It is always frustrating when I talk with someone who has worked so hard to lose weight only to put it back on, and then some. Sometimes it is because they went on a crash diet and did some silly things to lose it, but most of the time it is simply because they didn’t keep working out. Losing weight and keeping the weight off go hand in hand but are really very different. I always tell people that the maintenance stage is easy once you get there. What you have to keep in mind is that everyone has to work out as part of their lifestyle in order to maintain a healthy weight.
When you are trying to lose weight, typically you have to cut calories and start to eat the right things. Cutting calories may seem tough but usually we eat too much and portions are way to big. As we get to normal portion sizes our bodies get accustomed to the amount of food and we are satisfied with how much we are eating. Every meal should not be a Thanksgiving meal! The amount of exercise we do will increase because we are trying to burn off extra calories whenever possible.
There is good news with maintenance, and this is the important part. While we have to continue to exercise it is not always about trying to lose weight but trying to keep us at the current weight. Our exercise should still be challenging but we are really in a different mode than at weight loss.
There are a few tricks to use so if you need help let me know.
Until next time…
