Over the last couple of weeks, I have talked about losing those last few pounds. Once you have reached your goal, what is your plan to maintain it?
Oh! You haven’t considered maintenance. You aren’t the first. We all know someone, or perhaps you are that someone, whose weight has mirrored a yo-yo over the years. Success at maintaining our fitness goals over the long term depend a couple of different variables.
How you reached your goal plays a large role in your success. Crash diets, extreme challenges, and specially formulated products like shakes and pills may yield quick results but are typically very difficult or impossible to maintain. Diets with severe calorie restrictions and fitness plans that require high intensity over an extended period with limited rest are not intended for long term. Ask yourself what will happen when you stop. If you add more calories, stop consuming the weight loss products or add a rest day or two into the ‘quick fix’, will you bounce right back to your former self? If yes, chances are you won’t succeed with maintaining your goal.
Have you heard that slow and steady wins the race? The benefit with ‘slow and steady’ is that it is maintainable. Small changes over a period of time help you adopt the changes into your lifestyle. When the changes become part of your everyday life, they are easily maintained.
A maintenance plan will also help you guarantee your success. If you are thinking that reaching your goal weight means you can finally slack off, you are mistaken.
Some people are very fortunate and can ease up slightly on their fitness regime once they have met their goal. While fitness activity and healthy eating is still required, they don’t have to keep such a rigorous routine for maintenance
The rest of us have to work just as hard, if not harder to maintain our results. My body is continuously changing. To keep my fitness, and my body, where I like it, I have to continuously challenge it. The workout plan that got me where I wanted to be isn’t enough to keep me there anymore. I have to change it up frequently, I have to push and demand more of myself to stay where I am. The more I demand of myself, the more my body demands of me.
Fitness is a lifestyle. It isn’t enough to get there and stop. There isn’t an end of the road; it is a constant. Adopt physical activity and healthy eating into your life and reap all the benefits for the rest of your life.
