Lost weight? Now know how to keep it that way

HYDERABAD: You have achieved your goal of losing weight; now, you have to maintain it. One of the most important things to keep in mind is to avoid things that trigger your previous bad habits, such as poor choices of food and binge eating. Here are some tips to maintain your weight loss.

Reduce alcohol consumption

If you are trying to lose or maintain your weight, you need to reduce your consumption of alcohol, as it lowers self-control and inhibitions. You are more likely to eat the foods you should avoid when you are drinking. Alcohol can still be part of living a healthy lifestyle. You just need to drink it with meals and in moderation.

Drinking more than that can trigger overeating throughout the night and eating not-so-healthy foods the next day. Aside from not helping you stay on track, it can also be harmful to your maintenance efforts if it happens often. Set limits for your alcohol consumption. This includes limiting the amount you drink and the times you go out for drinks. You can share your limits with like-minded or supportive friends to get the encouragement you need.

Avoid addictive foods

There are a lot of common foods that are addictive. These foods create a pleasant reward signal in your brain, which causes weaker self-control and strong cravings. As a result, you overeat and pick those foods over healthier choices. Processed foods such as crackers, commercially fried foods and foods with refined carbohydrates, such as baked goods, sweets, bread, and cereal, are addictive foods. These foods are often unsatisfying, so you will want more. When you avoid these foods, you can stick to healthier eating practices. Avoiding these foods will also make healthy foods taste better. Stop comparing and you will better enjoy and appreciate the textures and flavours of healthier foods.

Assess your relationships

Do the people you hang out with help you stay on the right track? It won’t take long to determine people who are not supportive, make you feel stressed, or bring you down and those who really support and encourage you. While it is almost impossible to completely get rid of these kinds of relationships in your life, being aware and avoiding situations that can be hard for you to overcome can certainly help. Try to build new friendships with like-minded and supportive people.

You can join social media groups, workout classes, forums, and other groups that you find interesting. Remember that maintaining your weight is a lifelong process. You need to discover the right balance between practising healthy viable habits to maintain your weight and pampering yourself so you don’t feel deprived. It is important to be aware of the factors that trigger your bad habits and create a plan to overcome them in order to enjoy long-term success. You can also work with a professional to learn tips that will help you eat less without counting calories or feeling deprived, stay motivated, exercise right, and enjoy a healthier lifestyle.