Many of us have known someone who lost a lot of weight, only to regain those pounds a year or two later. Or maybe you’ve actually experienced that yourself! That’s because one of the biggest challenges with regard to a medical weight loss program and changing your health lies in your daily habits along with your attitude toward reaching your goals.

It’s common to believe that we need to temporarily adopt a “diet”, lose the weight, and then life can go on as usual. But returning to the habits that made you gain weight in the first place will only make you regain the weight you’ve lost. Instead, we have to remember that the number one way to lose weight, keep it off, and change the state of our health is to change our habits for good. 

For many people, the problem lies in the way they view and use food. If food has always served as a coping mechanism for stress, loneliness, depression, or boredom, you will have to change the way you cope with those feelings so that you don’t return to using food as a crutch. Or if your beliefs about healthy foods and portion sizes caused you to become overweight, you will have to address those underlying beliefs and habits.

So once you’ve shed those unwanted pounds through a medical weight loss program, it’s time to monitor your habits regarding food consumption. When the urge to eat unhealthy foods or oversized portions strikes, ask yourself these questions:

• Why did this habit harm me in the past?
• What’s different about my new habits?
• What worked to help me lose the weight?
• How else can I handle this urge, while sticking to my weight maintenance goals?

They key is knowing what works for you, and knowing why and how it works, rather than trying to maintain a plan by willpower alone. Gaining this knowledge can help you develop more control over your habits, which is the key to long-lasting change for your health.

If you need support as you pursue a medical weight loss program, call our office and we will help you analyze your needs so that you can maintain your weight loss success.