Key Factors In Achieving Sustainable Weight Loss
Embarking on a journey towards sustainable weight loss is a life-long commitment to a healthier, happier you. While there’s no one-size-fits-all approach, science-backed principles guide us toward lasting results. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll delve into the essential factors that can help you shed pounds sensibly and maintain your achievements for the long haul.
Are you tired of fad diets and quick fixes that rarely yield lasting results? Join us as we explore the science behind sustainable weight loss and provide you with actionable insights, tips, and strategies that are not only effective but also gentle on your body and mind.
Set Realistic Expectations
When you’re starting out on this path, it’s important to set realistic weight loss goals. Keeping in mind that long-term weight loss is the goal here, so start small with manageable lifestyle changes. If you’re making drastic changes to your routine in order to lose the weight, think about how likely you are to continue adhering to these changes long-term. Otherwise you may find yourself reverting back to your old habits and eventually gaining the weight back.
A realistic goal might look like losing 5%–15% of your initial body weight (1). Take a look at our blog covering how fast should you lose weight for a more detailed breakdown on rate of weight loss and sustainability.
Keep A Food Journal
The act of keeping a food journal has been proven to aid in weight loss across several studies (4, 5). Not only does it encourage people to adhere more to their diets, but it is also is associated with long-term weight loss success (2).
In one study, it was made apparent that smart phone applications, like Cronometer, were superior in helping with weight loss as compared to a website or a written food diary (3).
Eat A Balanced Diet
It may sound cliche but make sure you’re getting enough fruits and vegetables!
Many diets out there will have you cutting out certain foods in order to drop pounds. This approach works for some, but removing or altering foods in your diet can have certain consequences, mainly, that you might not be hitting adequate nutritional intakes.
Eating a balanced diet will help make sure you’re getting at least the basic nutrition that your body needs to function properly, helping you feel better for the long-haul.
Here’s where Cronometer can step in. By logging your food intake in Cronometer, you can make sure you’re hitting all the important nutritional bases. Cronometer will identify that maybe you’re not eating enough vitamin b12 or magnesium and will make suggestions for what to eat in order to increase your intake.
If you’re looking for some guidance beyond hitting your nutritional targets, read this blog to see which diets are proven to be the most successful for weight loss.
Watch Your Portion Sizes
Weight loss can be looked at as a simple math equation. In order to lose weight, you need to be consuming less energy than your output. So, in order to lose weight and keep it off long-term, it’s important to know how much food you’re eating, how much energy you’re burning and to keep a deficit between the two.
Getting an understanding of how many calories are in your meals and snacks and adjusting your portions to stay within a deficit is key to successful weight loss.
Not only will Cronometer open your eyes to the nutritional content of the food you’re eating, we’ll also do all the math for you!
Once you give us some basic info like age, height, weight and a weight goal, we’ll give you an “allowance” for each day. When you log your food throughout the day, this number will decline, giving you an idea of how much you’re able to eat while still remaining in a deficit.
For the utmost accuracy, we recommend using a kitchen scale to remove any ambiguity from your portion sizes. Here are a few more ways we recommend losing weight with Cronometer.
Stay Hydrated
Besides the fact that your body needs fluids to operate at it’s tip top shape, drinking water can make you feel less hungry (6). If you’re looking to lose weight and keep it off, this is one of the easier changes to implement.
If you’re asking yourself how much water do you need to drink, check out this blog to find out and to learn how to track water in your Cronometer account.
Get Enough Quality Sleep
Poor sleeping habits have a proven effect on weight management, leading to an increase in energy intake (8). Both duration and quality can impact your appetite so if you’re wanting to drop the weight, try to prioritize getting a good nights rest.
If you’re looking for ways to improve your sleep quality, try paying attention to these micronutrients and here are some things you might want to avoid.
Try To Keep Your Stress In Check
Stress and appetite seem to have a two-way and complicated relationship, with varying effects on your hormones. A person exposed to stress will either under eat or over eat (9) and both would contribute to an unsustainable weight loss journey.
