7 Ways To Maintain And Stay On Track With Your Weight Loss

Introduction

For those who have struggled for years with an ever-increasing waistline and a deteriorating state of health, the decision to shed the excess pounds and regain control over your life can be a daunting one.

Cutting refined carbs, going to the gym, and saying ‘no’ to birthday cake can be tougher than ever imagined, especially if it’s your first time doing so.

The cruel irony of it all is that even after you finally lose all the weight, it’s even tougher to keep it off.

So, what can you do to make sure it wasn’t just a waste of time and energy?

7 Ways To Maintain And Stay On Track With Your Weight Loss

Here are some essential tips to help you stay on track and keep your hard-earned physique for years to come.

Educate Yourself

Assuming it’ll be easy to keep the pounds off is probably the single worst mistake you can make.

That isn’t to say that it won’t get easier as time passes, but unless you prepare yourself for the potential pitfalls ahead, you’ll likely see all your hard work dwindle away as your weight returns.

That doesn’t mean you need to buy a backpack and head down to your local university for a diet and nutrition class (although that isn’t such a bad idea either). Instead, start looking beyond the diet that brought your waistline down.

Here’s a short list of topics worth getting a deeper understanding of:

• Vitamins and Minerals
• The Microbiome of the Body
• Muscle Metabolism
• The Effects of Insulin
• Fat Metabolism
• How Exercise Affects the Brain

While understanding these aren’t essential to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, they are powerful tools that can help provide context to the often confusing world of health and wellness.

Go Beyond the ‘Summer Bod’ Mindset

Having a weight loss goal for an event, such as a vacation or class reunion, can be a great way to produce results. After all, few things are as motivating as the thought of your coworkers seeing you in a bikini.

As useful as deadlines like this can be, this tactic also has a less-talked-about problem: What do you do after the vacation?

If your goal is to lose weight permanently, you need to get rid of this ‘Summer Bod’ mindset as soon as possible. Associating your weight loss with a one-time event like taking pictures for the company website risks losing motivation when it’s over.

Instead, try setting small but measurable goals for the future. Make sure that they’re specific and time-sensitive—when goals are too vague, it’s much easier to slip up. If the goals are too big, determining success can be an issue.

Climbing Mt. Everest is an outstanding goal, but it’s obviously not something you can waltz into simply because you’re feeling confident.

Here are a few examples of simple yet effective goals:

• Run a mile in under 10 minutes by June 1st
• Do 50 push-ups, non-stop, by August 10th
• Go to sleep by 9 pm every day for one week

When you reach your goals, don’t stop there—make new ones with a slightly increased difficulty level.

Cook a New Meal Each Week

Chances are that you learned to cook at least a few new and healthy meals during your weight loss journey. If so, consider it a great start to something vital to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. If not, it’s time to brush up on your cooking skills.

For many, finding new recipes that are both healthy and delicious can be a pain. So, most find themselves cooking the same five meals each week, which can only be described as a losing battle.

Sure, it may work for a few months or even a few years, but eventually, you’ll lose your taste for it, and it’ll be easier than ever to reach for junk food.

To prevent this from happening, commit yourself to cooking at least one new meal each week, using different main ingredients each time.

Chicken may have been your go-to throughout your weight loss journey, but you should start experimenting unless you can palate chicken daily for the rest of your life.

Don’t get ahead of yourself—start simple, but don’t be afraid to take chances with quality ingredients. Finding diverse, delicious meals can be the psychological boost you need to keep moving forward.

Commit to a Challenging Exercise Routine

This one may seem obvious, but it gets overlooked far too often.

A 2005 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that one of the biggest contributing factors in maintaining weight loss was high levels of physical activity. The important thing to note here is that high levels of physical activity are essential.

Does this mean that you need to become a high-performance athlete pushing their physical limits day in and day out? Not at all. But when it comes to exercise, the body adapts very quickly, requiring you to push yourself harder and harder constantly.

If you enjoy going for walks, push yourself to go slightly farther each time. Consider taking aerobic exercise classes such as cycling or dancing—anything that increases your heart rate and pushes you to improve.

The goal isn’t to become an Olympian overnight —the important thing is that you need to feel challenged. If it seems like it’s getting easy, it’s probably because it is.

Aim for Discipline in Other Aspects of Your Life

When you experience success, it’s one of the most empowering things a human can go through. After overcoming a difficult obstacle, it seems natural to try and use the same methodology elsewhere in your life.

The military is an obvious example of how discipline in many different areas can almost rewire you to be successful. Through persistence and daily routines, even average members can be elevated to a plateau of success that cannot help but permeate every aspect of their lives.

Now, we’re not saying you should go out and join the Marines if you want to keep your weight off — that’d be overkill. Instead, try taking a lesson from the military and start adding discipline to your daily life.

Here’s a short list of ways to begin doing so:

• Wake up at a set time every day, regardless of what you need to accomplish
• Plan — outline the next day’s activities the night before
• Instead of watching TV, read a book
• Keep your living space clean and orderly
• Wash your dishes as soon as you’re done eating

None of these are difficult to do, yet most people are unwilling to try them.

By becoming even more disciplined, you make eating well and sticking to your exercise regimens easier. You’ll find it easier to resist temptations and harder to slip back into old habits.

Get 8 Hours of Sleep Per Night

It’s incredible to think that just 100 years ago, this wasn’t nearly the problem it is today.

In our modern world, staying up late watching TV, movies, or reading has become easier. Not surprisingly, several studies have shown that this impacts our overall health, specifically our weight.

In a 2004 study, PLOS Medicine found that a longer sleep duration directly affected the hunger and fullness hormones ghrelin and leptin. Those who had less than adequate sleep showed a significant rise in ghrelin (the hunger hormone) compared to leptin (the ‘fullness’ hormone).

Does this mean you can lose weight and keep it off by sleeping enough at night? Probably not.

Still, it shows that you’re not doing yourself any favors by staying up all night binge-watching TV shows. Doing this increases the likeliness of hunger the next day, which can only make your life more difficult.

Do Things You Enjoy

It’s strange that most of us cannot do things we enjoy as often as we’d like. Unfortunately, this results in stress.

Human beings have evolved to respond to stressful situations in a particular way.

The adrenal glands release cortisol (the stress hormone), which stimulates the production of glucose (a simple sugar used for energy). Glucose is essential for helping our various organs and tissues survive a stressful event, such as a life-and-death situation.

The problem is that our bodies haven’t quite gotten the message that times have changed for most of us. They respond to psychological stress the same way they do to physiological stress—by releasing cortisol.

Since cortisol raises blood sugar levels, the body’s natural response is to produce insulin, which stores excess sugar in fat cells.

Simply put, the more stressed you are, the more likely you are to gain weight.

Luckily for you, there are several ways to help reduce stress levels, thereby lowering cortisol in the bloodstream. Here are a few examples:

• Meditate
• Exercise
• Read a book
• Listen to music
• Take a walk

Basically, you need to find time to do the things you enjoy. While it may seem you’re shirking some responsibility to do so, it’s important to realize that destressing your life is vital for your health and maintaining your weight loss.

Do yourself a favor and relax!

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Conclusion

Maintaining weight loss requires ongoing effort and commitment. The key is to educate yourself about nutrition, set realistic goals, embrace healthy cooking, exercise, prioritize sleep, and reduce stress.

Implementing these strategies can safeguard your results and cultivate a healthier, more balanced lifestyle for the long term.

Start today by choosing one new meal to cook, setting a fitness goal, or dedicating time to a joyful hobby. Your journey doesn’t end with weight loss; it’s about creating a fulfilling life.