Maintaining weight after you lose weight is as challenging as losing the weight in the first place. However, with the right strategies, you can enjoy your achievement for a long term as well as, you can benefit from the healthier lifestyle. Here’s strategies on how you can do weight maintenance for a long run after weight loss:
1. Embrace a Balanced Diet
In order to maintain weight, a balanced diet plays a very crucial role. Consider your food habits as permanent lifestyle change instead of thinking of it as a temporary diet.
- Whole Foods: Consider adding plenty of fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean proteins and healthy fats to your diet.
- Hydration: Drink plenty of water through out the day. Sometimes thirst can be mistaken as hunger which leads to unnecessary eating.
- Portion Control: Be conscious about how much you eat. Trying not taking more than what your daily portion size is. This leads to overeating. Also, choose smaller plates. This tricks your brain into thinking you’re more satisfied.
2. Stay Physically Active
Working out and staying physically active plays a very crucial role in weight maintenance. Aim for at least 4 minutes of cardio daily and 7 minutes of Vigorous activity each week along with strength training and stretching. Activities like swimming, cycling, running and stretching can help you maintain a fast metabolism and help you have strong muscles and mobility.
3. Monitor Your Progress
Keeping track of your progress can help you stay motivated for a long term for weight maintenance. Regular monitoring your progress helps you to realize if there is any weight fluctuation and help you make necessary adjustment according to that. Tools like fitness watch, journals, food diaries, mobile applications etc. can help you provide valuable insights into your habits and progress.
4. Prioritize Sleep
As much as it is necessary to stay physically active, you must have a proper sleep schedule in order to maintain your weight. Adequate sleep is often overlooked but it plays a very crucial role when it comes to weight maintenance. When you have a poor sleep, your hormonal balances get disrupted leading to unwanted cravings for unhealthy fast foods and this might reduce your motivation to workout. Aim for 7-8 hours of proper sleep every night.
5. Manage Stress
It was scientifically shown that increase in stress can lead to the increase in a hormone called cortisol that cause various problems including emotional eating and weight gain which is a very bad coping mechanism for stress in body. So, for a long term weight maintenance, it is necessary to consider the following:
- Mindfulness and Meditation: Practicing these two things, you can manage stress and learn to live in the present without overthinking.
- Physical activity: Exercising lifts mood and is a great stress reliever.
- Hobbies and Social Support: try interacting with your social circle. this helps in reducing stress and nurturing your hobbies will help you nurture your mind.
6. Stay Consistent and Flexible
And not to be forgotten, consistency is the key to everything, even when it comes to weight maintenance. But is it also necessary to be flexible since, life is full of events that will disrupt your routine. So even if you’re not able do follow your routine some days, make sure you don’t give up and start continuing it as soon as you get time to do it. The key is to return to your healthy habits as soon as possible.
Conclusion
Considering the given approaches into your daily life, there’s no way you’ll see fluctuation in your weight. Foe weight maintenance, adopting these strategies and viewing them as a permanent lifestyle change, you can enjoy the long-term benefits of your weight loss journey and lead a healthier. So Start Today!!
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