Sometimes, we wake up only to realize we’ve got 100 lbs of weight to lose. We might’ve held a little extra weight since we were in school. Or, it might not have become noticeable until we were older. Either way, losing weight is something within our control. By changing our lifestyle, we can maintain a healthy body weight permanently.

Start Tracking Your Calories

Your body is only able to put on weight whenever you’ve got a caloric surplus. Each day, we burn a certain number of calories. If we eat more than that, we’ll gain weight. Eating fewer calories than you burn is the only way to lose weight. So, you’ve got to start tracking how much you’re eating. By keeping track of that, you’ll know how much you’re able to eat. 

Staying under your caloric baseline will mean you’re in a caloric deficit. When your body needs calories, it’ll have to take them from stored body fat. Don’t try to maintain too steep a deficit. That’s going to make it more difficult for you to stick with the diet. Only limit your daily intake by 10 to 15%. Then, as you progress, you can cut them by more.

Switch to a Ketogenic Diet

Maximize your weight loss by switching to a ketogenic diet. This is a diet that focuses on protein and fat. Without enough carbohydrates, your body will enter ketosis. It burns ketone bodies as its primary fuel source whenever it’s in this state. Switching to ketosis takes a little time, but it pays off.

You’ll start burning fat instead of glucose. So, you’ll begin to lose weight rapidly. Just look at a keto weight loss timeline. Some people are able to lose a tremendous amount of weight within a short time. Maintaining a ketogenic diet will be the fastest weight to shed fat.

Weigh Yourself Once a Week

One of the biggest problems people have when they’re losing weight is scale freight. They’ll start weighing themselves every day. Then, they’re discouraged when they don’t see progress daily. Losing weight isn’t something that happens in a straight line. It’s normal to fluctuate a bit day-to-day. Tracking your weight once a week should give you a better picture of what’s happening. You should be looking for a steady decline. As long as that’s the trend, you’re doing well. If things start to reverse, you’ll need to cut calories even more. Usually, you’ve got to cut calories as you’re losing weight. The less you weigh, the less you’re burning just to stay alive.

Develop Active Hobbies

Spending all your time at the gym probably isn’t feasible. Even if you had the time, you wouldn’t want to stay there all the time. The best way to increase your activity levels would be to develop active hobbies. Going for a walk after you’re done working is a great start. Try walking 10,000 steps each day. See if you’ve got an app to track your progress. You can also start doing other sorts of activities. For example, rent a kayak. You can burn quite a few calories by paddling around a river.

Log Your Progress

Now, keeping the weight off will require willpower. We’ve found the best way to stay on track if being logging your progress. Grab a notebook to fill with all your stats. Take notes on what you’re eating each day. And, keep track of your progress whenever you’re looking at the scale.

Once you’ve hit your goal weight, don’t change anything. Pay attention to what you’ve been doing to reach this point. Maintaining your weight loss means living differently. You’ll need to maintain these new habits. Otherwise, your weight just comes back.

Consider Bariatric Surgery

If you have a history of yo-yo dieting (losing a lot of weight and then gaining it right back) or have a serious health condition where it is necessary to lose a lot of weight quickly, bariatric surgery may be the best option for you. This will prevent you from overeating and you will quickly see the weight come off in just the first six months following surgery.

Losing Weight for Good

Losing weight doesn’t require a whole lot. You’ve just got to change how you’re eating. Plus, you’ll need to live more actively. If you’re serious about making a change, it’s not too hard. Anyone can do it if they’re willing to put in the effort. The longer you’ve been dieting, the easier it becomes. At some point, it’ll just be how you eat. It won’t even feel like a diet anymore.