Guest blogger, Carol Dunlop is certified through FiTour as a Personal Trainer and through the American Red Cross as a CPR, AED and First Aid Instructor. She has competed and placed in several Fitness America and National Bodybuilding competitions. To receive your Free E-course “How to Burn Calories While you Sleep,” check out her website, OptimumBodySculpting.com.
Congratulations! You’ve overcome a huge hurdle in achieving your weight loss goal. It took a lot of hard work, determination and commitment to get this far, but don’t rest on your laurels just yet. Your journey isn’t over. Now comes the hard part, keeping the weight off.
Did you know that two out of three people who lose weight regain all of it and sometimes more, in as little as two years? If you don’t want this happening to you, read on to learn how to keep that weight off, for good.
1. Make exercise a habit.
Keep the pounds from piling back on by making exercise a habit you can’t live without. Incorporate weight-bearing exercises that use dumbbells, strength training equipment, or weighted balls or bands. Strength training requires your body to burn extra calories in order to feed your muscles by using stored fat as fuel. Build muscles, burn excess fat and look great. What a great idea. I’ll take that any day.
Exercising two to three times per week will definitely keep your weight in check.
2. Controlling portions controls your weight.
You don’t have to be as strict with your eating as you were before, however, if you return to your old eating habits, you’ll find yourself at the starting line once again. To avoid a repeat performance, learn to control how much of your favorite foods actually go into your mouth. Learning to control your food portions puts you in the driver’s seat to manage your weight for good.
3. Be aware of your reaction to stress.
Stress – you can’t get around it or avoid it. But, you can control how you react to it. Your reaction to stress affects how your body manages your weight. Your body can react by causing you to crave comfort foods that make you feel better, causing you to overeat and gain weight. De-stressing techniques such as yoga, stretching and deep breathing exercises put you in control of how you handle stress.
By following these simple recommendations, you won’t have to worry about regaining your weight.