5 Tips to Stay at Your Ideal Weight & Break Free of the Scale

It’s one thing to lose weight, but it’s another to keep it off for good, right? We’re sharing our secrets to stay at your ideal weight for good. The good news is it’s easier to maintain your healthy new weight than it is to lose weight – so our hope is that these 5 maintenance tips will be simple to implement! This post does contain affiliate links.

5 Tips to Stay at Your Ideal Weight & Break Free of the Scale

You may also enjoy our 21 Day Challenge if you’re looking for someone to create a custom plan for your goals and a group environment.

1. Eat Your Healthy Favorites

Bunless Burgers, bean burritos, and vegetable soup are just three of our go-to meals. By mixing in your favorite healthy recipes, you’ll enjoy your meals while also not wasting any time. Having a set routine of meals helps take the guesswork out of eating, and it can also help you track your portions and calories naturally.

You don’t have to eat the exact same meals every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner either. We have about 15 meals we rotate in and out. It’s all about keeping meal prep simple and enjoying foods that not only help us maintain our ideal weight but also taste yummy. These burritos came from the Thug Kitchen cookbook (has terrible language in it).

2. Learn Menus & Portions

When you’re in weight loss mode, it can be easy to remember to check menus when you go out to eat to find the best options. This is a habit that is still important once you’ve hit your goal weight. Do we indulge in our favorite restaurants occasionally? Of course, but it’s all in moderation. For example, I am totally okay having a New York pizza and my favorite ice cream now and then, but I don’t want to eat a 2000 calorie salad just because it’s a salad. Make sure those splurges are worth it.

Do we indulge in our favorite restaurants occasionally? Of course, but it’s all in moderation. For example, I am totally okay having a New York pizza and my favorite ice cream now and then, but I don’t want to eat a 2000 calorie salad just because it’s a salad. Make sure those splurges are worth it.

I know for us – we can get cocky in our weight loss and maintaining our goal weight for years. We will over do it with portions on accident too. One way to keep your portions in check is to measure our your food for a week each month or two to make sure you’re sticking to healthy portion control.

Another tip is to keep the same restaurants in your routine, check the menu ahead of time, or go ahead and set a plan – like I can have 1 piece of bread with my meal versus whatever the server places in front of me.

3. Keep Healthy Options on Hand

Another place we can get cocky after losing weight is not staying prepared with food on hand. Even when you hit your ideal weight, it’s important to keep those healthy habits. We like to keep nuts, fruit, and Shakeology on hand for those days when things run longer than expected.

We also have a printable guide to healthy choices on the go we keep in the car. That way if we have to go through a drive-thru we know what the best options are at Taco Bell, Wendy’s, Chick fil A and more. Being prepared with healthy snacks and being knowledgeable on calories in fast food can make a difference in what you’re eating each day.

4. Follow the 2-Day Rule

If you’re like us, you probably also work out. Also, if you’re like us – you stop working out for periods of time. Something pops up in the schedule or a life-change happens, and the workouts just kind of disappear. Suddenly it’s Thursday and we’re like, “eh- we’ll start Monday.” This attitude can be dangerous not only to your ideal weight also the endurance and strength you’ve built up during your workouts.

The 2-Day Rule says to never miss more than 2 workout days straight. So if you skip your workout Monday and Tuesday – you better get back on track on Wednesday. The 2-Day Rule keeps your habit strong!

One way we stick to the 2-Day Rule is checking in with each other as accountability partners or with our 21 Day Challengers. We also love Beachbody on Demand because it offers a ton of variety. Even while we’re on vacation we can pop on a quick workout right from our computer or iPhone. We also will get in a workout on vacation by just walking more, hiking or doing something active in the area.

5. Simple Tweaks to Maintain

Dozens of things can affect our weight: stress at work, long hours, kids’ schedules, being around certain friends, etc can all make the scale go up. It’s important to remember that while you want to maintain a healthy, ideal weight. This is about living a HEALTHY LIFE with no end date in mind. If your jeans start to feel a little snug, review what has changed in your routine. Then find a simple way to tweak it. Maybe it’s just cutting out that extra glass of wine on the weekend or adding in a walk with friends instead of brunch every weekend.

The change doesn’t have to be dramatic. A study in the JAMA Internal Medicine reported that people who learned to cut 100 calories a day from their diet and burn 100 calories through exercise when the scale started to creep up kept their weight off for over 3 years.

We’re all about creating a healthy lifestyle.

Which means we are a little heavier in January after Christmas and my birthday. We might be a little lower than our ideal weight in the summer when we’re more active. We eat a variety of healthy foods, and no food (even sweets, wine or chips) is off limits. The reason? If you forbid something, or if you feel deprived – you’re going to rebound to old habits.

Also, remember…

Keep it simple, and the results will come and stick around! It’s pretty freeing to not step on a scale but maybe once a month. I like knowing I can have pizza now because I’ve earned my normal healthy meals all week.

Now your ideal weight is where ever you feel happy and healthy. Our height, age, bone structure, genetics and a ton of factors go into what your “ideal weight” should be. We’re just talking about that little number that makes you feel amazing. However, if you’d love to know a number The Rush University Medical Center has a guide to help you.

What are your best tips to maintain your ideal weight?

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