How to manage your weight

  –  Is your goal weight too low?

Sometimes people have trouble because they’re trying to maintain a weight that’s too low for them and, therefore, it’s difficult to maintain. Maybe you want to see a certain number on a scale, or fit into a particular clothing size, but your body just isn’t destined to be that size.  If you can, get your body composition checked.  Muscle is ‘denser’ and takes up less space than body fat – which means that if are carrying more muscle than the average person, you might weigh more than you’d like, but you’re not carrying too much body fat.   If that’s the case, you may not have much – if any – additional weight to lose.  And, if you do try to lose more, you risk losing precious lean body mass.

  –  Is your weight loss diet too strict?

I’ve known plenty of people who strive to eat ‘perfectly’ during the weight loss phase.  Some even stop eating out and socializing in order to stick to the diet like glue.  But once they reach their goal weight, they loosen the reins a bit and go back to leading a normal life – and the weight creeps back up.  Weight maintenance is about finding a balance – eating a healthy diet and maintaining an active lifestyle without sacrificing an occasional meal out or socializing with friends and family.

  –  Can you keep up with your exercise regimen?

Similar to being too strict with your diet, maybe you’ve adopted an overly aggressive exercise program during the weight loss phase that you just can’t sustain.  Again, finding the balance is key.  If you eat well and exercise regularly, let your weight find its natural place.

  –  Have you stopped keeping track of what you’re doing?

Keeping a food and exercise journal and tracking your weight are great tools when you’re in the weight loss phase – but too often, people stop keeping a journal once they’ve hit their goal weight.   Self-monitoring is key to weight maintenance – you’re more likely to be successful if you continue to keep track. Keep in mind, too, that when it comes right down to it, what you do in order to lose weight and what you need to do to keep it off are pretty much one and the same.
¹Mason C et al. Metab. Clin. Exper. 62 :127 ;2013
Written by Susan Bowerman, MS, RD, CSSD.