General Strategies for Achieving or Maintaining a Healthy Weight

Keeping a healthy weight has its benefits: reduced blood sugar and cholesterol levels, less strain on joints and bones and a healthier heart. Therefore, it is essential that weight be managed for long-term health benefits. To reach and maintain a healthy weight, here are some tips:

Weight Management Tips

Changes in lifestyle should be long-term. This means it is necessary to develop good eating habits and an active lifestyle that is habitual rather then a constant struggle and task. Of course it will still require a great deal of commitment and effort to adapt and maintain your new lifestyle.

Having a support system like family, friends, and colleagues increases the chances of sticking to a weight maintenance plan. Exercising with someone or having a coach aids in ensuring that certain goals are met and staying motivated.

Responses to stress should also be continually checked as many people tend to eat more when trapped in stressful situations. Exercise, meditation, breathing techniques, challenging negative self-talk, and other physical activities can replace eating.

Flexibility and moderation should as well be practised in making healthy choices. Any kinds of food can be eaten with moderation. If one has consumed more than what is advised, lessening food portions or doing more calorie-burning activities the following day will help to balance it. And remember that adjusting to situations is much more effective and realistic long term plan than following a restrictive set of do's and don'ts.

Managing input and output of calories is important in losing or maintaining weight. For weight maintenance, the calories taken in should equal the amount of calories used up. The advice of a physician should be sought in determining the target weight and the amount of weight that should be shed each week. Normally, a weight loss of no more than two pounds is advised. Incorporating activities that burn 1,000 to 2,000 calories weekly is important for weight maintenance.

Become educated on food and it's effect on the human body. This means learning what kinds of food should be included in the diet along with the portion sizes, how to incorporate them into meals, and reading food labels to check nutritional content. Foods that are high in fiber are filling and help in calorie-reduction. Choosing to include more fruits, legumes, whole-grain products and vegetables is an option in curbing hunger. Also, replacing soda with water and other low-calorie drinks such as green tea helps.

Knowing when and how to eat also plays a role in weight management. People who take breakfast regularly have been found to eat less throughout the day, resulting in about 100 calories less daily. Individuals who do not eat breakfast are known to overeat in their other meals and eat unhealthy snacks because of intense hunger.

Researches have also reported that eating breakfast regularly results in a higher intake of nutrients, lower body weight and lower body fats. Eating three well-balanced meals and two snacks throughout the day prevents overeating and encourages healthy eating. Scheduling mealtime as a social activity shared with family and friends allows for a slower pace in eating, giving an individual time to enjoy the flavors and textures of the food. Starting a meal with a soup, particularly the light kinds of soups, also results in eating less.