Imagine it’s the day you’ve been dreaming of—where you glance down at the scale and have finally reached your goal weight! Celebration is in order. But, if you’re on Jenny Craig, which supplies pretty much all of the food its dieters eat, the thought of learning to maintain your weight while making your own meals may make you anxious.
Don’t worry. Jenny Craig’s chief nutritionist, Lisa Talamini, is here to help you feel more confident about the transition.
According to Talamini, you already have the tools you need for success. Here’s why:
On the plan, members learn to make healthy choices by adding grocery foods to their weekly planned menus. So, even though you’ve been eating packaged meals you’ve also been planning your eating scheduleand supplementing with veggies and other purchased foods. You’ll keep doing the same thing, only with more cooking and less zapping!
During my twenty five years in working with weight loss clients, I took note a few common practices among the success stories – that is, those who were able to reach their ideal weight and remain there for years. What I see, time and time again, are five common success indicators.
Bottom line – inspiration is pointless without direction. Channel your inspiration into accomplishing these five tasks.
Be willing to ‘let go’ and learn ‘just the facts.’ Most of us have a tainted education and need some de-programming after years of media hype and distortion of the truth. Dumping all of this bad information is vital to your success. You have to be willing to replace old myths with new facts. If you can do this, and ignore 99% of what you see and hear, your odds of success go way up. (more…)
Is gaining weight back after losing it inevitable? According to some experts, the answer may be yes. A study from Colorado State University Extension proposed that an estimated 50 million Americans go on a diet each year and only 5 percent manage to keep the weight off.
Researchers studying these trends, including Dr. George L. Blackburn of the Federal Trade Commission, speculate that where weight loss programs fail is the promise for quick results and failure to communicate the importance of forming long-term healthy habits such as reducing calorie intake and increasing physical activity.
Other proof that diets aren’t the answer? Research shows that Americans tend to gain between .4 and 1.8 pounds every year. While that may not sound drastic, in reality it means that a 20-year old who weighs 130 pounds might weigh 148 by the time they reach 30, and 166 pounds by age 40!
These grim figures may be tied to the fact that most people gain back two-thirds of the weight lost in their first year after a diet program and 100 percent of their weight lost in five years (according to a 1997 FTC report).
So what can we do to lose weight and, more importantly, keep it off? According to recent research we reported on earlier this week, Michaela Kiernan, PhD. and her team at Stanford University School of Medicine, focusing on weight loss instead of a lifetime of maintaining a healthy weight may be a dangerous trap. (more…)
If you’ve ever started a diet, you know how hard those first few weeks can be. However, what if the plan called for you to not lose any weight for the first eight weeks? They’d probably get your attention, right? Well, a recent article in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology says the key to successful weight loss may be spending several weeks actually not trying to lose weight.
Michaela Kiernan, PhD. was the lead author in this new study. Psych Central reported that she and the researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine took an approach to weight loss that involved asking women in a study to not lose weight for the first eight weeks of a 28-week study. Instead they spent that time working on mastering the skills of weight maintenance. The concept was posed that if one could learn to maintain weight before they lost it, they might stand a better chance of avoiding a yo-yoing, where they’d regain several pounds once they completed the diet.
The researchers contrasted these women with a group who worked on the the 20-week weight loss portion of the program first and then moved into maintenance skills for the final eight weeks. The women were then released for the remainder of the year to navigate their lives with the skills they learned. When all the women returned at the end of the year, those in the maintenance-first group had regained the least amount of weight. The maintenance-first group only regained three pounds on average where the immediate dieters regained an average of seven pounds. (more…)
Cynthia Crowsen writes at It All Changes about living life on the roller coaster of life. She has lost over 100 pounds in a variety of ways but more importantly found her love for life. She hates changes but they keep coming so she’s jumped on to enjoy the ride.
It took me 3 years to lose 115 pounds and reach a happy weight where I felt comfortable. Then life happened. I had back surgery along with several other injuries, stomach and major allergy issues and some depression when my beloved Grandmother died. Life threw me a curve ball and suddenly maintaining this weight loss didn’t seem possible.
I won’t say I maintained my entire 100+ pound weight loss over the last 5 years but I maintained most. More importantly, I maintained the healthy habits I’d gained while losing the weight. The habits prevented gaining back all the weight I’d lost and a few extra pounds.
