Congratulations for successfully losing weight! However, there is still more to do. You need to direct your efforts towards retaining your current weight and making your fitness last.
Do you know that losing weight and maintaining weight loss are different goals and that they rely on different approaches? Or, do you ever wonder what the secret to warding off weight after losing it could be?
Well, with the right expert inspiration, it is easy to keep off weight you have already lost over an extended period of time. Follow the tips below to retain your fit physique after losing weight.
1. Exercise Regularly
It is a fact that a regular physical exercise regimen is vital for weight maintenance. In a recent study, the researchers argue that adoption of the appropriate physical activity levels produces substantial weight loss, even when calorie intake is fixed and unchanging.
When you exercise regularly, you encourage lean muscle growth while discouraging fat. Your muscle cells burn more significantly more calories than fat cells. In fact, a pound of fat burns around seven less calories compared to a pound of muscle. Therefore, it is very important to adopt a regular physical exercise routine. This will ensure that you do not regain lost weight.
If you ever wonder how physical activity helps to prevent you from regaining lost fat, then it is worth knowing that workout increases the rate at which your body burns fat, reduces fat cell growth, and reduces cravings for food.
Try regular physical exercise which lasts up to two hundred minutes over the span of a week after successful weight loss. If you do this, you will probably retain your new weight. However, the odds of successful weight loss maintenance rise with longer and higher intensity workout levels. For the best results, consider exercising for an hour each day.
Additionally, the combination of physical exercise with the appropriate diet increases the chances of staying healthy and fit.
2. Watch Your Weight
How often do you weigh yourself? If it isn’t practical to weigh yourself daily, then you must weight yourself at least once every week.
Weighing oneself on a regular basis sounds difficult doesn’t it? However, knowing your weight is essential for knowing what type of battle you are up against. How else can you maintain your weight if you know little about it?
For consistent tracking of your weight, it is crucial that you check your weight at the same time each day or every week. This is important so that you can account for any possible fluctuations in weight caused by variances in liquid and food intake. The best way of determining changes in weight is noticing the slightest fluctuations.
From a personal experience, after shedding a few pounds, I noticed an undesirable fluctuation in my new weight. Although I was tempted to write it off as normal, I knew that something was wrong with either my physical exercise or diet. So, I took an honest look at these two factors. I hate to admit it, but I realized that had become lazy in completing my workout regimen. I also noticed that I wasn’t drinking nearly enough water. I had to correct these mistakes fast to stay in shape and maintain my weight.
3. Stay Hydrated
By now, you should understand the therapeutic value of drinking enough water. Water is the number one therapy for most medical conditions. It is very important that you understand that staying hydrated is good for weight loss maintenance. Drinking enough water will make losing weight much easier.
I recommend that you drink a minimum of eight glasses of water, and this should be enough to maintain your fit body. The one thing I find compelling about drinking water is the fact that while other beverages can help to reduce obesity, water is unique as it contains no sugars.
Research shows a tendency among people to habitually not drink enough water even when water is recommended for preventive purposes. The causes of non-compliance cite ignorance concerning the benefits of water, the annoying tendency to urinate after drinking water, and people not liking the taste of water.
A fruit infuser water bottle will help reverse this trend of insufficient water intake caused by disliking the taste of water. The bottle will give your water a naturally fresh and flavored taste. This will help you get the improved health that comes with drinking plenty of water, which helps reduce obesity.
4. Manage Your Stress Levels
Are you suffering from chronic stress which might result in weight gain? High levels of stress cause increase in the production of the cortisol hormone. Cortisol hormone overproduction triggers the formation of belly fat. Stress is known to greatly increase the impulse to eat even when you are full. All these factors trigger weight gain.
A study completed by a UK-based researcher found out that stress management results in weight loss to a tune of seventeen pounds in fourteen weeks, while the usual intuitive eating yields insignificant weight loss and poor weight management. Therefore, if you manage your stress, you are more likely to stay fit.
While there is a vast range of stress management methods, I recommend that you practice regular meditation, workout regimens, and yoga. These will help to give you a lean body. They will also significantly relieve your chronic stress levels.
5. Eat Healthy Food
There is no shortcut to eating healthy. You must monitor your diet closely after losing weight. If you must eat snacks, they should be healthy snacks if you plan to keep excess weight at bay. You might want to try yogurt, fruit, and vegetables. These options are perfect low-calorie snacks. You must also ensure that you eat smaller but regular meals each day. Three smaller meals usually result in better weight management as opposed to three larger ones.
As demonstrated through research, healthy diet and food patterns are a great way of preventing such conditions as heart disease and obesity. Foods with low-fat content are especially well known for their role in enhancing good health and healthy weight. In particular, proper levels of dietary protein are great weight loss and maintenance.
You could also benefit from making healthy food swaps. Consider swapping your high-calorie beverage with a healthier alternative. Replace your sweetened drinks like refined juices, or even coffee, with a cup of green tea.
A meta-analytical study conducted to determine the effects of green tea on both weight loss and maintenance suggests that green tea contains catechins which have a measurable impact on weight loss and maintenance. The study points out that habitual intake of caffeine, might, however, lower the catechin effects on weight management.
6. Stick to Your Weight Maintenance Plan
Finally, you need to stick to your weight loss and weight maintenance program. Your weight loss efforts will be wasted if you regain lost weight by failing to observe a healthy diet. Do not lie to yourself. A healthy diet is not restricted to weekdays only. Eating junk food during the weekends can offset your efforts to maintain weight.
Do not skip eating healthy over the weekends. Long-term maintenance of weight is achievable through a regular healthy diet. You need to stick to consistently healthy eating patterns even during weekends and weekdays.
Conclusion
It can be difficult to stick to your healthy diet, but it is important to always do it or you may experience the regaining of lost weight. For this reason, identifying the keys to weight loss and maintenance is made easier with the above recommendations. Adopt them today to keep a fit body after losing weight.