Help Guarantee Your Long-Term Success
Have you ever wondered how certain people lose a significant amount of weight...and keep it off for good?
According to a Brown University Study in the Annual Review of Nutrition (2001), the top three most effective behaviors include:
1. Eating a low-fat diet.
2. Frequent self-monitoring of weight and food intake.
3. Higher levels of regular physical activity.
So some of these sound simple, but how many people actually do them? According to the article, about 20% of overweight people sustain long-term weight loss.
Want to be included in that 20%? Here are a few tips...
Eat a diet low in saturated fat and trans fat (avoid beef, pork, butter, cream, anything made with "partially hydrogenated oil", etc.). It is okay to eat some unsaturated/healthy fat (olive oil, nuts, avocado) but any fat still has more calories per gram than carbohydrate or protein, so be careful about portion control...which leads to the next item, monitoring.
Many people do not like to count calories, but you should find a way to monitor your food intake that suits you. Weight Watchers' point system is popular and effective. Also, keeping a food journal each day can alert you to dietary indiscretions that you may have forgotten (half a donut in the office, a handful of chips, etc.)
Those who weigh themselves at least once a week can stay ahead of small weight gain and make necessary changes before the pounds add up. My advice is to weigh yourself in the morning before eating, and to weigh on the same scale with same clothes (or no clothes).
Last, physical activity is integral to maintaining weight loss. Exercise means moving your body whether you are on a treadmill, bike, walking path, or going about your daily chores. So all you really need to do is move more. Think of exercise as a daily necessity, like brushing your teeth or eating. It will be easier to add it to your schedule.
