7 Key Habits Of People Who Successfully Maintain Their Weight

We all know people who manage to keep their figure no matter what. They spend all year in a bikini ready body while you struggle to keep your winter hibernation weight in check. It would be so much easier, and a whole lot healthier, if you could just maintain your healthy weight all year, every year, instead riding a roller coaster of gains and losses. But how do you get there?

The researchers at Cornell Food and Brand Lab have come to your rescue. They developed an online Global Healthy Weight Registry where men and women with healthy weights could answer questions about their diet, exercise habits, and daily routines. The researchers then analysed the data and discovered that people who successfully maintain their weight held the following habits:

1. Start the day with a healthy morning meal

While debates are still raging over whether or not breakfast is the most important meal of the day, for people who maintain their weight, it is a non-negotiable meal. An incredible 96% of people in the registry said they eat breakfast. Nearly a third of them listed eggs as their favourite breakfast food while 51% included fruits and vegetables at breakfast.

2. Eat mindfully

You don’t have to restrict your diet but you do have to pay attention to what and how you are eating. Don’t shovel your food into your mouth without a second thought. Successful maintainers report employing mindful strategies like eating whole, non-processed foods, cooking at home, and listening to their inner cues so that they eat only when hungry and not when they are bored or upset.

3. Exercise every day

This should come as no surprise: 42% of people on the registry exercised 5-7 days a week. If you need help getting yourself started on a daily program, try the BodyRock Bootcamps. If you are brand new to exercise, the BodyRock Beginner Bootcamp is perfect for you! If you need something a little more challenging, check out the BodyRock Intermediate Bootcamp. Both programs offer a brand new, real time workout, delivered to your inbox every day for 30 days. At 10-12 minutes a piece, these workouts are easy to fit into your busy day. All you have to do is open the email and show up! These professionally designed programs are offered to you absolutely free! That’s right, you will get the expertise of our trainers at no cost to you!  A professional workout, in your own home, for free. Can you really afford not to give it a try? You can find the Beginner Bootcamp here and the Intermediate Bootcamp here.

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4. Serve up veggies for dinner every day

Vegetables are some of the most nutritionally dense foods on the planet. In fact, people who eat the most of them have the lowest rates of chronic diseases, according to the registry. 65% of the survey’s responders ate vegetables at dinner every night. You should be trying to get at least 2 ½ cups of a variety of vegetables each day. If you need help working these healthy foods into your diet, check out the BodyRock Meal Plan. This 30 day plan gives you delicious, nutritious, and easy to prepare meals that will help you build healthy habits for the rest of your life. Each week, we give you a detailed grocery list so all you have to do is buy the ingredients and follow along. Healthy eating doesn’t get any easier than this! Get the Meal Plan here.

5. Don’t diet

People who are able to maintain their weight do not diet. 74% of the people involved in the survey say they never, or rarely, diet to lose weight. They don’t diet because diets don’t work. Find a balance that works for your body. Losing, and maintaining, weight is a lifestyle and not a quick fix.

6. Choose chicken

61% of people responding to the survey said they choose chicken as their go-to meat. This is a reasonable choice when you consider that a 4 ounce serving of chicken contains only 124 calories, 26 grams of protein, and is versatile enough to be added to soups, salads, and stir-fries. Chicken is a smart lean protein choice.

7. Snack smart

Fruit and/or nuts was the favourite snack of 65% of weight maintainers. Bananas  and nuts like pistachios, that contain lots of protein and healthy fats, were top of the list.

Do you have any of these habits in place? What would it take for you to adopt all 7 habits?

Source: Prevention

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