While there have many astonishing examples of losing weight quickly, somehow the people who have achieved this fast weight loss, fail poorly to maintain that reduced weight. While, quick fat loss for idiots is much more applauded and celebrated, very few efforts are focused towards maintained weight loss. However, it is important to understand that you have won only half the battle by losing weight fast. To maintain those achieved results contribute towards remaining half part of the battle.
So why is it so darn hard to keep the weight off? Here are the reasons according to Michele Olson, Ph.D., a professor of exercise science at Auburn University who regularly studies calorie expenditure.
Our bodies are designed in a way to fight off any starvation
You can thank our ancestors for this one—losing weight used to be very undesirable. A drop in our caloric intake used to mean famine and that food may not be available for a long time. And even though we now live with mega-grocery stores on every corner, our bodies are still programmed to react to a caloric deficit the same way.
We need to fight back by focusing on portion control, eating well-balanced meals, and making your snacks count. You’ll stave off hunger and keep mother nature in check.
Weight loss alters your requirements of metabolism
The less you weigh, the less calories you need to maintain your weight. Once you’ve stopped ‘dieting,’ you can’t go back to eating the same amount of food that you were accustomed to, That also means if you cut your calories to 1200 a day and lose 10 pounds, your new body might only need 1200 calories to maintain your new weight. Lighter bodies have less mass and cells and therefore require less energy to maintain those living tissues and cells.
Maximize every calorie by planning ahead and go for preplanned diet that can keep extra calorie gain at bay.
Once your body gets tuned to fitness regimen, calorie burning lessens than it used to previously.
When you follow specific routines over and over, your body gets accustomed to these routines and as it is naturally programmed to become better at them. This is why you have to alternate your workouts and find fresh movements and fresh exercise formats if you want to continue to burn a specific number of calories on a regular basis.”
Create new workouts (experts recommend mixing it up every 4 to 6 weeks), try new moves, and keep your body challenged.
Don’t be harsh and cut out certain foods for weight loss
Cutting out specific foods like bread, pasta, potatoes and other carbohydrates has become an easy way to avoid calorie gain and lose weight, but what happens when you begin eating them again? The scale will likely take notice.
True, you need to curb certain food groups to lose weight. But by altogether avoiding certain food group, you are also limiting your overall calories. It is much better to reduce total calories moderately from all food groups to limit healthy and normal cravings for those foods.
Take control of your old habits
Once you have achieved the desired results, you might get tempted with your previous high calorie foods while outing. Avoid that and replace them with healthy balanced nourishment.