Achieving and maintaining a steady, healthy weight can sometimes feel like an elusive goal. It can be such a big frustration when the scale keeps fluctuating despite hard work. Did you know that about 80% of people who lose weight regain half of it within two years?
This cycle drives people crazy and can seriously affect their health. The emotional rollercoaster of constant weight changes can eventually hurt self-esteem and can make someone feel like abandoning their goals altogether.
However, certain proven ways, such as building a positive relationship with food and practicing self-care, help individuals maintain a healthy weight in the long term. Let’s explore 15 ways to help make lasting changes and break free from the yo-yo cycle for good.
1. Hit The Gym
Regular exercise is the key to staying fit and enjoying an active lifestyle. A moderate amount of physical activity each day can have amazing health benefits, especially if you choose exercise you actually enjoy. It helps burn calories and keeps your metabolism running smoothly, preventing unwanted fat from building up.
According to the American College of Sports Medicine, if you dedicate at least 45 minutes to daily exercise (or 200-300 minutes each week), you are more likely to achieve and sustain weight loss. This can include walking, jogging, cycling, or participating in sports.
2. Stay Hydrated
Staying hydrated is important for a healthy lifestyle and can help with weight management. While water alone won’t make the pounds drop, it keeps your body functioning smoothly.
Try sipping a glass of water before meals—it might reduce your appetite (or keep you from confusing thirst with hunger) and help with portion control. Also, swapping out sugary drinks for water can reduce calories, making it easier to stay on track. As health experts recommend, pay attention to your urination frequency and thirst habits to ensure you drink enough water.
3. Have Your Breakfast
Skipping breakfast can negatively affect your body and overall health. When you miss the day’s first meal, you may feel hungrier later, leading to overeating during lunch and dinner. This can also disrupt your metabolism and make it harder to maintain a healthy weight.
Some people mistakenly believe that skipping breakfast will help them lose weight. However, studies indicate that this approach can backfire. Without breakfast, your body may enter a state of starvation, causing it to hold onto fat stores and slow down your metabolism. This can lead to weight gain over time.
4. Eat a Protein-Rich Diet
Powering your body with protein is effective for maintaining or losing weight. Eating protein takes more energy to digest than fats and carbs, known as the thermic effect of food (TEF). It means your body burns more calories when processing protein-rich foods, which can help with weight management by boosting your daily energy burn.
In addition, a high-protein diet is great for muscle repair and growth, especially if you’re active. More muscle means a higher resting metabolic rate, so you will burn more calories even while resting.
5. Monitor Your Weight
Weighing yourself regularly is a great way to keep track of your weight and stay accountable. Studies show that checking your weight daily can help you lose weight by encouraging healthier habits. When you keep an eye on your weight, you usually eat fewer calories and make better food choices. This awareness can inspire you to pick nutritious foods and stay active.
However, if you find yourself feeling anxious and stressed about the scale, the opposite may be true (ditch the scale and focus on how you feel in this case).
6. Keep a Check on Carbs
Although carbs are an important part of a balanced diet, you must be mindful of the amount and type you consume. Not all carbs are created equal. For instance, complex carbohydrates from whole grains, legumes, and vegetables give energy and nutrients while digesting slowly, helping to keep blood sugar stable.
In contrast, refined carbohydrates found in items like pasta, white bread, and many store-bought snacks are often processed to remove beneficial fiber, which is important for digestion and helps you feel full. A diet low in fiber can contribute to obesity and weight gain. Choose wisely.
7. Do Resistance Training
Adding resistance training to your routine is a game-changer for long-term weight control. This type of exercise, including weightlifting and bodyweight workouts, builds and maintains muscle mass. More muscle means a higher resting metabolic rate, so you burn more calories even at rest.
Plus, resistance training helps reduce fat and increase lean muscle, making it easier to maintain weight loss.
8. Be Consistent
Consistency is an important step in long-term weight management. It’s better to adopt small, sustainable options rather than focusing on restrictive diets or extreme workouts that do no good in the long term.
