So you’ve gone through, or at least you’re still in the process of, a weight loss program.
What’s the biggest fear after you’ve lost weight? Of course, it’s gaining it all back, and then some.
Of course, you know the argument—all of these health websites and experts are unwilling to do anything to help you aside from saying, “you should have been aiming for a healthier lifestyle, not weight loss!”
But poor planning isn’t even the main reason people don’t keep the weight off. It’s mostly because your body wants to keep weight off. When you lose it, your body increases its appetite and decreases its metabolism because it wants all that fat storage back.
So what do you do now? Here are some suggestions.
- Keep weighing yourself. This may sound just cruel more than anything, but weighing yourself at the same day and time every week can help you to keep track of when you’re gaining weight. And since at this point in your weight loss journey, you know exactly what your bad habits are, you can take a look at what you’ve been doing to facilitate that weight gain, and change it.
- Sleep enough. Losing sleep can be just as bad for your appetite as losing weight. If you sleep only four hours in a night, you’re likely to consume 329 more calories than if you sleep nine hours. “Enough” sleep, for an adult, is between seven and nine hours.
- Eat mindfully. When you eat, focus on what you’re eating and why you’re eating it. This will help you keep track of your eating habits to make sure you’re really paying attention to what you put into your body.
- Make exercise a part of your lifestyle. If exercise was just a tool you used to keep weight off, then you’re just going to put it back on. If you really want to keep the weight off, keep exercising at least a few times a week. This will keep your body building muscle and your metabolism active.
