Here are the 11 behavior and one shift in thinking that make up the 12 most important ways to keep weight off. the first four are most critical.
Here are the 12 ways to stay slim:
1. Wear form-fitting clothes. --- The fit of your pants is the first warning that you need to get back to your healthy eating habits. For added motivation to keep your weight in check, throw out your older, larger-size clothes. If you save them, you make it too easy to just switch to a larger size instead of acting to rein in a growing waistline.
Use what you wear as your weight loss guide.
2. Keep problem foods out of the house. --- Almost all people who regin weight start the slide at home. The process is usually achieved by food you tend to overeat but managed to avoid while losing weight. The two out of three people who lose weight and keep it off permanently banish problem foods from their house. Be ware that although they might not tempt you today, you'll always be capable to the foods that made you mistake in the past.
3. Set a weight ceiling and stick to it. --- Pick a number and don't let your weight go above it by more than 3 pounds. If you see the scale creeping past that number, return to your weight loss habits immediately. Keep in mind though, that you can expect increases in in your weight weekends because of eating high-calorie meals. Monday is typically the "high-number" day of the week, but friday, you should be back down to your goal weight. Weight gain is a slow, subtle process that often goes unnoticed at first. Most people don't get too alarmed if they gain back pound or two. Before too long, those 2 pounds have morphed into 5, 8 and then 10. This is why you should set--and abide by--a weight ceiling.
4. Step on the scale every day. --- Doing so well help you to distinguish between normal weight fluctuations and true gain. For instance, hit the scale the monring after a big meal, the number may be up a bit. If it's water weight, it will dissipate in 24 to 48 hours. You should expect slight scale variations during the week. But if you gain 3 or more pounds and they stick over a period of several weeks, that's your cue to get back on track with your weight control efforts.
5. Quiz yourself. --- The 10-questions quiz will help you know when you're starting to slip back into the bad habits that caused your weight gain. Take the quiz weekly to catch yourself before you backslide too far.
Click here to answer the 10 quiz for yourself.
6. Keep exercising. --- Dieters who exercise regularly succeed the longest at keeping weight off. In a survey of more than 32,000 dieters found that "regular exercise was the number one successful weight loss maintenance strategy" of more than 81% of the long-term maintainers. In second place, at 74%, was the related strategy of increasing activity in daily routines.
7. Always have breakfast, lunch, and dinner. --- Perhaps bigger weight loss maintenance mistake is skipping meals or going too long without eating. This habit, which some people engage in to loss weight, will cause your blood sugar to dip and can increase your appetite and cravings.
8. Display a photo of yourself at your heaviest weight. --- You may want to put the photo in a place where you feel most vulnerable to overeating--the refrigerator door or kitchen counter, for example. For added emphasis, place it next to a picture of yourself at your lightest weight. If you find it upsetting to stare constantly at yourself at your heaviest, keep only a picture of yourself a slimmest weight. You may find it motivates you more protect your accomplishments than to be reminded of what you looked like before you loss weight.
9. Keep a food diary. --- A diary serves to remind you of extra food you eat and any bad eating habits you fall into. There are few things that can undo your good eating habits faster than mindlessly nibbling foods you tend to overeat or foods you happen to encounter during the day. Most people don't count what they nibble and pick on toward their calorie budget. A food diary makes it easy to keep track. It's also wise to use your diary to write out your meals and snacks a day in advance to help you steer clear of potential trip ups. planning makes maintaining your new weight easier because it helps you avoid pitfalls and establish boundaries.
Look back to see what you can do better.
10. Set clear boundaries. --- Boundaries help to control your eating. A major study of people who kept the weight off found that 88% limited some type of food. Another 45% limited the quantities of the foods they ate. If you're prone to overeat a particular food, then you should avoid it.
11. Set limit on "good" foods, too. --- Many people get into trouble by eating too much of the "right foods" such as chicken, beef, and even fruit--particularly when they're snacking from bowls of cut-up fruit or bowls grapes and cherries. Some eat too much beacause it is an "allowed" food, and so they assume that portion size doesn't matter. Even if you choose nutritious foods such as whole wheat bred, brown rice, and fruit, you need to balance your calorie budget by subtracting any extra foods you consume.
Go ahead and treat yourself to a lean body.
And the final ways on how to stay slim.
12. Remember that being slim is the best reward. --- People who lose weight permanently still enjoy the pleasure of fine food. But they no longer use food as a reward or a treat. they realize that no matter how enticing a food is, if it's something they have a history of overeating, indulging in it is no reward at all.
That's not to say that you can't treat yourself. Some people reward themselves with new clothes. Others enjoy a trip to a spa, jewelry, or a weekend get-away with friends. Just remember that a far more meaningful reward occurs when you look in the mirror and see a trim body.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
10 Questions quiz to monitor the behavior that keeping the pounds off
This 10-quiz monitors the behaviors that decrease your chances of keeping the pounds off. Take this quiz once a week. If your answer "yes" to four questions, it's an early warning that you're slipping back into bad habits. Answering "yes" to five questions means you're an danger of regaining the weight (even if the scales hasn't started to rise yet).
