I’ve Hit My Weight Loss Goal. How Do I Stay Here?
Maintaining a healthy weight is vital to your health and wellness, but it takes a lot of work. If you're overweight or obese, getting to your goal weight is a journey – but one that pays off in the end.
Reaching your weight loss goals may take months or years, but all the hard work is worth it. How do you ensure it stays off? Your weight loss journey doesn't end after you lose weight – maintaining success takes work and commitment.
At Novell Primary Care and Weight Loss in Tallahassee, Florida, the team offers various weight loss tools and weight management techniques to help you reach the finish line. We provide meal plans, exercise routines, and weight loss injections to help you get your desired body.
Why do people regain weight?
Many people need to lose weight to feel good about their bodies and stay healthy. The road to achieving this goal is often rough, with setbacks, ups, and downs. Unfortunately, many people regain the weight they lost because they don't make lifelong changes that they can sustain.
But regaining weight happens for many reasons, including hormonal processes. The body produces leptin in response to hunger, which causes you to eat. Leptin comes from fat cells, which means the less fat you have, the less leptin you produce.
Less leptin causes the body to think it's in starvation mode, making you feel hungrier and eat more. The more you eat, the more calories you take in, and the more weight you gain.
There are other reasons you may notice the scale tipping on the heavier side, and they include:
- Stress
- Hormonal imbalance
- Certain medical problems
- Medications
- Restrictive dieting
- Stopping exercise
- Slowed metabolism
The main reason people regain weight is the need for more sustainable lifestyle changes. Losing weight isn't a short-term fix – it's a lifelong choice to stay healthy and keep the weight off.
The habits you choose to lose weight should carry over to the maintenance part of weight loss. You should choose healthy food options and aim to exercise frequently.
Keeping the weight off for good
When you've finally hit that magic number on the scale, the work doesn't end. Maintaining that weight takes perseverance and hard work that never stops. But how do you successfully keep the weight from returning?
The key to keeping weight off is watching your caloric intake so you burn as many calories as you take in. That takes some time to figure out, which may cause some weight gain initially. However, when you get into the mindset of watching your calories and exercising, you should see the scale even out.
Our team offers various tips and tricks to help you avoid weight gain, some of which include:
Exercise
Regular exercise is essential in any weight management plan. You should aim to get at least 30 minutes of physical activity daily. You can walk, run, swim, bike, or even do yoga to increase your heart rate and burn extra calories.
Eat healthy foods
Your diet is essential to weight loss and a maintenance plan. Aim for a low-fat diet of whole foods like fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins. A healthy diet keeps weight off and the rest of your body healthy.
Lift weights
Strength training doesn't have to mean getting buff or achieving bodybuilder status. The more muscle you have, the higher the calorie burn even at rest. Our team provides exercise routines to help you build lean muscle mass.
Allow some treats
Restrictive diets are challenging to maintain, which can lead to binge eating and putting the weight back on quickly. Allowing yourself a few treats every now an then can help curb cravings and overeating.
Weigh yourself weekly
You may not notice subtle weight gain if you don't know what you weigh. During the maintenance period, you must weigh yourself at least once a week to see if you're staying steady.
Be prepared for bumps along the way
Nobody is perfect, and a few pounds are likely to come back along the way—but that's okay. You should enjoy life, and you're not going to be perfect in your eating. However, when you overindulge, work quickly to get back on track to keep the weight from packing back on.
To learn more about maintaining weight loss, call our office in Tallahassee, Florida, today to schedule an appointment or book a consultation on the website.