how to stop weight from coming back

[PaulLo]

I'm working very hard to try to get my weight down to a healthy level, but my current diet has a number of limitations that I don't plan to have to continue for the rest of my life.

Once I actually lose the weight, how do I stop it from coming back on again. I don't mean that I'm going to go back to all of my old habits but I don't plan to go my entire life without eating another pastry or without having the occasional lazy day.

Is there something I can do once I've lost the weight that will help me keep the weight off but not feel like I'm dieting for the rest of my life?

[Nelly]

If you want to stop weight from coming back then you need to change your lifestyle. I don't know what your life looks like now, but you'll need to always remember to exercise and eat healthy.

You won't need to do it as much as you do while you're dieting because you won't need to continue to lose. But you have to do it enough that you'll burn an adequate number of calories so that it won't start being stored back up as fat again.

[bonniekins]

You really don't need to keep up an effort that is as strict as your diet as long as you don't give up on it entirely. Remember that you can't ever go back to your old lifestyle since that's what put the weight there in the first place.

So you can eat the foods that you always love once you're maintaining your weight, but just remember that you can't have them every day and you can't have them all at the same time. They're a treat instead of a way of living. And you've got to keep up your exercise. Not just because of your weight but because of your health!

[Beth]

I think the key to keeping weight from coming back is to make sure that you never stop living an active lifestyle.

You might start eating treat foods again and that's alright (within reason) as long as you stay active. If you exercise most days and you do lots of cardio workouts, then you'll be able to handle a bit of a calorie burst every now and again without any really bad repercussions.

Your body will be healthier and better prepared to burn the calories back off again.

So I guess the key to maintaining is to be active and not be too out of control with your eating.

[jenny25]

Some diet pills let you continue on them indefinitely, so if you find a good one that you find that the results really work for you, then you can always just keep taking them. Or, you can just keep them on hand so that if you find that you've gained a couple of the pounds back that you lost, you can take them again and get them back off again. That will help you to control your weight so that you don't get it back to where it was.

If you gain a pound or two, well, it's not so bad because you can lose that pretty fast. It's when you gain ten or twenty or fifty that it becomes a problem that is really hard to fix.

So just have a solution for your small weight gain and take action right away instead of letting it yoyo all over the place.

[lia]

Some diet pills let you continue on them indefinitely, so if you find a good one that you find that the results really work for you, then you can always just keep taking them.

You really can't just let yourself live off of pills your whole life. For one thing, that's super expensive, but for another thing, none of them have been tested for very long term use, so you're essentially turning yourself into a guinea pig. It's one thing to let yourself use them to get the pounds off when you're struggling to diet and you're learning your healthy habit, but it's another to let them become your lifestyle. Talk to your doctor if you can't come up with your own ideas. Don't risk slowly poisoning yourself over time.

[sarah]

don't go back to your old ways

[Lydiapurple]

Once you reach your goal weight, keep your eating very healthy (it does not have to be SO regimented at this point because you are at the point where you no longer want to LOSE) but you have to keep up this good eating for several months because you want to MAINTAIN. Your body is like a sponge and it so badly wants to absorb everything you put back in it so it can gain the weight back and before you know it you will be right back up to where you were before. This maintenance phase is where most dieters fail. They think Oh I have lost the weight now I can eat again. WRONG! Your body needs a lot of time to get used to it's new weight and stablize itself there. Be patient and be careful with your eating and give it the time it needs and then you won't gain it back.

[RFlair]

Don't go back to the old ways which caused weight gain.Try to follow proper diet always as it will always help you to maintain your fitness level and avoid gaining weight.

[Shrink!]

You dont need to feel like you are dieting the rest of your life, but if you want lasting weight loss, you will need to change your lifestyle. This does not mean drastic changes. You can make small changes that will eventually add up, such as drinking mostly water, exercising at least 15 minutes per day, etc.
Unfortunately, whatever you do to lose the weight is basically what you need to do to keep it off. It's not possible to lose weight by implementing changes and then going back to your old ways without regaining the weight.
Hope this helps!

[jkate456]

Change your lifestyle. Always eat healthy food. I am no saying that you never eat junk or any other that you like but have it occasionally. It keeps your weight normal as well as keeps you healthy. You can do exercises 5 days in a week, for rest of the 2 days you can take off for exercises. You can also try out some interesting exercises like dancing, swimming, aerobics.

[silvertoes]

Weight Maintenance

If you wish to maintain your weight, you should consume the same number of calories (caloric intake) that you use up during the day - a state of neutral energy balance. Your body weight (body mass) will then stay the same.

[bruceH]

If you wish to maintain your weight, you should consume the same number of calories (caloric intake) that you use up during the day - a state of neutral energy balance. Your body weight (body mass) will then stay the same.

I've always wondered about that. I have a hard time counting calories, so it seems like that would make eating challenging over the long term if I have to count for the rest of my life. Is it possible to have more calories one day and make up for it the next day with fewer, or is weight loss not based on a cumulative effect, but a daily effort? Does anyone actually have that information, or am I asking a question where the answer isn't known yet.

[silvertoes]

That's a very good question. I go with counting calories in a daily basis. i am not good in explaining but will try to elaborate my idea on this.

If you consume more today, your body will crave for more during the next day or so, and I think its not a good idea if you do it all the the time, i haven't heard or read an eating advice that said it that way. Experts will always say, consume this in 'a day', always like that. Our body can adapt to changes but the effect I think is not right, metabolism has to do with it.