How I maintain my weight

Greetings mamas!

It was only natural that this blog post would find it’s way onto my blog.
Back in April, I blogged about ‘How I lost 6 kilos in 3 months without going on a diet’. Fast forward to November, my weight is now actually 10 kilos less than what I started off with. I lost the final 3 kilos soon after I published the blog post (a month, or 6 weeks later at most). I’ve been successful in maintaining my weight ever since.

If you’re curious as to how I maintain my weight, you’re not alone. This is a question I get asked tens of times. I did not ‘diet’ when I was trying to lose it, nor do I ‘diet’ to keep it as is.
My main health-related aim is to eat good, natural food. I like to refer to this food as ‘food of the earth’. The buzz term that is used to describe this type of food and way of eating is ‘clean eating’. Clean eating involves eating food which is completely natural and avoiding processed, store-bought foods. Besides keeping myself fit and healthy, clean eating also helps me shy away from a lot of foods which would contribute to weight gain.

Whilst this is the main mantra I follow, I of course do have other beliefs, ideas and rules to help me maintain my weight.

Here are my top 5 tips

Weigh yourself weekly

If you’ve read the blog post I just mentioned, named ‘How I lost 6 kilos in 3 months without going on a diet’; you have probably had a few private giggles at my story of my love/hate relationship with weighing scales. After that story, I have made it a point to weigh myself religiously.
I also make an effort to replace the batteries on my weighing scales straight away now! To be honest, I have had one slip up. It was only a few days, but lo and behold, the instant those batteries died on me I was munching away on chocolate, biscuits and anything else which came my way. A whole lot of guilt came my way too. I very quickly realised I was falling into my usual rut and replaced the batteries, pronto.
Listen to your body

I am the type to be very hungry all the time. I embrace this and allow my body to consume food on a regular basis, say, every 2-3 hours. Most of the food I consume are snacks rather than meals. I have 3 main meals a day, along with 2-3 healthy snacks.
Don’t let yourself get overly hungry

This is the worst thing you can do. Once your body goes into ‘hunger mode’, your blood sugar levels drop. When they do, good luck with that! Only over-eating will help you restore them. This will lead to fatigue, feeling too full, guilt feelings and an overall sense of dread.
Instead, snack at regular times to keep your body loaded with the energy it needs. This will allow you to make conscious food decisions, rather than you needing to grab something and anything at a moment’s notice because you feel starved.
Which brings me to my next point…
Stock up on healthy snacks

Do make sure you have heathy snacks which you enjoy at hand. Think fruit, nuts, crudités, dips…there are so many options we’re spoilt!
Carry healthy snacks

Note my comment above – ‘at hand’. It is useless having a pantryful of delicious healthy foods if you are at work! Pack whatever you need into a lunchbag and carry it around with you. This includes extra snacks for impromptu errands and car rides. Always carry a lunchbag with you during the weekend, when you are out and about. Do not fall into the pitfalls of eating junk because you tried hard not to, but then were too hungry to resist!
Don’t eat after a certain time

Give your body time to process the food you have eaten. I do not eat anything else after dinner. Except for weekends 🙂 I allow myself to snack on Friday and Saturday nights if I feel like it. Mind you, I am so used to eating healthily that my snacking is still very reasonably healthy – but I do enjoy it because it is not the norm!
Drink water

Our bodies have the tendency of mistaking thirst for hunger sometimes. I keep my water bottle full and carry it around with me everywhere. Come winter, it is slightly harder to drink as much as you need to, but having a water bottle does help.
Balance is key

Oh, I love this phrase! Balance is key in a lot of life situations. Eating is one of them. Do be mindful when you are eating. I myself love having the odd pizza, but when I do, I make sure it is followed by healthier food for the next two days. If I am having a ‘sinful’ weekend, I lie low for a few more days after that. Your body will thank you for it!

Got tips? Do share! Head on over to Facebook and join the conversation! Happy Friday mamas! xxx