From The Straits Times    |

The thing about weight loss is that it is a never-ending journey, that doesn’t stop after you have achieved your ideal body or that number you always wanted on the weighing scale. Now that you have worked so hard to see impressive results, it is crucial that you honour the efforts you made by sticking to these tips to help keep the weight you lost off for good!

1. Don’t skip breakfast

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No matter how hectic your mornings are, make time for breakfast. You might think you would be skipping out on calories for the morning but, that could lead to overeating at lunch. Doing so can eliminate cravings and excessive hunger by the time lunchtime comes around. Having breakfast also boosts your metabolism.

See also: Bridal beauty prep: 1 month before your wedding

2. Don’t sit down all day

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Our sedentary jobs could hurt our weight loss plans. Even if you do make constant efforts to exercise, a mere hour in the gym can’t really measure up to sitting down all day which slows our resting metabolism down and renders our main muscles immobile. Try setting alarms to take two-minute walks throughout the day and make it a point to stand up during your commute.

3. Keep up with resistance training

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We seem to think that cardio is the way to go when it comes to losing weight, so much so that we neglect resistance training, usually because we associate it with a bulkier figure. However incorporating resistance training into your workout can be more helpful than you think – it increases your muscle mass and also helps your body burn fat.

See also: 7 best carbs to eat for healthy weight loss

4.  Don’t cut out carbs

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Cutting out carbs might have helped you to drop your water weight as well as the number on the scale in your initial diet plan, but continuing to do so can lead to exhaustion, mood swings and even overeating. Leaving them completely out of your meal plan can result in any fat-burning muscle to be metabolised for energy, instead of carbs.

5. Get enough sleep

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Those late nights might not be such a good idea after all. Your body’s metabolism slows down when you’re exhausted and sleep deprived. According to The Nurses’ Health Study, which examined the relationship between adult sleeping habits and obesity, women who slept five hours or less were more likely to become obese compared to women who slept seven hours every night.

 

See also: The night before your wedding: 7 beauty tips for a flawless face

This article first appeared on Shape Singapore.