GLORIA CABRERA , APD Gloria is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and qualified Personal Trainer , who loves food , nutrition , cooking , fitness , and helping others improve their health . She works in private practice helping clients with weight management , pre and post surgery weight loss , and chronic health conditions . To find out more about Gloria visit www . nutritionsavvy . com . au

Losing weight is one challenge . Keeping it off is another . Nutrition expert Gloria Cabrera shares her tips for successfully maintaining weight .

ave you ever heard the saying

Well , by no means is it easy to lose weight but many seem to struggle even more when it comes to maintaining their weight long term . In fact , it seems that we are able to lose the weight but unable to keep it off long term .

The National Weight Control Council tracks and studies individuals who have successfully lost weight and maintained it long term . It summarises four habits these people have in common that helped them maintain weight , these are :

HABIT 1 78 per cent eat breakfast every day

Having breakfast gets the metabolism going in the morning and supplies your body with fuel to begin the day . You are less likely to make poor food choices or overeat later in the day if you have breakfast .

HABIT 2 75 per cent weigh themselves at least once a week

While you don ’ t want to get in the habit of weighing everyday , weighing once per week when you ’ ve reached your goal weight helps you to keep track of where you are at . It also lets you know if the weight has begun creeping up and this enables you to do something about it when it ’ s only up by 1-3kg . It ’ s important to do something early and not let your weight go up by 5kg or 10kg before you lose it again . Set a 2kg to 3kg upper and lower limit around your goal weight and never let your weight climb higher than this before doing something .

HABIT 3 62 per cent watch less than 10 hours of TV per week

Time watching TV is usually sedentary time . Try exercising , cleaning the house , gardening or getting to bed earlier instead . If you have the room or resources , you could also put an exercise bike or treadmill in front of your TV and exercise while you watch !

HABIT 4 90 per cent exercise , on average , about one hour per day

Yes , if you want to maintain your weight long term , you need to exercise . To make this easy and enjoyable , the key is to find exercises you like and ways to be more active during your day . Having someone to exercise with and varying your exercise routine can help keep it interesting . To understand how much exercise you should do , or for help to get you more active , speak to a fitness instructor or trainer .

AUTUMN 2018 YMCA HEALTHY LIVING MAGAZINE 17