I used these 5 tips to minimize my weight gain while maximizing my health through difficult times. Now I’m using them to get back to my happy weight.
On Diets in Review, we talk a lot about weight loss. But what happens when you’ve reached your weight loss goal? Sure, you’re happy and proud of yourself and your new body, but chances are, you probably feel a little lost as to what to do and what to eat now that you don’t have that goal weight to focus on, right? Well, no worries. We have your five step guide to keeping you at your healthy weight and totally motivated!
5 Tips to Keep the Weight Off — And You Motivated
1. Splurge a little more (but be mindful). Now that you’re at your goal weight, you can be a little more lax with your diet, but remember that extra calories add up quickly (and that it’s a lot easier to eat calories than it is to burn them off). A good rule of thumb is to eat a diet that is 80/20, meaning that 80 percent of what you eat is nutritious and healthy, and 20 percent is the other maybe not-so-healthy food that you’re craving. If you ever start to put the pounds back on (and you should know if you do — see tip No. 5), switch your eating to 90/10 until you’re back at your happy weight. Also remember to keep portion sizes down and to savor every bite, being totally mindful of what you’re eating!
Dieting is difficult, but most people have a harder time maintaining a lower weight than getting it down. Yo-yo dieting is a problem many face. Here are five tips to help you maintain that goal weight, and maybe even get back down to it.
1. Think about calorie density. In other words, pick foods that have few calories compared to their weight. These are foods like fruits, vegetables and soups that have a lot of water and fiber. You’ll feel full sooner.
2. Portion control is always important. Just because you’ve reached your goal weight doesn’t mean you can start eating as much as you want. Try using smaller plates or buying single serving items. (more…)
Susan Wenner Jackson is a 33-year-old mother of two, living with her husband in Cincinnati, Ohio. She blogs at WorkingMomsAgainstGuilt.com and runs her own writing and social media business.
In 33 years, I’ve learned a few things about losing, gaining and maintaining weight. For people like me who have “what doctors call a little bit of a weight problem” (as Chris Farley put it in Tommy Boy), the struggle never ends. It may get easier for a while, or harder as the years go by. It may even go into hiding for a brief time – just long enough to lull you into a false sense of security that you’re finally free! Obesity will never trouble you again!
And theeeeen, you’re right back where you started on the scale – or worse, heavier than where you started – and wondering if you’ll ever get the upper hand again. (more…)
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.
One of the biggest curiosities surrounding the Biggest Loser contestants is what happens when they go home. The recent story of season three winner Erik Chopin regaining his weight has raised concerns that this is common for most. However, the truth is, most contestants continue to manage their weight loss long after the confetti falls.
Dan Evans, season 5 contestant, tells us that the maintenance is the hardest part, and that two years after his season’s finale, he still has to “work hard to maintain.” That’s why he, joined by former teammate and mom Jackie Evans, have decided to spend a week at the Biggest Loser Resort. Set in the southwestern, picturesque town of Ivins, Utah, the resort offers a fitness getaway unlike any other and allows guests to focus on their health for a week at a time or more.
“It’s so awesome to me that there’s a place where people can go… and it’s as close to the experience as you can possibly get,” says Jackie about the Biggest Loser Resort. Saying that she and Dan were fortunate to be only two of 20 applicants selected for her season, out of 250,000, she’s glad that there’s an accessible place where others can reap all the benefits. Without the cameras!
Listen now as Jackie and Dan tell us about their week at the Biggest Loser Resort, including what a day is like, what surprises them and what they like.
Sooner or later, everyone trying to lose weight hits a plateau, defined as a period or state of little or no growth or decline. In dieting, a plateau means that you’ve stopped losing weight. Getting on the scale weekly shows little to no change, and it can be frustrating to expend the effort with no visible reward. Take heart, though! There are several ways to bust through this.
Most importantly, make sure that you haven’t slid back into poor eating habits. Are you underestimating your caloric intake? For one week, go back to the beginning and keep a food journal recording everything you eat. Odds are, you are eating some extra calories that you might not even fully acknowledge. Maybe you got back into the habit of sampling as you are cooking, or finishing the leftovers on your kid’s plate. Write it all down, take a solid look at it, and see if there’s an area you need to address. (more…)
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