Establish A Support System
Having people around you that can support you in your weight loss journey has also proven to be an effective way to lose weight and keep it off.
Having a registered dietitian, nutritionist or doctor can be an amazing resource to help you through losing weight and maintaining that long-term. It’s been shown that cognitive behavioural therapy, such as services obtained from a dietitian, mixed with a health behaviour change support system, like Cronometer, has been shown to be effective at helping people lose weight and sustain that weight loss (10).
Aside from professionals, it’s also great to lean on friends, family or an online support network. Head to any of our social media channels, Reddit or our Forums if you’re looking to connect with people in a similar situation to you.
Get Your Head In The Game
There is a huge mental component to weight loss which comes down to how intentional and motivated you are to achieve your goals. It takes dedication, commitment and long-term lifestyle changes that aren’t always easy to adhere to. We have faith that you can do it and we’re happy to stick by your side every step of the way, but in the end, it all comes down to you!
References
- Fabricatore, A., Wadden, T., Womble, L. et al. The role of patients’ expectations and goals in the behavioral and pharmacological treatment of obesity. Int J Obes 31, 1739–1745 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803649
- Peterson, N.D., Middleton, K.R., Nackers, L.M., Medina, K.E., Milsom, V.A. and Perri, M.G. (2014), Dietary self-monitoring and long-term success with weight management. Obesity, 22: 1962-1967. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.20807
- Carter MC, Burley VJ, Nykjaer C, Cade JE. Adherence to a smartphone application for weight loss compared to website and paper diary: pilot randomized controlled trial. J Med Internet Res. 2013 Apr 15;15(4):e32. doi: 10.2196/jmir.2283. PMID: 23587561; PMCID: PMC3636323.
- Johnson, F., Wardle, J. The association between weight loss and engagement with a web-based food and exercise diary in a commercial weight loss programme: a retrospective analysis. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 8, 83 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1186/1479-5868-8-83
- Lora E. Burke, Jing Wang, Mary Ann Sevick, Self-Monitoring in Weight Loss: A Systematic Review of the Literature, Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Volume 111, Issue 1, 2011, Pages 92-102, ISSN 0002-8223, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jada.2010.10.008.
- American Chemical Society. “Drink water to curb weight gain? Clinical trial confirms effectiveness of simple appetite control method.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 23 August 2010. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100823142929.htm>.
- Papatriantafyllou E, Efthymiou D, Zoumbaneas E, Popescu CA, Vassilopoulou E. Sleep Deprivation: Effects on Weight Loss and Weight Loss Maintenance. Nutrients. 2022 Apr 8;14(8):1549. doi: 10.3390/nu14081549. PMID: 35458110; PMCID: PMC9031614.
- Adams, C.E., Greenway, F.L. and Brantley, P.J. (2011), Lifestyle factors and ghrelin: critical review and implications for weight loss maintenance. Obesity Reviews, 12: e211-e218. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-789X.2010.00776.x
- Ans AH, Anjum I, Satija V, Inayat A, Asghar Z, Akram I, Shrestha B. Neurohormonal Regulation of Appetite and its Relationship with Stress: A Mini Literature Review. Cureus. 2018 Jul 23;10(7):e3032. doi: 10.7759/cureus.3032. PMID: 30254821; PMCID: PMC6150743.
- Teeriniemi A-M, Salonurmi T, Jokelainen T, Vähänikkilä H, Alahäivälä T, Karppinen P, Enwald H, Huotari M-L, Laitinen J, Oinas-Kukkonen H, Savolainen MJ (University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland; Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland; University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland; Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland; Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland; University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland; University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland; University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland; and Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki, Finland). A randomized clinical trial of the effectiveness of a Web-based health behaviour change support system and group lifestyle counselling on body weight loss in overweight and obese subjects: 2-year outcomes. J Intern Med 2018; 284: 534–545.
