Lose Weight - Some Tips on Maintaining Weight Loss

As anyone who has ever tried to diet will tell you, maintaining weight loss is the hardest part of any diet. Something like 95% of diets are doomed to failure, as people just cannot keep up the weight loss, or they find that their diet is too difficult to stick to and give in to food cravings too easily. This article will cover some tips which are aimed at helping those on weight programs to achieve their goals.

The most important aspect of a weight loss program is to set realistic goals. If you really want to you could lose ten pounds in a week by exercising vigorously and eating virtually nothing. However, this is obviously not safe, and definitely not sustainable for any length of time. Instead, you should aim for a more realistic weight loss target, such as one or two pounds per week. This makes it much easier to stick to, and much more likely that the weight lost will actually stay lost.

If you are a member of a gym, it would be of great benefit to you if you could add some weights routine to your gym program. This will help you to add some muscle, which in turn will increase your metabolism, making it easier for your body to burn off fat. In the short term, your weight will actually rise, as muscle is heavier than fat. If you do decide to start lifting weights, it would be better if you could measure some body statistics, such as waist size or body fat, and monitor those rather than your actual weight.

These days the majority of us have sedentary occupations, meaning that we are desk bound for the majority of the day. There is always the temptation to snack as we sit at our desks, and for this reason it is a good idea to take some fruit to work. Fruit is much better for you than candy or chips, and this is a good way to reduce your intake of fats and sugars.

Another tip for maintaining weight loss is to drink ice cold water through-out the day. As well as the numerous benefits of drinking more water, the body actually has to burn off calories to heat the ice cold water up to body temperature. Drinking water can also help to prevent hunger pangs, as one symptom of dehydration is feeling hungry.

It would also be beneficial for your weight loss if you could find an exercise that you like. There are a number of things you can do to burn calories, like hill walking, cycling, jogging, or swimming. The best chance you have of maintaining weight loss is if you actively participate in some activity you like which burns off calories.