Keep Lost Weight and Belly Fat Off for Good
It’s been a lot of really hard work, but you’ve persevered and managed to lose weight and hit your target goal. You understand the importance of reducing belly fat to ward off heart disease, diabetes, stroke and cancer, and want your hard work to be for life. And yet the urge to eat a sugary donut or super sized fry makes you wonder how you’re going to be able to keep the weight off permanently.
Only 1 in 6 Can Maintain Weight Loss
Starting a new diet and watching the scale drop each week is exciting, and provides the initial enticement to keep up with your weight loss program. Once you reach your goal, the excitement fades and pressure from friends, family and the constant barrage of junk food marketers is enough to make you stray from a healthy lifestyle.
You’re not alone, as research from the Penn State College of Medicine finds that only 1 in 6 people who have been overweight or obese are able to maintain their weight loss for more than a year. Sustainable weight loss can be a very complicated process.
In addition to following a reduced calorie diet with regular physical activity, it’s important to control confounding factors such as stress, mood and lifestyle changes which can cause the pounds to reappear.
Attitude is Key to Permanent Weight Loss
When excess weight is lost too quickly, our innate survival mechanism takes control of our subconscious mind in an attempt to replace stored fat, considered key to perpetuating the species.
While we have no control over generations of genetic predisposition to resist lost body fat, we do have the power of mind and attitude which can help us overcome the urge to fall back into old habits. Nutritional experts have compiled important tips to help you keep the weight off for good.
Tip 1: Don’t Skip Meals
Skipping meals is the biggest mistake people make when trying to maintain lost weight. The thought is they’ll avoid the calories and maybe even drop a few more pounds. Our metabolism is quite sophisticated, and will force you to make up the difference and then some through between meal snacking. Plan to eat 3 to 5 small well balanced meals each day to keep your metabolism burning efficiently while reducing the opportunity for a calorie packed junk food splurge.
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