The worst thing that happens to someone who loses weight is that they gain it right back. I know so many people who literally torture themselves to get the weight off, then six months later, they are back to the same grind. The trick, however, is not to crash diet and crash your weight loss efforts. Crash diets may be a way to burn 20 pounds quickly, but for people who need to lose more than 20 pounds, that crash could do more to hurt their efforts than help.
If what you want to do is lose weight and keep it off then you need to:
- Exercise regularly — don’t break from that program just because you lost the desired pounds or inches. In fact, you may scale back say from six days a week to 3-4 days a week, that’s fine, but maintain your exercise routine
- Don’t become a couch potato again – a lot of us have to work in front of a computer or we enjoy sitting down with the family while watching television — but take commercial breaks, Get up and move around. If you work in front of the computer, stand up and stretch every 30 minutes or so and try to get up and walk every 60 to 90 minutes
- Don’t count on crashing the weight off — remember slow and steady wins the race? Slow, but steady weight loss is more likely to stay off than all the crash and burn diets in the world
Finally, think of your life as an exercise in moderation. Eat frequent small meals. Skip the heavy sweets and consign them to once in a while splurges. Walk regularly — whether it’s a part of your exercise routine or not, as humans we’re just not meant to sit around on ever expanding duffs and finally, find something physical that you enjoy doing whether it’s working in your garden, riding your bike, playing ball with the kids — because the more you enjoy it, the more you’re going to like doing it.
We’re going to talk more about what you want to know tomorrow! So check back in.
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