The Secrets Of Long Term Fat Losers

Have you tried to lose weight many times? Or maybe lost several pounds and gained it back? If so you are not alone. It’s extremely challenging to maintain weight loss. However some people do manage to achieve their weight loss and weight maintenance goals. The National Weight Control Registry is a database that tracks more than 5000 people who have lost a minimum of 30 pounds and maintained the loss for at least one year. How did these people keep the weight off? Here are the common denominators that set the successful dieters apart from those who “yo-yo” diet:

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Control Portions For Sustained Weight Loss

Portion sizes were much smaller in the past than they are today- (remember when a large soda wasn’t a half gallon?) With today’s portions sizes it’s easy to lose track of how much you are eating. To lose the weight the bottom line is controlling portions. In recent research suggests that portion control is the biggest predictor of successful weight loss. Control portions by learning to read nutrition labels, carefully measure out servings, eat a single helping, use smaller serving plates and resist the urge to clean your plate.

Pay Attention To Everything You Eat

Many people turn to food when they are bored or stressed out. Always ask my self, “Am I hungry?” – and if you’re not why are you headed for the pantry or fridge? Are you really motivated by hunger or are you bored, stressed out, sad or tired? Emotional eating can wreak havoc on a well planned weight management program. Keeping a food log and jotting down what you are feeling will help you identify emotions, monitor your food intake and hold yourself accountable.

Know Your Weight To Maintain Your Fat Loss

It’s also important to know how much you weigh. While it’s not advisable to become obsessive, people who maintain their weight loss do so by periodically checking themselves on the scale at least once a week. This way they are able to identify small changes and take appropriate and corrective action.

Turn Off The Television

Time spent watching TV is usually time spent being completely sedentary. You are burning a minimum amount of calories while eating maximum calorie snacks.Most people are mindless consuming high fat and high carbohydrate foods in quantities beyond what their bodies need. The successful losers on the national weight loss registry control list report no more than 10 hours of TV in a week.

Exercise Regularly To Keep The Weight Off

Fitness is a key to losing weight and keeping pounds off. 94% of the participants in the Weight Control registry did so by increasing their rate of physical activity. Most report walking at least an hour each day. For those that kept the weight off, exercise is crucial. This was evident because the participants who dropped out of the fitness programs ended up putting the pounds back on.

Why?

Because as you lose weight you lose muscle mass (unless you are strength training) and this also slows down the metabolism and makes it difficult to keep the weight off. Although cardiovascular exercise is important for burning calories, even more important is to do resistance strength training to help you preserve calorie burning lean muscle tissue which is the key to a high metabolism

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