Fat Loss Tips.

FACT: More than 90% of people who lose weight gain it all back within 6 months of weight loss.

A troubling thought, no doubt. You see, losing weight is the easy part. Maintaining weight loss is more difficult. Why else do you think we have so many yo-yo dieters?

So, here is a 5-step program to total and effective weight loss management.

Make lifestyle changes: If you’ve been telling yourself that you need to sustain you diet for 12 weeks or for 50 days, you’re setting yourself up for failure. What happens on the first day of the 13th week? Do you go back to eating donuts and Macs? When you decide to lose weight, understand that the changes you’re making are all lifelong changes. You need to revamp your lifestyle for the rest of your life. Eat nutritious, low fat, healthy foods. There’s no going back to a tub of ice-cream or a kilo of cake – ever!

Move that booty: As far as weight loss management is concerned, changes in food patterns go hand in hand with a regular exercise program. It’s true that most people hate to move their bodies. Given a choice, we would all much rather take a cab or use the elevator. But, you cannot maintain weight loss if you stop exercising. As you grow old, your metabolism naturally slows down and nothing can shake up your metabolism like a healthy dose of exercises.

Shop right: Most people make the mistake of buying ‘low-cal’ or ‘low fat’. Even if the label reads ‘Low Cal’, you need to understand that there are calories in what you are eating and these are going to end up as fat layers within your body. Do not store foodstuffs that might tempt you to gorge. Instead, get yourself healthy snacks like celery sticks and carrots.

Drink right: Is alcohol a part of your week days? Do you live from the coke can? Does your morning start with a tall glass of canned juice? Many of us believe that we can get away with pumping liquid calories into the body. Not so. Aerated drinks, alcohol and sugary drinks make you put on weight. If you must drink, make it a tall glass of water or green tea.

Be flexible: This is the most important tenet of effective weight management. People who lose weight tend to be too hard on themselves. They cut out all the fun from their diet. It’s humanly impossible to sustain a diet that’s all hard work and no fun. Allow yourself 2-3 free meals every week. These are the times when you eat what you want to eat in limited quantities. When you give yourself the freedom of choice 10% of the time, you find it easier to follow your diet 90% of the time.

Of course, weight management strategies fall into place only after you have lost enough weight. If you have gone about losing weight in a healthy way and at a natural pace, then, most of the above steps would already be second nature to you. In that case, all you need to do is continue with your food and exercise patterns for effective weight management.