Thursday, January 1, 2009

How to Maintain Weight Loss, Week in Week

By Rowena French

Whenever you start a new diet, you are usually very upbeat, focused, positive and eager to get on track, lose weight, and get fit. But as the months go by and weight loss week after week becomes more challenging, it can be very difficult to stay motivated, continue exercising and make healthy eating choices. Here are some tried and true ways that you can use to stay on track with your weight loss.

Find an unflattering photo, showing you the way you were at your worst and fix it your refrigerator. It needs to be the worst picture you have of yourself, there for you to see whenever you head for the fridge to find something to eat. Each time you are about to swing the door open your heavy self will be there saying 'Close the door and go grab an apple' or 'The ice-cream in the freezer will keep you looking like ME'!

Set weight loss goals and rewards for yourself and write down these goals and rewards. Things like 'When I lose five pounds I will buy that fabulous red dress' or 'When I can fit back into my skinny jeans I'll treat myself to those boots that will look great with my skinny jeans.' Perhaps 'When I lose thirty pounds I'm going to Florida for a vacation and I'm actually going to buy a swimsuit and go in the water.'

Make the effort required to reach your goals! Chart your progress and make sure that you do take time to enjoy the rewards you earn. This is a very important part of any weight loss program but especially over an extended time because it helps you see the benefits of all your efforts in short term and then across the long term.

Share your journey to a healthier, cuter looking body with others who may benefit from your weight loss week by week through creating a blog. You would be surprised at how effective this can be to keep your motivation high and for drawing the attention and support of many others in the same situation as you. They generally log in at least weekly and can be the source of encouraging comments and advice.

A picture is worth 1000 words so flip through some of your favorite clothing catalogs and cut out photos of the clothes that you want to be able to wear when you are at your ideal weight. Pin them up on your closet doors, on your mirror, anywhere where you will see them. Stay focused on how you want to look when you are at your ideal weight, the time when your weight loss week in week out won't be needed, then visualize this and it will help you make it happen.

Research all you can about successful weight loss by others either on line or in books or magazines. The efforts and achievements of people just like you can be inspirational and good to fall back on when your progress slows. Your goal will be to have just as successful a story to tell and inspire others with soon.

Step outside your life of food plans and exercise programs. Adding variety to your exercise by joining a basketball team, taking a dance class or even doing some cross country skiing on the weekend. Regardless of the time of the year you can always find activities that will be fun in the first place as well as a good way to continue your weight loss week by week.

Avoid people who are unsupportive or that sabotage your weight loss efforts. If you have a friend who always want to eat fast food or go get ice cream and tells you that it is OK to cheat on your diet 'just this once' or says other things that dampen your efforts, do not hang out with that person anymore. Do not let anyone hold you back from doing what you know is best for you - making healthy choices and enjoying your weight loss week in week out!

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