ARE YOU...
1. Indulging in any foods that you have a consistent history of overeating?
2. Getting sloppy about your behavior strategies or failing to plan?
3. Eating too much of the right (healthy) foods?
4. Nibbling on whatever foods are around?
5. Forgetting to weigh yourself regularly and guard your weight ceiling?
6. Keeping problem foods in the house?
7. Skipping meals or snacks or going longer than 4 hours without eating?
8. Noticing that your clothes are tight?
9. Allowing your methods to dictate what you eat?
10. Slipping exercise frequently?
ARE YOU...
1. Indulging in any foods that you have a consistent history of overeating?
2. Getting sloppy about your behavior strategies or failing to plan?
3. Eating too much of the right (healthy) foods?
4. Nibbling on whatever foods are around?
5. Forgetting to weigh yourself regularly and guard your weight ceiling?
6. Keeping problem foods in the house?
7. Skipping meals or snacks or going longer than 4 hours without eating?
8. Noticing that your clothes are tight?
9. Allowing your methods to dictate what you eat?
10. Slipping exercise frequently?
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
10 Steps To Drop Your Pounds
Believing that you're ready take off those extra pounds may not be enough to ensure weight loss success. You also need to be willing to make the lifestyle changes necessary to actually lose the weight.
Here are the 10 steps to drop your pounds in easy way.
Step 1: Learn from your mistakes. --- Studies show that most people who lose weight and successfully keep it off are hardly diet novices--they've lost 10,20 or more pounds many times before. What finally turned things around? They learned from their mistakes. You need to look at past attempts as a learning experience, not a failure. Say to yourself, "I've done this three or four times--what's the pattern here?" If you can see it, then you don't have to repeat it.
If particular weight loss approach doesn't work for you, there's nothing wrong with starting from scratch.
Steps 2: Do it for yourself. --- Trying to lose weight to gain something else's approval rarely leads to success. But doing it because you want to feel in control of your life often does. Each time you turn down a piece of chocolate cake or step on the treadmill, you are taking control of your life, and that continual stream of positive reinforcement will help you stay motivated over time. And the feeling of regaining control of their lives through exercise and learning new skills such as portion control gave the women who were successful a sense of empowerment that helped them stay the course to long-term weight loss.
Steps 3: Identify your overeating triggers. --- Cleaning out your kitchen does reduce temptation. But the chips in your cup-board and the Haagen-Dazs in your freezer aren't the only things that can trip you up. A much better way to prepare is to go about life as usual and document it for a week or so: Keep a food diary, chart the events and emotions that lead you to eat, and log your workouts--even wear a pedometer to see how much incidental activity you get each day. You'll learn what riggers you to overeat and the shortcuts you're taking to cheat yourself on physical activity. "Reach the phone instead of ice cream."
Steps 4: Develop strategies for coping with triggers. --- When you're angry, what else could you do besides eat? Or when you're bored, fearful, or tense? It's good idea to make a list of options. It could be journaling, calling a friend, reading a book, taking a walk, pounding a pillow, or nurturing yourself in other, nonfood ways.
Steps 5: Change your thinking. --- Most people will need to eat less and exercise more. But it's more important to be willing to change the behaviors and thought patterns that set you up for failure. If you think you're going to fail, then you will be more likely to do so -- it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. You need to say, "That's not me" and consistently practice that. For instance, tell yourself, "I'm the kind of person who can turn down food in social situations and who enjoys the feeling I get from exercising."
Steps 6: Figure out how to fit in exercise. --- Your success may depend on it. In an 18-month University of Pittsburgh study that tracked 104 women, ages 25-45, they found that those who combined diet with physical activity last more weight than the women who tried to drop pounds using either alone. What's more, exercising seemed to help the women in the study stick to their diets--as their activity level went up, their calorie intake went down.
Steps 7: Cut down on eating out. --- Limiting your dining out to restaurants that serve low-calorie meals or ordering food "your way" can still be risky. There are so many hidden calories in restaurant food. Veggies are usually tossed with butter (50 calories in 1/2 tablespoon); tomato sauces can be loaded with olive oil (120 calories in 1 tablespoon); and grilled fish maybe brushed with fat before cooking. And when you go to a restaurant, you may be tempted with "just try a bite" or "what about some wine or dessert?"
In this research it has found that the more people eat out during the week, the harder it is for them to shed pounds. Your best strategy: Limit restaurant meals to no more than once a week.
Steps 8: Get your spouse's support. --- In 2001 the university of Washington and a Weight Watchers, surveyed 25,000 married women to see hot their relationships influenced their attempts to lose weight. Half the women failed when their spouses weren't supportive. Less expected was the finding that many women succeeded when their spouses stayed completely out of it. the divide was about fifty-fifty. It just shows that there is no correct way. Each couple has to negotiate their own terms.
And the last but not the least.