While this may seem challenging initially, healthy habits will eventually become a part of you. This way, you’ll find it easier to maintain a healthy weight without constant effort (and feel good about it too).
9. Get Enough Sleep
Getting enough sleep is essential for managing your weight. If you don’t get quality sleep, it disrupts your hormones, especially ghrelin, the hunger hormone. When you’re sleep-deprived, your body makes more ghrelin, making you hungrier and craving unhealthy foods.
This can lead to overeating and make it tough to keep a healthy weight. On the bright side, getting enough sleep helps balance the hormones that control hunger and fullness, keeping your appetite in check and helping you stay healthy.
10. Control Stress
Chronic stress can wreak havoc on your body. When stressed, your body releases cortisol, disrupting various bodily functions. Elevated cortisol levels are linked to increased appetite and cravings for unhealthy foods, making it more challenging to stick to a weight loss plan.
In addition, chronic stress can lead to the accumulation of visceral fat, particularly around the abdomen. This type of fat is linked to weight gain and also poses serious health risks, including heart disease and diabetes.
Try stress management techniques like mindfulness, exercise, and adequate sleep to help lower cortisol levels and support your weight loss journey.
11. Find a Gym Buddy
A gym buddy motivates and makes workouts more fun. Exercising with a friend or partner keeps you accountable to your fitness goals, plus they can offer support, encouragement, and a little friendly competition to help you push harder. Sharing your fitness journey with someone makes it easier to stick to your routine, and you’ll be less likely to skip workouts.
Studies show that having a workout buddy with similar health goals can significantly boost your weight loss efforts.
12. Make a Food Journal
There are plenty of fitness-tracking apps available to help you monitor your progress. If you prefer a traditional approach, a simple pen and paper can be just as effective. This can help you realize any gaps in your diet, such as eating too much of certain foods or not enough of others. Plus, it can help you tap into how you feel after eating certain foods.
Research shows that people who use self-management techniques and apps manage their weight more effectively than those who don’t.
13. Eat Your Veggies
Vegetables are a healthy source of all the nutrients your body needs. Eating the recommended amount of vegetable servings daily is a proven way to manage a healthy weight.
You can start eating vegetables that are low in calories, like cucumbers, lettuce, kale, and celery. Plus, those that are rich in fiber can reduce the number of calories you eat throughout the day by keeping you fuller for longer.
14. Avoid Extreme or Fad Diets
Many people struggle with weight maintenance due to unrealistic goals. Avoid diets that promise quick weight loss or have strict rules– they’re usually unsustainable. These diets often lead to yo-yo dieting, where you lose and regain weight, which can sabotage your health.
Plus, many weight loss supplements out there don’t have solid scientific support and can cause severe side effects. It’s best to be cautious with them and focus on your health instead of quick fixes.
Instead, try to eat balanced meals with nutrients from all food groups. This will help you build a healthy relationship with food and support lasting weight management.
15. Practice Mindful Eating
Mindful eating means paying close attention to your body’s hunger and fullness cues while enjoying each bite. It is about eating slowly, without distractions, and chewing food thoroughly to fully savor the flavors and textures of your meal.
Research shows that mindful eating can help manage weight by addressing behaviors often linked to weight gain, such as emotional eating.
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Aqsa is a passionate writer who loves spending her free time jotting down her thoughts. But that’s not all. She is a devoted mom to two boys and a skilled pharmacist specializing in hematology. When she’s not running after her energetic kids, you can find her lost in a good book or writing beautiful words. A nature lover at heart, she enjoys exploring the outdoors, staying active, and always seeking ways to learn new things.
Aqsa is a passionate writer who loves spending her free time jotting down her thoughts. But that's not all. She is a devoted mom to two boys and a skilled pharmacist specializing in hematology. When she's not running after her energetic kids, you can find her lost in a good book or writing beautiful words. A nature lover at heart, she enjoys exploring the outdoors, staying active, and always seeking ways to learn new things.
