Losing Weight Is Just The First Part Of Your Fitness Journey. The Second Leg Starts Now

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There’s no greater feeling than finally shedding all those excess pounds. For many people, however, losing the weight is the easy part—keeping it off is the real challenge.

The key here is to avoid being too complacent with your achievements, or you’ll just regain all that weight you lost. Luckily, there are a few things you can do to keep the weight off for good.

 

Do it for yourself

A lot of times, a person’s weight loss journey is done for all the wrong reasons: to impress someone, to feel beautiful, and the like. But for you to lose the weight and keep the pounds off, you need to have a stronger core motivation.

In short, find a deeper reason for why you’re trying to lose weight. Is it because you want to improve your health? Do you want to live longer and have more time with your kids? Do you want to become the best version of yourself? When you align your fitness goals with your values, having the motivation to keep the pounds off becomes much easier.

 

Don’t take it out on food

Let’s face it: life can be challenging. There’s no shortage of stressors in your life, from the mountain of work left unfinished in your office to all the chores you need to finish at home. As such, it’s very easy to rely on food to relieve our stress—after all, it’s a quick and easy way to gratify yourself when things get too hard.

Unfortunately, don’t expect to keep the pounds off if you rely on food as an emotional crutch. Luckily, there are many other ways to blow off steam, from meditation and gardening all the way to taking a vacation and working out.

 

Avoid processed food

There’s never been a period in history where food has been more easily available. From fast food joints, to convenience stores, to vending machines, you can’t walk a block without seeing somewhere to buy food.

While undoubtedly convenient, most of these foods are highly processed, meaning they have been stripped of most of their nutritional values except for calories. To compensate, many of these products achieve a better taste with tons of sugar and fat—the same things that can make you pack on the pounds.

If you really want to maintain your healthy weight, try cooking your food at home instead. There are many easy and healthy recipes available online, and these are just a fraction of what a usual fast food meal would cost.

 

Keep moving

You may have already gotten a gym membership, but it’s not the only venue where you can burn calories. In fact, many of your everyday tasks count as exercise. Instead of taking the car to the grocery store, perhaps you can simply walk to it. Instead of lazing around during the weekends, do a few house chores, such as maintaining the lawn or scrubbing the bathroom clean. Instead of taking the elevator, take the stairs.

The point is, always seize the chance to get your body moving. It will help you burn calories so that it’s easier to maintain the weight you’re currently at.

 

Make better choices

A weight loss journey doesn’t have to feel like a penitence. You don’t always have to give up the food you love—you just need to replace them with better options. If you love sweets, grab an apple instead of a candy bar. If you love drinking juice, squeeze oranges at home instead of buying the sweetened ones from the grocery store. If you love coffee, purchase variants that have natural extracts like Garcinia Cambogia that help promote weight loss.

By choosing to replace your favorites instead of cutting them out entirely, you will be better able to resist temptation—and make keeping the pounds off actually enjoyable.

 

Have a marathon mindset

Reaching your ideal weight does not mean that the race has ended. Rather, it simply means that you’ve entered the next phase of your fitness journey. If it were a marathon, you’ve finished one leg of the challenge – now, you’re embarking on the next stage. Be patient and always think long term. Those who rush it are often those who burn out first, so take it easy: this is a lifelong journey, after all.

Congratulations on finally reaching your ideal weight! Keep these simple tips in mind to ensure that you keep the pounds off not just today but in the future. If you need help maintaining your ideal weight, don’t be afraid to look at supplements that facilitate fat loss to make the journey easier for you.

 

 

Sources:

 

[1] http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20440291,00.html/view-all#act-like-a-kid

[2] http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20578117,00.html#finish-last-0

 

chrisclarkxerveo
About Chris Clark

Chris Clark is currently the Chief Product Officer and Formulator at Xervéo Group LLC. He is also a certified nutritionist with the International Sports Sciences Association.