Steps 10: Have a contingency plan. --- It might be easier to lose weight if your life were regimented, but let's face it; stuff happens. That's why it's so important to have a contingency plan in palce for those tough weeks. Instead of giving up until the problem passes, try to figure out a way to continue. For example, you could go to bed an hour earlier in order to get up earlier for your morning walk. If that doesn't work, set a reduced goal (such as getting more incidental exercise). But don't get too comfortable with a trimmed-back workout. It's just a temporary solution. Get back to your original activity goal ASAP.
Hope you guys will follow these steps. Good luck!
Here are the 10 steps to drop your pounds in easy way.
Step 1: Learn from your mistakes. --- Studies show that most people who lose weight and successfully keep it off are hardly diet novices--they've lost 10,20 or more pounds many times before. What finally turned things around? They learned from their mistakes. You need to look at past attempts as a learning experience, not a failure. Say to yourself, "I've done this three or four times--what's the pattern here?" If you can see it, then you don't have to repeat it.
If particular weight loss approach doesn't work for you, there's nothing wrong with starting from scratch.
Steps 2: Do it for yourself. --- Trying to lose weight to gain something else's approval rarely leads to success. But doing it because you want to feel in control of your life often does. Each time you turn down a piece of chocolate cake or step on the treadmill, you are taking control of your life, and that continual stream of positive reinforcement will help you stay motivated over time. And the feeling of regaining control of their lives through exercise and learning new skills such as portion control gave the women who were successful a sense of empowerment that helped them stay the course to long-term weight loss.
Steps 3: Identify your overeating triggers. --- Cleaning out your kitchen does reduce temptation. But the chips in your cup-board and the Haagen-Dazs in your freezer aren't the only things that can trip you up. A much better way to prepare is to go about life as usual and document it for a week or so: Keep a food diary, chart the events and emotions that lead you to eat, and log your workouts--even wear a pedometer to see how much incidental activity you get each day. You'll learn what riggers you to overeat and the shortcuts you're taking to cheat yourself on physical activity. "Reach the phone instead of ice cream."
Steps 4: Develop strategies for coping with triggers. --- When you're angry, what else could you do besides eat? Or when you're bored, fearful, or tense? It's good idea to make a list of options. It could be journaling, calling a friend, reading a book, taking a walk, pounding a pillow, or nurturing yourself in other, nonfood ways.
Steps 5: Change your thinking. --- Most people will need to eat less and exercise more. But it's more important to be willing to change the behaviors and thought patterns that set you up for failure. If you think you're going to fail, then you will be more likely to do so -- it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. You need to say, "That's not me" and consistently practice that. For instance, tell yourself, "I'm the kind of person who can turn down food in social situations and who enjoys the feeling I get from exercising."
Steps 6: Figure out how to fit in exercise. --- Your success may depend on it. In an 18-month University of Pittsburgh study that tracked 104 women, ages 25-45, they found that those who combined diet with physical activity last more weight than the women who tried to drop pounds using either alone. What's more, exercising seemed to help the women in the study stick to their diets--as their activity level went up, their calorie intake went down.
Steps 7: Cut down on eating out. --- Limiting your dining out to restaurants that serve low-calorie meals or ordering food "your way" can still be risky. There are so many hidden calories in restaurant food. Veggies are usually tossed with butter (50 calories in 1/2 tablespoon); tomato sauces can be loaded with olive oil (120 calories in 1 tablespoon); and grilled fish maybe brushed with fat before cooking. And when you go to a restaurant, you may be tempted with "just try a bite" or "what about some wine or dessert?"
In this research it has found that the more people eat out during the week, the harder it is for them to shed pounds. Your best strategy: Limit restaurant meals to no more than once a week.
Steps 8: Get your spouse's support. --- In 2001 the university of Washington and a Weight Watchers, surveyed 25,000 married women to see hot their relationships influenced their attempts to lose weight. Half the women failed when their spouses weren't supportive. Less expected was the finding that many women succeeded when their spouses stayed completely out of it. the divide was about fifty-fifty. It just shows that there is no correct way. Each couple has to negotiate their own terms.
Steps 9: Believe that you will succeed. --- A recent study found a link between having "dream" weight loss goals and shedding pounds. The researchers found that women with an unrealistic goal--to lose significantly more weight after 18 months than women with less lofty goals. Though they didn't actually hit their dream weight, they felt inspired to keep going because they were confident they could stick to an eating plan and had relatively high self-esteem--all predictors of weight loss success.
And the last but not the least.
Steps 10: Have a contingency plan. --- It might be easier to lose weight if your life were regimented, but let's face it; stuff happens. That's why it's so important to have a contingency plan in palce for those tough weeks. Instead of giving up until the problem passes, try to figure out a way to continue. For example, you could go to bed an hour earlier in order to get up earlier for your morning walk. If that doesn't work, set a reduced goal (such as getting more incidental exercise). But don't get too comfortable with a trimmed-back workout. It's just a temporary solution. Get back to your original activity goal ASAP.
Hope you guys will follow these steps. Good luck!