1. Weigh weekly. It's normal for body weight to fluctuate by a couple of pounds from day to day and from morning to night depending on fluid balance, meals eaten, clothes worn, medication, and health status. A weekly weigh-in allows you to track the trends without getting hung up on small fluctuations. Here's an easy-to-understand explanation for possible reasons for weight fluctuation.
2. Move as much as possible. Integrate physical activity into your daily life at every opportunity. Here are 9 Ways to Add Physical Activity to Your Day.
3. Create a healthy home environment. Set yourself up for success, only surround yourself with things that will help you reach your goal. Keep only healthy food in the house and plan your meals for the week or month to avoid last minute take-out. Also, keep your gym bad near the door and exercise equipment in plain view. Here are 5 Full-Body Exercises you can learn to and do anywhere to help you stay on-track.
4. Learn to cope effectively with stress. Times of increased stress put you at risk for backsliding to your old behaviors. Learn to change your perspective and respond mindfully to stressful situations instead of reacting. Here are some tips for Reducing Workplace Stress and how to start your own meditation routine.
5. Activate your social life. Integrating physical activity with your social life provides support for your active lifestyle and makes staying active fun and more likely. Here are 8 Ways to Get Fit and Be Social.
6. Keep a measuring tape handy. The scale rarely tells the whole story, and reaching and maintaining a healthy "weight" is just a part of the battle. Measuring progress in other ways than the scale is an extremely important part of determining your overall level of success. Body fat composition is a great way to determine how much of your body is composed of fat, and if you don't have access to that type of testing, the next best thing is to take, and track, your measurements. Here's how to take your measurements.
