Simple ways to maintain a healthy weight
Losing weight is one thing but keeping it off is another issue entirely. To help make sure all your hard work pays – and stays – off, I've put together some simple but effective strategies for keeping your body in the shape you worked so long to achieve.
1. Motivation is a key to maintaining a healthy weight. Remind yourself of your motivation daily.
2. Set a maximum weight for yourself: a weight which you will not let yourself go above. Then weigh yourself weekly or monthly. If you are nearing your maximum weight, increase your focus on portion sizes, food choices, exercise and attitude.
3. Don't deprive yourself
Not eating enough calories in a day is a one-way ticket to overeating later in the week. You may have been on a strict diet that limited the amount of calories you consumed, but it will be next to impossible to maintain that level of commitment once you've reached your goal weight. Never let yourself get to the point where you feel like you're starving – once you're that hungry, every healthy eating tip and strategy you've ever read or heard will go straight out the window as you settle for any available heaps to gulp down.
4. Treat yourself in small doses
If you love chocolate, sweets or ice cream but you've sworn it off for good, at some point that self-imposed ice cream-chocolate embargo is going to cause a lot of problems. The longer you go without allowing yourself a treat, the greater the risk of breaking down at some point and eating three pints of the cold stuff. Everything is OK in moderation. The point is to never feel like you can't have something – because we all know that eventually we all want what we can't have.
5. Eat less, more often
To avoid feeling deprived you need to eat less food, more often. Small meals don't work for everyone, but if you want to feel satisfied (and not starving) all day, then spreading out your meals is a great tactic. Eating five or even six smaller meals can really make a big difference in your energy level and how you feel overall. Larger, heavy meals are harder to digest and often leave you feeling sluggish, whereas you'll feel lighter all day eating smaller meals, and be much more able to control cravings.
6. Stay hydrated
What feels like hunger can actually be thirst in disguise, so if you find yourself contemplating a stroll to the vending machine, make sure you're adequately hydrated before you give in to a snack attack. It's easy to forget about drinking water when you're busy, whether it's meeting deadlines, in meetings, or wrangling small children – but drinking enough water is a great way to avoid eating when you're not really hungry at all. Keep a pitcher on your desk filled with water and an inviting dash of berries, cucumbers and slices of orange to give yourself more incentive to sip.
7. Snack fruits
We all snack, and snacking isn't a bad thing – it's the snack choices that can get us into trouble. Sugary stuffs and white flour (cookies, cakes) does not help your weight in anyway instead when that cravings come, just reach out for the next available fruits shop and grab a bite.
8. Rethink your plate
Your plate is a good indicator of whether you're going to have trouble maintaining your ideal weight or not. If it's filled with simple carbohydrates (bread, pasta, potatoes) and meat, you might have some trouble keeping the weight off. A better-looking plate would be divided into vegetables, whole grains and protein.
In conclusion, aim for a minimum of 30 minutes of aerobic exercise most days of the week and a minimum of 20 minutes of strength training twice a week. Also 45-90 minutes walk per day and small chunks of time for work out daily is recommended.
All the best as you adhere to this and you will be on your way to that desired weight.
Tchau!
1. Motivation is a key to maintaining a healthy weight. Remind yourself of your motivation daily.
2. Set a maximum weight for yourself: a weight which you will not let yourself go above. Then weigh yourself weekly or monthly. If you are nearing your maximum weight, increase your focus on portion sizes, food choices, exercise and attitude.
3. Don't deprive yourself
Not eating enough calories in a day is a one-way ticket to overeating later in the week. You may have been on a strict diet that limited the amount of calories you consumed, but it will be next to impossible to maintain that level of commitment once you've reached your goal weight. Never let yourself get to the point where you feel like you're starving – once you're that hungry, every healthy eating tip and strategy you've ever read or heard will go straight out the window as you settle for any available heaps to gulp down.
4. Treat yourself in small doses
If you love chocolate, sweets or ice cream but you've sworn it off for good, at some point that self-imposed ice cream-chocolate embargo is going to cause a lot of problems. The longer you go without allowing yourself a treat, the greater the risk of breaking down at some point and eating three pints of the cold stuff. Everything is OK in moderation. The point is to never feel like you can't have something – because we all know that eventually we all want what we can't have.
5. Eat less, more often
To avoid feeling deprived you need to eat less food, more often. Small meals don't work for everyone, but if you want to feel satisfied (and not starving) all day, then spreading out your meals is a great tactic. Eating five or even six smaller meals can really make a big difference in your energy level and how you feel overall. Larger, heavy meals are harder to digest and often leave you feeling sluggish, whereas you'll feel lighter all day eating smaller meals, and be much more able to control cravings.
6. Stay hydrated
What feels like hunger can actually be thirst in disguise, so if you find yourself contemplating a stroll to the vending machine, make sure you're adequately hydrated before you give in to a snack attack. It's easy to forget about drinking water when you're busy, whether it's meeting deadlines, in meetings, or wrangling small children – but drinking enough water is a great way to avoid eating when you're not really hungry at all. Keep a pitcher on your desk filled with water and an inviting dash of berries, cucumbers and slices of orange to give yourself more incentive to sip.
7. Snack fruits
We all snack, and snacking isn't a bad thing – it's the snack choices that can get us into trouble. Sugary stuffs and white flour (cookies, cakes) does not help your weight in anyway instead when that cravings come, just reach out for the next available fruits shop and grab a bite.
8. Rethink your plate
Your plate is a good indicator of whether you're going to have trouble maintaining your ideal weight or not. If it's filled with simple carbohydrates (bread, pasta, potatoes) and meat, you might have some trouble keeping the weight off. A better-looking plate would be divided into vegetables, whole grains and protein.
In conclusion, aim for a minimum of 30 minutes of aerobic exercise most days of the week and a minimum of 20 minutes of strength training twice a week. Also 45-90 minutes walk per day and small chunks of time for work out daily is recommended.
All the best as you adhere to this and you will be on your way to that desired weight.
Tchau!
5 comments:
Nice lil tips.. :-)
What's maximum weight some can maintain ??
What's maximum weight someone can maintain ???
Nice one sis.
Good post :)
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