How to Maintain Continued Success With Weight Loss?

Can you maintain continued success with weight loss forever?  The answer is yes you can!  The key to weight loss is having a long term plan and keeping accountability.  After seeing thousands of patients I can tell you with certainty the ones that succeed in losing weight, have a plan.   I like to think about it like financial planning.  If I told you I want to retire and I need your help retiring, but I am unwilling to budget or even talk about money  . . . . you would laugh out loud.   So what’s the plan?   When it comes to your body economy it has to do with understanding how your metabolism works, taking into account your genetics and current hormonal state.  That is where the weight loss plan is formulated.  For example, if you have low muscle mass because of low testosterone (in both men and women) you will burn less calories.  So the first step is fixing the issue.  The next step is understanding how much protein you need to eat to gain muscle.   Then you need to implement an exercise either mentally or physically to actively work off fat.  The physical is obvious – you exercise.  If you can’t exercise you have the daunting task of calculating calories and macro’s (protein to carb to fat ratio) to figure out your best strategy.

So if you have been seen in our office I am 100% certain you have a plan.   If you feel like the plan ends once the weight is lost – you might not have heard me say – you need to keep accountability.

We have an amazing coaching program at our office that can help you keep accountable once you have lost weight.  Our program is also designed to help you understand how to succeed.  Planning to be healthy is key to being healthy.  Without a plan succeeding at weight loss especially if you having an underlying hormonal issue like PCOS, Hashimoto’s, Diabetes, Insulin Resistance, Estrogen Dominant or are Peri-menopausal is near impossible.

One of the first things I recommend is that you make some rules for yourself.  Here are some of my favorite rules that I live by to keep successful in keeping my weight off.

Basic Weight Loss Rules:

1. Don’t eat things you are intolerant too.  If you don’t know we can test them.
2. Drink enough water.  If you take your weight, divided by 2 – it will equal the number of ounces of water you should drink daily (eg. 150lbs ¸ 2 = 75 ounces)
3. If you can’t tell what it was when it was picked or killed don’t eat it. For example, there is no pasta tree or chip tree, everything should appear in its natural state.   If you follow this 80% of the time you are doing great.
4. The Weekends and Wednesdays Rule- eat whatever you want once on weekends and once on Wednesdays.   That way you know you have only had a treat twice per week.
5. If you aren’t hungry, don’t finish your plate.
6. Buy smaller plates or use your salad plate for meals.  Plates have gotten larger and larger; you may think you are taking a normal portion when in fact you are taking double what you would normally eat.
7. Change your habits with friends.  If you have friends that like to go out eat ice cream and complain about life DON’T JOIN THEM!  Invite those friends to go for a walk with you or to do something other than eat with you.  Drug addicts and overeaters do the same thing – indulge with friends even when they weren’t planning on it.
8. Monday and Thursday – have a low calorie day; this will help to sandwich what do on the weekend)
9. Weigh yourself at least 3 times a week.  What you don’t know will hurt you.
10. Keep up on checking your hormones – make sure your chemistry isn’t fighting with you.

The Lesson here – is stick to the plan and you will succeed.  Stop following the rules and you will have to pay!  If you have seen me in my office you know I am very transparent about the fact that I am subject to the same temptations that you are.  And on MANY occasions I have had to pay for my mistakes.  I simply did not follow my own plan.   There is NO reason to feel bad about it.  Pick yourself up, pull it together and get your plan to get back on track.  You don’t have to do it alone.

Now that you know some of the rules you have for yourself to not gain weight back after a successful diet –it is time to build accountability.

5 Ways to Build Accountability

Here are a few suggestions for building your wellness and weight loss accountability team:

1. Admittance of guilt.  Recently, I had to exercise this one.  I just spent 6 weeks on a medically supervised weight loss plan, HcG.  I told all of my friends what I was doing and why, I then asked for support from my friends – it went something like this “I’m on my punishment diet.   I’ve been eating like crap.  Please do me a favor and only invite me on a walk or for coffee in the next few weeks.  I am trying to avoid a heart attack.”  Sounds dramatic doesn’t it?  IT IS and it works.  Telling your friends and family your plan for losing weight helps them help you.  In all seriousness keep it positive you may even help them in the process.
2. Use an app. There are many apps available to help you track your diet and exercise and stay accountable to your health and wellness goals.   As someone to make you show it to them weekly.
3. Schedule time to be well. Food prep and finding time to exercise are critical to wellness and weight loss.  If you plan for this time you will succeed.
4. Work with a health coach. This is hands down the best diet accountability solution I’m aware of. A good health coach will take your doctor-prescribed diet and give you practical help in following it, along with the personal guidance and support you need to really nail your wellness goals.
5. Like heals like – hangout with like-minded people who are looking to be well they will help you on your path!

Would You Like Help Figuring Out Your Plan and Staying Accountable To Your Wellness?

In addition to our fabulous Naturopathic Doctors that will develop a plan to fix your hormones, identify any health obstacles and advise you on how to get healthier, Young Naturopathic Center for Wellness now offers heath coaching services to help you stay successful with your plan. Our qualified health coaches provide expert and compassionate guidance in helping you beat your health and wellness challenges, including chronic illnesses, weight loss, food intolerance, and specialty diets. Plus, our coaching programs include group support and helpful software for meal planning and accountability.

To learn more about health and wellness coaching in Los Gatos and remotely via phone or Skype, contact our Patient Care Concierge today.