I know. You think it's a fairytale, don't you, to think that once we lose weight, we really CAN keep it off for good?
Me too. I've lost weight before, with intention and dedication, and I've gained it back again, more than once. Many of my friends have been in the same situation. As we age, and especially as our hormones change, the numbers creep up on the scale, not to be denied. It's our own little morning horror film on the scale, especially if we've battled those numbers down in the past.
How does we finally keep that weight GONE FOR GOOD?
The people at Psychology Today want to help us. There's a great article in their archives (updated just last year) that boils it down to just a few things, from a study of 3,000 people who were successful at keeping 30 or more pounds off for more than a year:
1. Decide to eat breakfast. Every day. 80% of the successful ones do.
2. Decide that exercise is here to stay. We have to do this, or we might as well give up now. Those who were successful in keeping the pounds off had about twice the activity as those who weren't.
3. Decide that monitoring our weight is here to stay. Whether it's a daily weigh-in or a food journal, we can't go on auto-pilot and hope to sustain a loss, apparently.
That last one is key. Successful weight-loss maintainers (is that a word?) apparently keep "cognitive control" of their weight long after the diet ends. "They're always watching for changes and respond to them quickly," one researcher said. "They don't just let things go."
Here's the full article. It's full of interesting information, all of which will help motivate you:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200201/fit-life-keeping-the-weight