Managing Your Goal Weight

Managing your weight once you reach your weight goal is difficult, but it can realistically be done. You can't go back to your old eating habits because you will gain the weight back. It is as simple as that, so we must come up with some ways to help us stay on track. Here are some ideas below that will help.

Long Term Change

Once we reach our ideal weight goal, we still have to monitor what we eat and we must continue to include exercise into our lives to maintain our weight.

Stay Real

Learn to love yourself and accept who you are. Don't fall into the "I have to be skinnier" media messages that bait you into being dissatisfied with yourself. You have a new lifestyle to live, and enjoy, so hang on to the satisfaction of being at a comfortable, healthy weight that you can keep up with, and enjoy life.

Stay Flexible

People who have lost their weight, and are maintaining, stay that way by "keeping track of their weight", show flexible self-control, rather than following a rigid all, or nothing diet. They try to make healthy choices most of the time, and they treat food as their friend, and not as their enemy.

They enjoy small amounts of their favorite foods without feeling guilty. If they over eat, or have a big night out, then they start over the next day, and maybe even add a little more exercise to compensate, so things balance out.

Healthy Eating

Learn how to shop, prepare, and enjoy a healthy balanced diet. We should also learn to cook healthy meals, read and understand food labels, and have the ability to judge portion sizes.

We also need to learn to eat regular meals, either three meals a day or several small meals. We need to learn to put variety in our meals, eat slowly, and take the time to really taste what we are eating and if you have a craving, allow yourself occasionally.

Managing Weight Loss

• Eat a well balanced nutritious diet with plenty of vegetables and fruits
• Don't make food your enemy! Watch your portions
• Don't skip meals
• Eat out occasionally but limit fast food
• Sit down to eat your meals, eat slowly and pay attention to what your eating.
• Keep monitoring yourself to stay aware of your new eating and activity habits.

Stay Active

Regular exercise is one of the strongest indicators of life time success. Not only does it burn calories and increase your metabolism, it also boosts self esteem and helps with stress and fights depression.

If you follow the above methods, managing your goal weight will be a walk in the park! Good luck on you new lifestyle!