Looking to lose weight... and keep it off? The key to long-term weight loss and maintenance is forming healthy habits. Counting calories and exercising may jumpstart your diet, but you’ve gotta find strategies to keep it going. I’m Hungry Girl Lisa Lillien, and I'm sharing 5 habits of successful dieters...
Sure, it’s easy to watch what you eat if you happen to have nothing to do for the day. You have all the time in the world to shop for nutritious ingredients and cook healthy meals. But most of the time, eating for weight loss is more complicated than that. To lose weight and keep it off, you need to be in charge of what you eat... as often as possible. If you know your week is going to be busy, plan ahead: Go to the supermarket on Sunday, and prep all your weekday meals in advance.
This way, you won’t be tempted to hit the drive-thru for lunch during a hectic afternoon. It’s also super important to learn how to order at restaurants. After all, dining out is a part of life. Click here for a roundup of Hungry Girl’s best real-life survival guides. And if you find yourself giving in to trigger-food temptation, try keeping a food journal to get yourself back on track.
We've all heard that it's smart to walk as much as possible and to aim for 10,000 steps per day, but that advice often falls on deaf ears if there isn't a practical (and enjoyable!) way to achieve it. That's why I came up with the concept of Housewalking, and it's really taken off! Think about how often you sit around the house doing everyday activities: talking on the phone, watching TV, etc. Start walking around the house (or walking in place) while you do these activities, and you'll rack up major steps and burn extra calories!
To keep track of those steps -- and for extra motivation -- get an activity tracker. I love my Fitbit, but a basic pedometer will also do the trick.
Recruiting a friend or your significant other to join you on your weight-loss/maintenance journey is one of the best ways to keep the momentum going. There’s very little chance that you’re going to skip your morning workout if you know your friend is waiting at the gym. And there’s more incentive to cook a healthy dinner when you’re making it for two! (Click here for two-serving recipe ideas!) Plus, lifestyle changes are much easier to stick to when the people you’re surrounded with are keeping up similar habits.
Many people say they read labels, but not everyone zeros in on the important parts. That calorie count may seem impressive, but how big is the serving size... and how many servings are in that container? You'd be surprised at how many packaged snacks you think are a single serving but actually contain multiple servings! Paying attention to all aspects of the nutritional panel will help you become an ace at portion control.
And once you get used to reading labels, you’ll be better at identifying good choices.
What's the 80/20 rule? It's more of a philosophy, really. It means you make smart and nutritious food choices 80 percent of the time, and you give yourself a little leeway 20 percent of the time. It’s not realistic to aim for 100 percent perfection -- if you try to do that, you might get discouraged and give up on your diet. So make nutritious choices most of the time, and loosen the reins every once in awhile.
You'll be more likely to stick to a healthy eating plan in the long run.
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