Weight Loss Maintenance
Now that you have lost those pounds, weight loss maintenance should be on your mind. And since I am sure that you do not want to be part of that depressing statistic that gains the weight back, maintenance should be taken with the same importance as losing weight.
First remember that the same rules apply in your gaining weight as it did before. If you go back to a diet that consists of high-fat and calorie rich foods, rest assured, you are going to regain the weight. So do not think that just because you have lost the weight that you can now go back to your old eating habits. Yes, this should be obvious, but you would be surprised at the number of people who do just that.
Secondly, if you haven’t realized it by now, maintaining your weight represents a new lifestyle. In your previous lifestyle, your habits consisted of weight gaining behavior. In your new one, the aim is to continue the new behavior so that you can stay slim and healthy. Assuming that your diet was based on smart eating and not some fad, this should be relatively easy.
Assuming you are at the weight you want to maintain, the biggest concern for most people is how many calories do you need to consume to stay at that weight. This should not be to hard to figure out, but it may require a little experimentation.
You already know how much food you were eating to lose weight. From this, simply increase your portion sizes slightly. If you find that you are starting to gain the weight back again, you need to cut back on the increased sizes. Just make sure you take into account water weight. This can cause your weight to fluctuate a few pounds.
The easiest way to keep up with this information is with a food diary. If you were not keeping one before, I strongly suggest you start. A study conducted by the Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research showed that those who keep a food diary were more successful with losing and maintaining there weight than those who did not.
And just like you need to maintain proper eating habits, you also need to continue to exercise. The exercise you performed was part of the reason why you lost the weight that you did. If you stop exercising, the calories that were once burned by them will now be stored as fat. The only way to prevent this from happening, besides exercising, is to further restrict how much food you eat.
So if you keep these few points in mind, a year from now the weight you lost will still be gone, which will be more than most other dieters will be able to say.
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Categories: Weightloss Tags: Loss, Maintenance, Weight
Sustaining Weight Loss
According to the findings of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the form of contact by phone, or direct conversation with the health counselor are better ways of intervention of the disease. Also, these forms of contact help the overweight sustain their weight loss better compared to other internet-based or self-directed interventions.
The 36-month study, dubbed the Weight Loss Maintenance (WLM) trial, was led by Laura P. Svetkey, M.D., of Duke University Medical Center. The participants, representing a diverse adult population, were recruited through mass mailings, posted flyers, radio advertisements and print media. In phase one of the study, 1,032 participants took part in a six-month program, and those who lost at least 8.8 pounds moved on to phase two.
Three interventions
Three interventions were compared over 30 months in phase two of the study. The first intervention involved a combination of monthly phone conversations lasting five to 15 minutes and face-to-face meetings lasting 45 minutes to an hour every four months. The second intervention consisted of unlimited access to an online site with interactive tools that supported goal setting, planning and tracking of accomplishments. The third intervention was self directed; participants were expected to sustain their weight loss on their own.
During phase two, the participants in all three groups regained some weight, but the self-directed group regained the most at an average of 12.1 pounds. The participants who were allowed to access to online weight loss tools regained an average of 11.5 pounds. Those provided personal contact with counselors regained the least at an average of 8.8 pounds.
For all three methods, the average weight of the participants was lower at the end of the study than at the start.
Yo-yo weight loss
Investigation into the reasons why and ways of preventing weight regain after dieting is sorely needed. Far too often, adults pack the pounds back on within a few months of successfully completing a diet program. “Given the vast scope of the overweight and obesity epidemic,” the authors write, “there is a critical need for practical, affordable, and scalable intervention strategies that effectively maintain weight loss.”
Although there are clear benefits to maintaining weight loss, the authors add, “there is little evidence, particularly from clinical trials, on how to accomplish this objective.”
The amount of weight loss required to improve cardiovascular health risk is quite modest. Every 2.2 pounds of weight loss is associated with an average decrease in systolic blood pressure of 1.0 to 2.4 mm Hg and a 16 per cent reduction the incidence of diabetes, note the researchers.
Sedentary lifestyles
As people across the Western world continue to follow sedentary lifestyles and fail to pay the necessary attention to their diets, average weights continue to climb. Overweight and obesity are now the second leading cause of preventable death in the United States.
This study shines new light on an old strategy for keeping weight off once it has been lost. Get a buddy and be social in your efforts to stay on track. The Internet offers easy access to diet plans and provides many convenient tools and systems for monitoring adherence to weight loss strategies. But family and friends are the best supports of all.
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Categories: Weightloss Tags: Loss, Sustaining, Weight
Diet For Weight Loss
Many people are now in search of the perfect diet for weight loss. They search on websites; magazines, health books etc. but all of them end up searching a diet which when applied causes increase in weight rather than decreasing it. In real there is no such diet to reduce your weight. Today there is a lot of information which provides you with the complete guidance on help for your weight loss which is free of cost and surely workable. The basic principle of weight loss is to eat food on time with the proper quantity.
The best food to eat that will help you lose weight is a bowl of fresh fruits and vegetables. Foods containing full fats are bad for us. Saturated fats are found in many foods which add to your weight and cholesterol. In order to reduce it keep a check on your daily diet and avoid foods which are rich in fats and replace it with foods containing high fiber and protein. Please avoid food buffets and parties. Eating green salad without dressing will reduce your hunger and you will be able to have a little amount of the main course food.
By serving your food in small plates, you will be retraining yourself and your stomach to have less food. Try to prefer steamed or grilled fish, poultry and other types of meats instead of fried ones. If you are an unhealthy snack lover the easiest way to avoid is not to buy them. Exercise and movement can help you to lose weight fast by accelerating your metabolism. If you are beginner to exercise, start it with easy and light ones like walking and jogging. As you proceed and become experienced you can get into hard and tough ones like strength training exercise and gym.
By eating your food slowly and chewing it for good you give enough time to your stomach to send message to your brain that you are no longer hungry. As soon as you get this feeling stop eating your food and get away from it. Vegetables are perfect with any type of food and can also be taken as a snack as it is low in fats, sugar and calories. Eating is a necessary process and is the only way to provide fuel to your body. You should provide your body with fuel only when it asks for it and not because you have nothing else better to do. Do not go on hunger just eat only when you are hungry. If you have muscles it will be easier for you to lose weight. Try to find ways to increase your muscle mass and you will notice that losing weight will become an easier and faster process. Building up your own calorie reducing strategy will be much more helpful. You should lay out a plan for gradually reducing calorie intake in your body and mentally prepare your mind to reduce weight. In this way you can find yourself in shape in no time.
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Categories: Weightloss Tags: Diet, Loss, Weight