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Health & Fitness

Losing Weight is the Easy Part

Estee is the Fitness Training Manager at Gold's Gym in Tewksbury. Email your questions to her: eross@goldsgym.net

Going into the new year, weight loss is always number one on the resolution list. Now think about this: How many times have you lost weight in the past 20 years? Too many times to remember?

 In fact, most adults will have cumulatively lost and gained over 100 pounds by the time they reach 40. Think back: You put on 15 pounds during college, which you lost in preparation for your wedding. After your first child, you gained 50 pounds during your pregnancy, but only managed to lose 25 pounds of that. After your second child you gained an additional 15 pounds. You went on a cleanse diet and took off 30 pounds but gained it all back plus 5 pounds within a year. So what is it about losing weight that is so hard? It is almost effortless in the beginning when you are motivated. You have a goal in mind, whether it’s a vacation, reunion, or just those skinny jeans that are buried somewhere in your closet.

But what happens once the weight is lost? The vacation is over, the reunion has come and gone, and you actually squeezed into your skinny jeans for a few weeks. Then reality sets in: whatever you were doing to lose that weight - whether it was calorie counting or exercise or both - has just become too restrictive, too tedious, and you slowly go back to your old habits.

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It starts off slowly: The 4-times-a-week gym schedule drops down to twice a week, then once a week, and finally you stop going all together. And now since you have all this free time, you have gone back to heading out after work with friends to that Mexican place for margaritas and nachos. Before you know it, the weight that you worked so hard to lose has all come back, plus a few extra.

The stats are daunting: 95% of all people who lose weight will put it all back on plus 10 pounds within 4 years. The reason is that whatever you did to lose weight was a temporary goal - as soon as the weight loss goal was achieved, the effort was suspended. The good news is it is possible to succeed with permanent weight loss, but the changes you make must be maintainable. With any successful maintenance program you must consider this: whatever changes you make in order to lose weight must be lifestyle changes you can fully embrace.

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Studies show exercise and healthy eating are the commonality shared by all individuals who keep the weight off. Just remember that sustainability is what is going to put you among the 5% of people who are able to keep the weight off: next week, next month, next year, next decade, and beyond.

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