hungry for hours, you tend to lessen your food consumption and total calorie count for the day.

Not only that, fiber-rich foods have other healthy benefits as well such as controlling blood sugar, lowering cholesterol, and aiding in regular bowel movement.

Tip #13: Check your scale regularly(but not too regularly)

Here’s an important question you should be asking yourself: how are you supposed to maintain your body weight if you don’t check the scale? It may be a little disheartening to see yourself gain weight but that’s normal. Weight sometimes tends to flux from person to person but if you keep being consistent, you’ll see that your weight will start to average out. Do not hesitate to weigh yourself each month and record the same so you can monitor your progress , then act accordingly.

Tip #14: Vary your exercise routines

People tend to neglect varying their exercise routines from time to time because they just want to do what they have always been doing. Well, it’s seems reliable and easier that way. However, doing the same thing over and over again can become boring overtime. The body may even get used to the exercise you’re doing and you might not be able see the same results you were having before. Try to vary your routines with different cardio workouts, see which ones you like the most then try to cycle between them every week. This will also allow you to stretch and strengthen different parts of your body.

 

Tip #15: Reward yourself

Every once in a while you will need to reward yourself with a little treat. It could be anything from buying yourself something nice or having a little rest day. Even professional athletes and body builders need time off to let their muscles rest so that they can maintain their lifestyle effectively. This also helps motivate you better into remaining more consistent with your goal of keeping your body weight. Just remember to choose little treats that does not involve food. Non-food rewards are critical to keeping that extra weight off.

Tip #16: Limit Screen time

In this modern age, there are many forms of entertainment like television shows, online casino games, and all sorts of videos on the internet. However, this is part of the problem when trying to maintain a steady weight. People tend to spend too much time in front of the computer or television that they start to gain massive amounts of weight by doing nothing. There’s 24 hours in a day. Try to dedicate more time towards your exercise routine instead of your mobile or laptop.

Tip #17: Gain some muscle

Hitting the gym and gaining a bit of muscle doesn’t hurt. Well, your muscles will hurt sometimes as you work out but that’s beside the point. When you gain muscle, your muscles start to become more metabolically active as it uses more energy. When starting out, it’s best to use weights that are more suited towards you. Remember, the goal of your exercise is to lose weight and not to be a body builder. Try to go high repetitions and low intensity to increase your endurance so that you’ll be able to exercise longer and use more energy. Just be sure not to overdo it.

 

Tip #18: Keep it Sustainable

Maintaining a healthy weight isn’t just a program or routine that you do once. No, that’s the worst way to go about it. Maintaining your weight should be considered as a lifestyle choice. And this means that you will make it a part of your life forever. However, most people believe that once you make the decision then that would be it. But that’s the wrong mindset. People tend to neglect the fact that in order to maintain this lifestyle, it has to be sustainable. Good habits are hard to learn but bad habits are harder to unlearn. Professional athletes only train that hard before a competition. It’s impossible for the body to do peak performance everyday all year round. Try to do what’s sustainable for you and stick to it. Don’t go overboard but also don’t neglect developing your good lifestyle habits to better manage your weight.

 

Tip #19: Keep a cool head

Sometimes we get frustrated when things don’t go our way. That’s okay. It’s only human nature but we should not let it consume our lives. When you see that your weight has gone up the scales, then don’t simply submit and give up. Change that mindset. Use it as a challenge to better yourself. Don’t get angry or ashamed, just accept it as it is and keep your head cool. Try to learn what you did wrong and rectify the same. When you are calm, you will be able to think more clearly and get back on track in no time.

Tip #20: Consume less sugar

Consuming too much sugar can cause a number of health complications including obesity and diabetes. You don’t have to completely rule out sugar from your life, but just take it in moderation. Everything goes wrong when you start to do it in excess. Just lessen your sugar intake or, better yet, count those calories. It’s not just about what you eat because it’s also about how much you eat.

Tip #21: Avoid Negativity

Avoiding negativity works in conjunction with a lot of these tips like managing your stress or keeping yourself motivated. Without the proper support group to help keep positivity in the air, it becomes significantly harder to be consistent in maintaining a healthier lifestyle due to the constant barrage of stress and negativity. Avoid toxic people at all costs. If a particular person is hard to avoid, then learn not to absorb that person’s negativity.

Tip #22: Take your time eating

When you eat too fast, your brain can sometimes perceive itself as hungry and therefore, you tend to eat more as a result. By eating slowly and chewing your food slowly, you trick the brain into thinking it is being filled. Also, by chewing your food more, you allow it to become easier to digest later down the line. Make eating a conscious and deliberate activity that you enjoy as well as benefit from.

 

Tip #23: Have a couple of healthy snacks

Sometimes the hunger pangs are just too much but you don’t want to eat for fear of gaining weight. During this times, choose to have a small healthy snack like peanuts or dried fruit to help keep it away for a while. You can also have other healthy snacks like unsalted and unbuttered popcorn, yogurt or crackers.

Tip #24: Limit your alcohol

Alcohol can always be found in parties or other special occasions but it’s always best to try and limit your alcohol intake. Upon consuming any sort of alcohol, your body tends to use that as a primary fuel source instead of the fats and carbs that are already in your system. The reason why it does this is because it’s in a liquid form which makes it way easier for the body to absorb. If you’re trying to maintain your weight, it’s best to skip out on the beer. Low-carb versions include pure spirits, tequila, vodka, whiskey, and the like.

Tip #25: Make your healthy lifestyle change gradual

Lifestyle changes don’t happen overnight so don’t expect to change instantly. They have to be gradual changes that start with small increments that build up overtime. No one likes changes that happen too quickly and doing so may cause you to reject your healthy lifestyle too early. It is easy to get frustrated and give up completely at this point. Be patient with yourself but also stay consistent by sticking to the changes that you have already made. By slowly accepting and learning, you’ll be able to not only lose weight but maintain it too.

There you have it. These are the 25 strategies that can help you keep the weight you lost. Everyone knows that it can be a difficult thing to achieve but, with enough perseverance and support, you can lead a healthier life for good. Just do the best you can and keep moving forward.