It is the second anniversary of starting my life changing diet, and over a year from writing about my diet, and the mindfulness needed to diet, I have maintained my weight loss for fourteen months, I feel it is important to write about and discuss maintaining weight loss, as now I have discovered that maintaining weight loss at times, is actually tougher than dieting, like many people I have successfully lost weight a few times in my life, but always put that weight back on which to me seems to make the object of dieting pointless, and can lead to a lack of self worth, but due to my diabetes 2, it is very important for me to maintain my weight loss, to stay healthy and promote my quality of life, my obesity also put me at high risk of a heart attack or stroke, this fact has also helped me to focus on my weight loss and the maintenance of my weight loss.
The lesson is now learned how very important our personal health is, especially for the quality of life we can expect for ourselves, as we get older I will be 58 years old in May 2018, the fact is obesity especially in later years can be the cause of illness that we would not have, if we had maintained a healthy lifestyle and diet, by focussing on my personal health and wellbeing, it gave me the necessary momentum to create the mindfulness (willpower), needed to diet and lose weight and maintain my weight loss, our bodies are our vehicle in this life do we not maintain our cars, to keep them running for as long as possible, we must apply the same principle to our bodies, by being mindful of what we put into our bodies, and what foods are going to help our bodies, run smoothly throughout our lives, please do not be ignorant like myself and just think our symptoms, aches, and pains the things we can no longer do are just down to age, since losing my weight my symptoms, aches, and pains have lessened to a degree, that I can physically do so much more with a lot more energy.
Maintaining weight loss is for me all about balance, between a healthy diet and the naughty treats I can enjoy along the way, I was shocked when I first read the do not haves on the diabetes 2 sheet, it was everything I love to eat, but after months of abstinence until I reached my weight goal, I can now enjoy a weekly naughty treat, dieting and weight loss and maintenance of said weight loss, is not all doom and gloom as long as we can set our goals, and work towards achieving them, below I will list five tips that have helped me to diet and maintain my weight loss.
1, Be mindful of what you are eating, you know your body your likes and dislikes, better than anyone else, look at healthy alternatives to what you are eating, that you also enjoy eating.
2, Weigh yourself weekly so you can monitor your weight on a +/- scale, so you can plan your next week’s food shop, and whether a naughty treat can be had,
3, excersise is also very important to diet and maintenance of weight loss, it does not mean you have to go to the gym doing exhausting work outs, making us more tempted to visit the cake shop, walking is the best calorie burner known to man, walk when you can rather than drive, walk for recreation to, in the park or along a river walking is so good for heart and mind, it really promotes wellbeing on all levels.
4, Allow yourself one naughty treat a week, but keep to a healthy diet and excersise when you can for the other six days, this works for me as I have a very slow metabolism but we are all different, so factor in your naughty treat when it is right for you.
5, I love to drink alcohol but it is also very fattening and a depressant, so I keep my alcohol consumption to a minimum, to help me diet and promote my mental wellbeing, it is up to you how much alcohol you consume, but by being mindful of how much we drink, can help us in dieting and maintenance of weight loss, and give us a much clearer and calmer head to tackle our daily lives.
Thankyou for reading Blessings to you on your life journey.
Stephen Rowlands 15/04/18
Stephen Rowlands 