How to Maintain Weight

When you look into the mirror you are awe-struck at the person staring back at you. A new, beautiful, confident and slimmed-down version of yourself you have been wanting for a long time. All the hard work has finally paid-off as you angle your body to view the landscape of a well-trimmed figure. You smile every time your hand passes over the new contours of your body that you did not have before. Only the person who has fought and won the battle of the bulge can describe the euphoric feeling of being slim.

Many doors suddenly open up to you that were before often slammed in your face. As a former overweight person, you faced discrimination in many different ways; you were the subject of unwelcomed stares by people who would murmur under their breath about how big you are. Shopping was never an activity you enjoyed as it reminded you of how big you are; having to wear clothes that fit like a sheet. Now those same clothes are your badge of honor that you proudly hold up against yourself to the mirror as testimony to all your hard work.

Bravo! You have certainly come a long way and to stay slim and healthy you need to maintain weight effectively. A common mistake made by former overweight people is that they reward themselves with the kind of eating that put them there in the first place. This is not to say that you cannot enjoy a chocolate-fudge-sundae or a juicy quarter-pounder. You need to closely monitor your daily calorie intake so as not to have the weight incrementally creep back on you.

The benefits of eating a proper diet are to get the nutrition you need to maintain weight and be healthy. A proper diet consists of food from all of the food-groups which are meat and fish, fruits, vegetables, grains and dairy-products. It is important to eat from all of these food-groups to satisfy your appetite. Also, remember to eat three-meals a day to maintain weight since missing meals can lead to over-eating or snacking on unhealthy food.

As a general rule, weigh yourself every morning so that you will know if you are increasing instead of maintaining weight. Make Yoga a part of your life which is a great way to get your metabolism started in the morning to burn those calories you will be consuming during the day. It does not have to be strenuous exercises, a few simple stretches before you hit the shower, is all you need to start the day right.

A sure fire way to burn off those calories is by exercising everyday for at least 30mins. This is a great opportunity to make friends while showing-off your new look at the gym. Join aerobic classes and continue to sweat-off those pounds while toning and firming your body. Aerobic classes are very good to maintain weight because it is natural with less chance of injury; you can exercise at your own pace; and because it works-out your entire body you are getting a complete work out. Ideally make it a point to do aerobics at least three times a week and if you cannot make this schedule then walk briskly everyday for 30mins. The idea is to make exercise a permanent part of your life to maintain weight.

Part of the vicious cycle of being overweight is the constant feelings of dejection that have a negative effect on your self-esteem. A key factor to maintain weight is to participate in activities that lift your self-esteem and the aforementioned gym membership is one way to do this. Take yourself shopping for new clothes that flatters your body or tells people that you're all ripped and muscular.

Here is another tricky aspect. Most people find that they able to lose weight and form their body, except for one spot or part that refuses to cooperate. While the other parts of their body shape up, this one part refuses to lose the excess fat. Anxiety not- the dreaded man boob problem is really a common problem. For some reason, males have a difficult time getting rid of the excess fat deposits in their chest, even when they easily lose excess weight in many of the other areas of their body.

Now that you have shed those pounds it is time to give back to the community to help others with their weight problems by becoming a volunteer counselor. This will deliver a tremendous boost of empowerment to those you are now counseling. The will see that you were once like them and that will encourage them to stay on the program to lose weight. Counseling overweight people is a powerful remainder to you of what you went through and that will motivate you to maintain weight.

The relapse rate is high for former overweight people who might suffer an upset in their lives that triggers an eating binge. It could sometimes feel that you are standing on a slippery slope and one false move and all your efforts go down the drain. Unfortunately the comeback is hard, sometimes harder than losing the weight the first time. The good news is that you are tough and never want to go there again. That is why you will do everything in your power to maintain weight.