Maintaining weight loss
5 habits to keep the lost weight off for good.
Keeping weight off is quite possibly harder than taking it off in the first place. Keeping up all that hard work is where a lot of people fall down. I've observed that people who stick to these 5 things find keeping their weight off easy.
Let's break it down...
1 - Planning ahead is key. Fail to plan, plan to fail. You have to be organised and have a plan. And even more than that you need to have an if then plan. This is simply a plan B or backup plan for when your initial plan goes to shit. For example; I plan on going for a 6km walk tomorrow. If it rains, I will go to the gym and use the treadmill instead. Or... I will make lunch before work tomorrow. If I run out of time/food/whatever, I will go to the supermarket and get a packet salad, rice cup and tin of tuna. You should always have a plan B because life is full of surprises.
2 - Diet hopping usually results form unsustainable habits and inconsistency. Whatever you do do lose weight or whatever your goal you need to be able to sustain it. If you have a plan from a qualified professional - you need to stick to it. I expect all my clients to follow my advice that we have discussed together and agreed upon.
3 - Self discipline is like a muscle - you need to keep working on it for it to get stronger. The first time you skip the cake with coffee is the start of a new habit. I'm not saying you can't ever have coffee and cake - however if your goal is weight loss - and you do this a few times a week this is a habit that we can change that will help get you into a calorie deficit. I am a huge believer of moderation but the term is thrown around way too loosely and used as an excuse to over indulge for the majority of us.
4 - If you focus on being consistent with your habits - like exercising daily and preparing healthy meals, following your 'plan', then you just repeat day after day and the results will follow. I know it doesn't sound terribly exciting, but honestly that is where the magic happens. I always ensure that my clients can sustain the plan and advice I have provided them. I don't believe that drastically cutting out food groups for no good reason is the answer. Yeah it certainly sounds more exciting - like intermittent fasting and keto - but is totally unnecessary and in some cases dangerous.
5 - The monitor themselves regularly - this doesn't have to be scales - it could be photos, the way their clothes fit, measurements, strength, cardiovascular fitness. The thing about scales is that they can change a lot in a dew days purely due to shifts in fluid - not fat. But over time scale weight along with another measurement like how your clothes fit might give you an indication if weight is being kept off or creeping back on.
Keep these things in mind next time you are tempted to think about some extreme measures to reach and sustain your goals.
