Strategies for Maintaining Weight

Strategies for Maintaining Weight

How to maintain weight after weight loss

   

Regrettably, a large portion of individuals who manage to shed pounds ultimately regain the weight. Research indicates that merely 20% of overweight individuals who embark on a weight loss journey successfully achieve long-term weight loss maintenance.

 

Despite this discouraging statistic, there are numerous scientifically-supported methods to help you sustain your weight loss, including exercise and stress management.

 

By implementing these 12 effective strategies, you may improve your chances of successfully maintaining your weight loss and stand out from the majority who struggle to keep the weight off.    

Understanding the Causes of Weight Regain

There are a few reasons why people gain back the weight they lose. They are mainly connected to unrealistic expectations and feelings of deprivation.

§  Lack of sustainable habits: Many diets are based on willpower rather than habits you can incorporate into your daily life. They focus on rules rather than lifestyle changes, which may discourage you and prevent weight maintenance

 

§  Wrong mindset: If you view a diet as a temporary measure and not a permanent lifestyle change, it can lead to abandonment and regaining lost weight.

 

§  Restrictive diets: Severe calorie restriction can cause your metabolism to slow down and alter your hormones that regulate appetite, which can increase the contribution of weight regain.  

12 Best Ways How to Maintain Weight Loss

11.  Try Eating Breakfast Every Day

Eating breakfast can help you maintain your weight.

People who eat breakfast often have healthier habits, like exercising more and eating foods that are high in fiber and micronutrients.

Although breakfast eaters appear to have more success in maintaining weight loss, the evidence is mixed.

A study showed that 78% of 2,959 people who maintained a weight loss of 30 pounds (14 kg) or more for a year or longer ate breakfast every day.

Research has not demonstrated that skipping breakfast results in automatic weight gain or unhealthy eating habits.

In fact, some people may achieve their weight loss and maintenance goals by skipping breakfast.

This may be one of the things that come down to the individual.

If you find that eating breakfast helps you stay on track, then, by all means, eat it. However, if you don't enjoy eating breakfast or don't feel hungry in the morning, there is no need to force yourself to eat it.    

22.  Eat Lots of Protein

Eating more protein can assist in weight maintenance by curbing hunger and promoting fullness, as per research.

Protein boosts the levels of hormones responsible for inducing satiety and regulating weight while decreasing the levels of hormones responsible for hunger.

Protein can help you eat fewer calories throughout the day, which is essential for maintaining a healthy weight.

Eating protein regularly may help you burn more calories throughout the day since it requires a lot of energy for your body to digest.    

3. Exercise Often

Regular exercise plays an important role in weight maintenance.

Eating protein may help you burn more calories and boost your metabolism, which is important for achieving energy balance.

When you are in energy balance, it means you burn as many calories as you consume, which can help maintain your weight.

People who engage in at least 200 minutes of moderate physical activity per week (30 minutes per day) after weight loss are more likely to keep the weight off, according to various studies.

In some cases, doing more than 200 minutes of moderate physical activity per week may be necessary for successful weight maintenance. According to a review, people attempting to maintain weight loss should aim for one hour of exercise daily.

However, it's important to remember that exercise alone is not enough for weight maintenance. It must be combined with other lifestyle changes, including following a healthy diet.

   

14. Stick to Your Plan All Week Long (Even on Weekends)

Eating healthy during the weekdays but cheating on weekends can lead to weight regain.

This behavior may cause binge eating of junk food. Which can reverse weight maintenance efforts.

 In the long run, this habit could cause you to gain more weight than what was lost initially.

People who maintain a consistent eating pattern throughout the week are more likely to sustain weight loss in the long term, according to research.

A study showed that sticking to a consistent eating pattern throughout the week increased the likelihood of maintaining weight loss by almost twice as much compared to allowing more flexibility on weekends. The consistent approach helped individuals keep their weight within five pounds (2.2 kg) over a year.

   

15. Get Enough Sleep

Getting enough sleep significantly affects weight control.

Lack of sleep is a significant risk factor for weight gain in adults and can interfere with weight maintenance.

This is because inadequate sleep leads to higher levels of ghrelin, a hormone that increases appetite.

Moreover, poor sleepers tend to have lower levels of leptin, which is a hormone necessary for appetite control.

Additionally, insufficient sleep can make individuals feel fatigued and less inclined to make healthy food choices or engage in physical activity.

To ensure optimal weight management and overall well-being, it's important to aim for at least seven hours of sleep per night and make any necessary adjustments to your sleep habits.

   

16. Lift Weights

Reduced muscle mass is a common side effect of weight loss

Losing muscle makes your body burn fewer calories throughout the day, which can make it harder to maintain weight loss.

Lifting weights or doing other resistance exercises can stop your body from losing muscle and even make your metabolism stronger.

Studies show that those who lift weights after weight loss are more likely to keep weight off by maintaining muscle mass

For best results, you should do strength training at least twice a week and target all of your muscle groups during your workouts. This will help you get the most out of your training and enjoy the benefits it offers.  

   

7. Keep yourself hydrated.

Drinking water can help with weight maintenance for a few reasons.

For starters, it promotes fullness and may help you keep your calorie intake in check if you drink a glass or two before meals.

In a study, people who drank water before meals consumed 13% fewer calories than those who didn't drink water.

Also, drinking water can slightly boost the number of calories you burn during the day.

   

18.  Keep your stress under control.

 Control stress is an important part of managing

 your weight.

When you are under high levels of stress, your body releases a hormone called cortisol, which can cause you to regain weight.

Stress can also cause you to eat impulsively, which means eating even when you are not hungry. This is a common trigger for many people.

Thankfully, there are several ways to reduce stress, such as exercising, practicing yoga, and meditating.

   

19. Find a Support System

Maintaining your weight goals by yourself can be challenging.

One way to tackle this is to build a support system that can help keep you accountable and even join you in your healthy lifestyle goals.

A study of more than 3,000 couples showed that when one person adopted a healthy habit, like exercising, their partner was more likely to do the same.

   

110.  Make sure to eat your greens.

Several studies have shown that eating plenty of vegetables is associated with better weight management.

One reason why vegetables are great for weight management is that they are low in calories. You can eat a lot of them without gaining weight, yet still, get a good amount of essential nutrients.

Vegetables have lots of fiber, which can make you feel full and stop you from eating too many calories throughout the day.

To help control your weight, try to eat a serving or two of vegetables with every meal.

   

111. Be Consistent

If you want to keep your weight off, it's important to be consistent.

Rather than repeatedly starting and stopping diets and going back to old habits, it's better to stick with your new healthy diet and lifestyle for good.

Making healthy choices will become second nature once you get used to your new way of life, even if it seems overwhelming at first.

Maintaining your weight will be much easier once your healthy lifestyle becomes effortless.

   

112. Make Sustainable Changes to Your Lifestyle

Many people fail to maintain their weight because they follow diets that are unrealistic and impossible to sustain over the long term.

They may feel deprived, leading to gaining back more weight than lost when they return to normal eating habits. Maintaining weight loss comes down to making sustainable changes to your lifestyle.

It varies from person to person, but it basically involves not being overly strict, staying committed, and making healthy choices as frequently as you can.

   

The Bottom Lines, Maintaining weight loss for a lifetime

Strict diets can be unrealistic and cause weight regain.

Small, easy changes to your habits can help you maintain weight loss in the long term.

Exercise, sleep, and mental health are also important for weight control.

A new lifestyle can make weight maintenance effortless, instead of constantly dieting.

   

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