Losing Weight and Keeping It Off

Sometimes you may look in the mirror or see a picture of yourself and realize that you don’t like what you see. This is a common reaction if you think you look overweight or have bad posture.

Instead of just feeling bad about yourself, try to stay positive and look at this as an opportunity to start improving your habits and way of life. The last thing you want to do is to stay stuck in that poor self-esteem place. So use this time as a motivation to start doing things better!

Here are some ways to help you learn how to lose weight and keep it off for good:

Set BEHAVIOR Goals, not outcome goals

We all know that goal-setting is important. But setting the correct kind of goals is crucial!

“I want to lose 20 pounds” is a fine end result. But your GOALS need to be the ACTIONS that you need to do in order to achieve this outcome.

 This will help keep you motivated to lose weight as time goes on. Write down your goals and make sure they are both lofty and realistic. For example, maybe for you, it’s that you want to drop twenty pounds or join a gym and workout five times per week. Goals will help keep you focused on what you want to achieve and will help move the process along more quickly.

Keep A Food Diary

Another tip that may help you lose weight and keep it off is to maintain a food diary. Journal what you are eating for meals and snacks and be honest with yourself. This is a great way to see what foods you are consuming regularly and will allow you to start identifying any problem areas. It may be that you snack more often than you realize or that you are always eating dessert late at night. Your food diary can help you stay on the right track so you can lose weight and keep it off for good.

Support Groups

One of the best ways to lose weight and keep it off is to have a team on your side. There are plenty of online support systems out there to help you lose weight and not gain it back. For example, you can click here for some useful tips and pieces of advice you can apply in your own life. It will give you some insights as to what your options are for losing weight so you can make the right decision for you and your body. There are many different approaches, and no one way works for everyone.

Measure Yourself Regularly

Measurements are a way to be honest with yourself, and to find out what’s working and what is not working. You may want to start off by weighing yourself weekly and checking to see if the scale is moving for you. This is just one way to see if what you are doing is working or not.

But the scale is just one method of tracking progress, and it’s not a very good one. Lots of things affect your weight, not just day-to-day but even hour-to-hour! If the scale is the only tool you use to measure progress, you’re in for a frustrating time.

I recommend at least one additional method of measuring progress. Tape measurements work very well. Other ideas are clothes size or behavior tracking.

Be More Active

If you want to lose weight and keep it off, then you also need to make sure you are being more active daily. It’s important that you are moving your body and that you are challenging your muscles. Find activities that get your heart rate up and make you work hard.

You should also work in some weight lifting or resistance training if you want to lose weight. This is a great way to increase your metabolism and work various muscle groups instead of always doing the same aerobic exercises.

Make staying physically active more fun by creating a playlist you can listen to and mixing up your workout routines by trying a variety of different activities.

Eat Less Sugar

You’ll also want to think long and hard about what types of foods you are eating regularly. One way to lose weight and keep it off is to reduce your sugar intake. Sugar is in a lot of different foods and you may not realize how much of it you’re eating each day. There are likely alternative foods you can eat that will be tasty and have less sugar in them. For example, you can drink more water and try eating dark chocolate instead of ice cream or candy. Pay attention to when you get sugar cravings and try to stop and ask yourself if there is a better food you could be eating. Ideally, you should also try to include more fiber and protein in your diet which will help you feel fuller for longer. Drop me a note if you want help with this – building new habits is the hardest part!

Unplug from Technology

Sitting around all day staring at a computer screen or your phone isn’t doing you any favors. Instead, you can lose weight and keep it off by unplugging from your devices and taking breaks away from technology throughout the day and in the evening hours. You can decide to turn off the television, for example, and go for a walk outside or work in your garden instead of having screen time. You’ll likely notice that unplugging provides you with a lot more free time in your schedule to do other activities such as working out or walking.

Find Ways to Reduce Stress

One reason you may eat a lot or have trouble losing weight is because you are always stressed out. Being stressed out all the time often leads to unhealthy choices. For example, you may skip workouts or tend to eat junk food when you are feeling overwhelmed. Therefore, you must find ways to reduce and manage your stress levels.

There are many productive ways to reduce stress that can give you the results you desire. For example, you can try doing yoga or engage in guided meditation sessions. Another exercise that works well no matter where you are or what you are doing is to focus on your breathing and to take slow and deep breaths to try to regroup.

Get Better Sleep

Lack of sleep can impact your weight and the choices you make when it comes to your health. If you’re always tired and sluggish then you may tend to not exercise or to choose to eat convenience foods. You want to make sure you are getting the proper amount of sleep each night and going to bed at a decent hour. Make sure your bedroom is a calming place that helps put you at ease. Also, find a relaxing bedtime routine that helps slow down your mind and thoughts instead of stimulating your brain. Lose weight and keep it off by sticking to a suitable bedtime routine and schedule so you’re waking up and going to bed around the same time each day. You’ll feel better and be more motivated to stick to your fitness and health goals when you are well-rested.

Conclusion

Losing weight isn’t easy and can be quite challenging to do. It’s not just about losing weight but then finding ways to keep it off long-term. Be willing to give these ideas a try to see what works best for you. It will likely take some trial and error before you can come up with the right type of formula for you and your body. However, stick with your new habits and it likely won’t be long before you are shedding pounds and feeling more self-confident in your own skin!