Weight Maintenance Challenges

There is no one-size fits-all approach to maintaining weight-loss.

I’ve been working hard for the past six plus yearsto be one of the 5% of “weight-losers”
who manage to keep it off over time. and the one thing that I can say for certain is the above-stated Truth.

 The challenges of weight management involves both biological and psychological factors.

While it is true that some people regain weight simply because they eat a little more and exercise a little less, sometimes almost without noticing it, there are quite a lot of people around…like me…who have taken the idea of a “permanent lifestyle change” to heart.

Like many people, for me one of the biggest and most difficult challenges of keeping the weight off, is the fact that my body thinks I have lost too much weight, and is determined to put some or all of it back on.

Those who have always gained weight easily, have a history or obesity, and especially if they’ve had to struggle with weight plateaus, food cravings, and increased appetitive, should expect that keeping it off is going to require a great deal of special attention.

 The body of a reduced obese person easily puts back on lost weight.
It accomplishes this with a complex set of metabolic adjustments that will cause one to gradually gain weight, even though one is maintaining what should be –on paper—a balance between calories ingested and calories expended.

40,000 years ago, such a person would have been one of the “lucky” ones whose genes made them a lot more likely to survive hard times. But in the present days of supermarkets and fast food, it becomes a liability.

 The mind of a reduced obese person is also an important issue.
It tends to use often unconscious, assumptions when we explain to ourselves why we do what we do, and why we get the results we get.

We can help ourselves by watching how we talk to ourselves with things go wrong.  Being unkind to ourselves isn’t helpful.

It is counterproductive to assume that we have a personal flaw or a characteristic …like weakness, incompetence, lack of willpower, self-indulgence, etc….. that is responsible for the problem; or to assume that this personal flaw is permanent, something that can’t be changed through education, practice, or personal growth; or to assume this personal flaw is pervasive – that it affects all areas of their lives rather than just the immediate problem.

 In such situations, we need to interfere with the negative things we are telling ourselves, and began practicing positive self-talk. One way to choose what kind of things to tell oneself, is to use a simple guideline: If one has an emotional reaction to the saying (positive or negative), or if one finds oneself responding to it with disbelief or scorn, it is probably just what that person needs to be telling themselves every day.

Self-belief is important. One needs to believe that one can do what is required
in order to achieve an objective.

Self-Monitoring is important. One needs to accurately observe and interpret one’s behavior
and learn how to use those observations to modify one’s behavior and attitude.

Support is important. We need support from experts; and from others who have
“walked in our shoes”; and from those who are now traveling a weight-loss path.
It is almost impossible to lose weight permanently on one’s own.

 My primary reason, at this point, for involving myself with DietHobby, is to give and to receive support.
in my own personal weight maintenance journey. You are all very important to me, and each one of you who reads articles or watches videos, or makes comments here at DietHobby…whether you know it or not…is providing support to me in my journey.