Losing weight is a tough battle to win, but what's even tougher is maintaining your optimum weight. Many people who are able to successfully shed the extra pounds return to their original weight after sometime. So, how do you make sure that you maintain your desired weight once you have reached it?
The answer to this question perhaps lies buried in the results of the investigations conducted by the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR) on successful weight loss maintenance over the long term. The NWCR tracks the habits of over 10,000 individuals who have shed significant amounts of weight and have been reasonably successful at keeping it off.
Here are some of the research findings, which if you incorporate into your life, may help you keep those extra pounds away!
Weight loss program: According to NWCR, 55 percent of their members lost weight by joining some type of weight loss program. In contrast, only 45 percent participants lost weight on their own. This is a testament to the effectiveness of some of the weight loss diet programs in the market.
However, it's a good idea to be careful when picking a plan. It is recommended to do some research and select a program that is a healthy weight loss diet rather than opting for extreme plans such as liquid diets that can lead to serious nutritional deficiencies.
Low calorie, low fat diet: Most NWCR members reported maintaining a diet low in calories and fat to keep off the weight. Now there are two ways of maintaining a diet regime. You can do it on your own, which means you need to know exactly what foods to eat, how much to eat, and at what intervals.
The other, and in many ways a much simpler method, is to follow a structured commercial weight loss diet plan. Once you reach your target weight with the help of this diet plan, it's best to continue the weight loss routine rather than return to the pre-weight loss eating habits.
But to be able to maintain the same routine, you need to choose a diet plan that is sustainable over a long period of time. For example, the Dukan Diet weight loss diet is centered around redesigning the eating habits of participants, so they can maintain their goal weight on a permanent basis.
Physical Activity: This is a no-brainer. Effective weight management is next to impossible without physical exercise. The findings of the NWCR research further corroborate this fact as 90 percent of members reported exercising for an average of one hour every day.
Most weight loss diet programs incorporate physical activity into their plan. Even if yours didn't and you lost weight by following a strict food regimen only, once you reach your target weight, you need to get going on creating an exercise routine.
Hit the gym; go for a mighty run; join a spin class; do yoga - just get moving. One of the Dukan Diet's weight loss diet tips to be followed in the final or Permanent Stabilization phase of the program is to take the stairs instead of the elevator and walk whenever possible. If only doing this can make you fitter, just imagine what a 20-minute run can do for your fitness!
Limit TV viewing: Sitting in front of the television, or worse still, lounging in front of it, is perhaps one of the unhealthiest human habits. It is also the most unproductive of all the activities we do, as is sitting in front of the computer in your office.
Of all the people who participated in the NWCR research, 62 percent watched less than 10 hours of television per week. By cutting down the amount of television you watch every day, you are giving yourself and your body the opportunity to engage in a more positive and constructive activity.
You can use that time to go for a jog or cook a fabulous meal for your family or just do some household work, which, by the way, is a great workout.
Jason is a self-proclaimed fitness freak. He has made the journey from an out of shape 180-pounder to a 155-pound lean machine. The transformation was made possible by the weight loss program he started a few years ago and ever since then, he doesn't spare any opportunity to spread the good word around for these structured weight loss plans.
He lives in New York with his wife of two years. His other interests include traveling and painting. He has painted over 50 beautiful landscapes while visiting foreign countries and he plans on opening an art gallery in New York at the end of the year to display his artwork.
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