Achieving and maintaining weight loss is an active process of taking responsibility for your health and overall well-being. By making healthier choices every day related to your nutrition, body, and mind, small gradual changes can have a profound impact. Below are 10 ways you can achieve and maintain your weight loss.
1. Outsmart Hunger: Hunger is a common weight loss challenge, but you can outsmart it. Power through your day without getting too hungry by creating a personalized eating schedule. Plan to eat meals and snacks when you know you get hungry, about 2 to 4 hours apart, and include a high-protein food to help you feel full longer. Suppress your appetite with high fiber foods like vegetables, nuts, fruits and whole grains. To add even more fiber, consider mixing Nutrilite™ Fiber Powder into your favorite beverage or food.
Drinking water can also help you outsmart hunger. Aim to drink at least 8 glasses (64 ounces) of water each day. It will help you feel full, prompting you to eat less.
2. Be a Savvy Supermarket Shopper: Eating healthier starts with buying healthier foods. Before you head to the supermarket, plan your menus and make a shopping list. Be sure to stick to your list and avoid impulse purchases. Shop the outer aisles where you’ll typically find fruits, vegetables, lean meats, eggs, and low-fat dairy products, such as milk and cheese.
Read nutrition labels and watch out for sugar content in foods. Too much sugar can cause unwanted changes in blood sugar, cause weight gain and leave you feeling hungry.
3. Eat Mindfully: Think of that time you ate half a bag of potato chips while watching TV. Mindless eating can cause you to eat when you’re not hungry or consume extra calories by not paying attention.
Studies show that mindless eating is commonly triggered by the sight and smell of food. Remember when you weren’t even hungry until you saw that doughnut in the bakery case, or caught a whiff of something cooking? Be prepared by having a healthy snack like BodyKey™ Slim Popcorn on hand for emergencies.
Stress, loneliness, sadness, boredom, even excitement can also trigger a desire to eat without being hungry. Consider your mood—does it contribute to the desire to eat? If it’s your mood and not food, distract yourself by calling a friend or taking a walk until the craving passes.
Distracted eating (watching TV, talking on the phone, driving, or while on the computer) could lead you to at an entire container of snack food without being aware of what you just ate. Remove distractions while eating to pay closer attention to signs of hunger and fullness to avoid those extra calories.
4. Exercise: Exercise is one of the most important action steps you can take to achieve optimal health and when combined with healthy eating it will help you better maintain the weight you have lost to get that beach body.
Some physical activity is better than none—and any amount has health benefits, but for substantial health benefits, aim for 150 minutes each week of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity (such as brisk walking or tennis), 75 minutes each week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity (such as jogging or swimming laps) or an equivalent combination of both. Be sure your exercise sessions are at least 10 minutes long and spread throughout the week.
5. Social Support: Research shows that social support is important to weight loss and weight maintenance. Tell others you’re losing weight to gain their support and reassurance. A spouse or significant other can lend encouragement when you need it most, while a co-worker who chooses nutritious lunches at the cafeteria can become a “buddy.” Seek the support of others to be cheerleaders and hold you accountable to help you succeed. Better yet, get them involved by having them take an evening walk with you or share in your healthy meals. Bonus: they’ll get healthier too.
6. Sleep: Science says you need seven to nine hours of sleep each night for both mental and physical health—including weight management. Sleep keeps your metabolic rate at normal levels, while a lack of sleep can lower it. It also regulates many hormones including appetite hormones, so you’re not as hungry and can better manage daytime cravings, while sleep deprivation gives you a desire for fatty, sugary foods.
If you’re skimping on shut-eye—take action. Set a schedule for getting to bed (and waking) and stick to it. Practice good “sleep hygiene” such as avoiding caffeine six hours (or more) before bedtime, shut off the TV, smartphone, tablets, and computers at least 30 minutes before bedtime, and sleep in a cool, quiet room.
If you’re having trouble sleeping, consider Nutrilite™ Sleep Health, which contains the herb valerian that may improve sleep quality and ease occasional sleeplessness.
7. Avoid Stress: Studies show that stress can cause you to gain weight over time. S tress may make you more likely to eat foods high in fat, sugar, and calories because these foods trigger the ‘feel good’ chemicals in the brain. Stress also raises levels of cortisol, which signals the body to deposit fat deep in your abdomen, leading to belly-fat.
Reduce stress through regular aerobic exercise, as well as progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing, and positive imagery exercises. Practice mindfulness with meditation or yoga and foster good relationships with supportive people.
8. Choose Your Mealtimes Wisely: Research shows improved weight-loss and metabolic health when meals are spread throughout the day and less food is consumed in the evenings. To keep up with your weight loss, be conscientious of your evening meal portion sizes and reduce or eliminate evening snacks. Start food intake earlier in the day and spread it throughout the day to help prevent overeating in the evening hours.
Break habitual night-time eating by creating distractions at your most vulnerable snack times. Leave the kitchen after dinner; take an evening walk or engage in an evening hobby like puzzles, crafting, gaming, or a home DIY project.
9. Smart Dining Out: It is easy to get off track when eating at a restaurant. Between appetizers, drinks, and desserts, you can load up on a day’s worth of calories without even having an entrée. However, you don’t want your weight loss journey to prevent you from having a good time out with friends. Instead of throwing caution to the wind, try a few easy weight control tips for eating out.
Try drinking a meal replacement shake, like BodyKey™ by Nutrilite™ Chocolate Meal Replacement Shake Mix, before you arrive at the restaurant. Then order only a small light salad or a steamed non-starchy vegetable plate to complement your meal replacement. Or eat a piece of fruit and drink a full glass of water before you go to the restaurant to help you feel full and less tempted by appetizers.
Watch your portion sizes. Many restaurants give you large portions, so make it a point to eat the right portion-size and request a to-go container when ordering. Box up one-half of the meal before you eat.
10. Track Your Success: Tracking your meals, exercise, and weight not only helps you lose more weight, but also helps keep it off. Just knowing you’re going to see these stats is a powerful motivator to say “no” to foods not on your plan and “yes” to a walk after dinner!
Looking back can also be a teaching guide. It can show you how and why your weight dropped differently in some weeks versus others. Tracking also allows you to catch small gains early and make quick decisions to adjust quickly to see improved results.
Weight management is a lifestyle of making healthier choices every day, but with an effort to follow these easy weight control tips, you can achieve and maintain healthy weight loss.
