How to Make Your Weight Loss Stick

The key to weight loss plans can be compared to the amount of fuel in a vehicle. You don’t need your motivation to be a full-tank for you to drive, but you shouldn’t allow it to run empty either. Now that you have lost weight, you need to find ways of making the loss more permanent. Motivation is one of the drivers you require to ensure you don’t gain the inches and pounds back. Here are the other requirements:

Seven Ways to Make Your Weight Loss Stick

It’s challenging enough to lose weight but it can be just as challenging to keep the pounds at bay. Thankfully, there are strategies you can employ to help you maintain your figure and lock in all the hard work you’ve put in at the gym. Let’s dive in…

#1. Define what healthy weight means to you

The battle of staying in shape is won or lost in your mind. Before thinking of what to do or eat to maintain a healthy weight, you should first set the boundaries. Are you looking to feel and look better, or does it go beyond that? Probably you have specific health needs such as reducing high blood pressure or lowering your diabetes risk. Have the psych to get your target reward. If you don’t have a motive, you cannot attain your target weight.

Answer these questions to boost your motivation:

• • If I stop working on my weight loss, how will I feel six months from now?
  • If I stop my diet, what will my health be like?
  • If I do not put in the work to maintain my weight loss, how will it affect my family and friends?

#2. Set realistic goals

Next, you should set attainable goals and write them down. Studies show that most dieters expect to lose four times what they can in six months. When you are getting started, set smaller goals because setting very high goals might make you prone to failure. For instance, targeting to lose 30 pounds in the first week is an unrealistic plan that you will not achieve. You should have a long term goal that you break down into milestones. Work on attaining one milestone after another.

#3. Design your tailor-made plan

Rather than trying every other fad diet in the market, create a plan that fits your lifestyle. If you are looking to cut out 15 pounds in a year, you ought to reduce 150 calories in a day. Start small to increase your chances of maintaining your weight loss and motivation too. Consider the foods you can and can’t live without. You can then make a diet around them. Whatever you do, avoid giving up on your favorite foods because you will feel deprived, and your cravings will get stronger. Besides your diet, look into your workout routine as well.

#4. Nutriton, nutrition, nutrition

To lose weight, you most likely you had to utilize either a specialized diet or you simply had to change the fuel you put into your body. Either way, nutrition is the other part of the weight loss equation alongside exercise, so it’s unlikely you lost weight without making some modifications to your diet. If (hopefully!) so, you will need to continue to watch what you eat to maintain your new weight. Eating balanced meals loaded in healthy carbs, fats, and proteins is your ticket to success. The occasional treat is ok, sure, but maintaining your weight requires lifestyle changes, and this means paying attention to your nutrition moving forward.

#5. Act “As if”

Don’t wait until you attain your weight loss goals to take that vacation, join the dance class, or visit that old friend. Live out your plans now, and enjoy them along the way. Live like you are already at your ideal weight. How would you feel? What would you wear? Or what would you eat? Rather than putting off rewards in the name of waiting until you achieve your ideal weight, get yourself off the “punishment mode” to maintain weight loss motivation.

#6. Keep a log of your fitness activities

Whether it is a journal, mobile app, or online tool, keep a record of your fitness activities. According to the plan you created above, you know what you should do every day to attain your ideal weight and stick to it. Whichever the format you choose, promise yourself to keep track of every aspect of weight loss. Record what you eat and your workouts too. With time, you will notice the trends and can deal with any weaknesses and mishaps to create a perfect plan.

#7. Have a weight-loss support network

Everything is easier when you have the encouragement and support of family and friends. You don’t have to announce your weight loss achievements to the world, but you should have close people to confide in. Tell them what you are doing to stay healthy and ask them to help you stay on track. If you tell them how much weight loss means to you, they will be willing to hold your hand and ensure that you maintain your ideal weight.

The Bottom Line

Your fitness transformation means a lot to you, and you want to maintain your current weight. These tips will help ensure that your weight loss sticks to the end.

About Shannon Clark

Shannon holds a degree in Exercise Science and is a certified personal trainer and fitness writer with over 10 years of industry experience.