How To Avoid Weight Regain

You often hear of yo-yo dieters, the ones that go on a diet and lose a lot of weight only to regain it back in a short amount of time. Chances are they resumed the bad eating habits they had before the diet, after they lost the weight. This is a common problem for many dieters. The fad diets that take weight off quick or dietary supplements that you're your appetite don't necessarily teach you how to avoid weight regain after you have gone off of them.

The best diets are the ones you can stick with on a long-term basis, eating regular foods that you like, and taking in the same amount of calories you burn to avoid weight regain. This should consist of a healthy diet, and be coupled with some exercise to keep your metabolism at an even level, and give you the energy you need. There are three ways to avoid weight regain.

1. Don't let the weight regain get out of hand:

Every year around the holidays, people may gain five or ten pounds, and then they make a New Year's resolution to lose weight. These are the same people that spent the previous year losing weight. It's a vicious cycle. They have not learned to correct the calorie intake after they had a day of splurging or cheating. It is easier to lose 1 or 2 pounds than 5 or 10. You can lose 1 or 2 pounds within a few days or a week. It can take a month or more to keep off 5 to 10 pounds.

The day after you have taken in 4,000 calories is the day you should cut back to 1,000 calories. Several days of consistent over-eating will change your metabolism to need that many calories and crave that many. Around the holidays, when there is one day of splurging followed by days of leftovers and cookies is a time where you should not give up your weight maintenance just because you over-indulge one day.

2. Get Active, Go For a Walk:

It is alright to take in more calories, as long as you burn them off, to avoid weight regain. If you are splurging then you need to offset the increased calories by burning them off, even if this means taking a walk, yard work, or an actual exercise routine. Do something you like to do, and get active to keep metabolizing fat stores. The best thing is to eat healthy food, still watching calorie content and if you eat too much, do some exercise to get the metabolism working harder.

3. Watch your portion size:

You've probably heard this tip, but you can have splurges every once in awhile, just don't make them large portions. By keeping portions reasonable, you can still satisfy your urge and avoid weight regain. Since you need to burn as many calories as you take in to avoid weight regain, just keep smaller portions in mind and watch how many calories you are taking in. Cut out sodas and sweetened drinks and substitute water, unsweetened tea and coffee instead to save empty calories.

You need to maintain a balanced diet taking in the number of calories you burn to maintain to avoid weight regain.