You’ve finally done it: you reached your goal weight! So… Now what? Once you’ve reached your weight loss goal, you may feel like you’re done. However, it’s important to continue the healthy habits you started and to avoid falling back into unhealthy routines. Here’s what I recommend:
As you gain strength and endurance, your workouts will become easier. When this happens, it’s time to up your game. If you increase the intensity of your workouts too much at once, you’ll burn out and increase your risk of injury. Make incremental changes to your exercise routine, like increasing your cardio time by 5-10 minutes or changing the weight you’re lifting by 2-5 pounds at a time.
When you reach your weight loss goal, you may fall back into some of your old habits. The coping mechanisms you used to avoid emotional eating during your weight loss journey may be difficult to sustain. Finding other outlets for managing emotions is a great way to put more tools in your health toolkit. Healthy coping methods come in all forms; keep trying until you find what works!
It can be frustrating to stop losing weight despite doing everything right. However, every weight loss journey has at least one plateau. When you hit this stage, don’t get discouraged. By maintaining healthy habits and being consistent, you’ll continue to see progress and get past the dreaded plateau.
People often gain weight back after losing weight, and the number one reason is because they lost focus. Remember why you started your weight loss journey, and keep up with all the good habits you’ve formed to reach your goals. Eating healthy, exercising, getting plenty of sleep and managing stress continue to be important, whether you’re still trying to lose weight or have shifted the focus to maintaining your health.
Reaching your weight loss goals can involve months or years of hard work and perseverance. Congratulations on reaching your initial goal! Now it’s time to keep up the good work so you can continue to improve your health while looking and feeling your best.
Dr. Hodges highly recommends patients attend monthly support group meetings. The meetings are led by Dr. Collins Hodges, both a licensed clinical psychologist and someone who has had bariatric surgery himself. The support groups are offered on the first Monday of every month from 6:30pm – 7:15pm CST via an online GoToMeeting. The meetings are open to the public, and there is no charge to attend.
