Avoid Weight Gain

As you age, your body's metabolism slows down. If you aren't paying attention, your weight may gradually creep higher. Avoiding weight gain is not as simple as cutting calories or exercising. It is a matter of establishing a healthier lifestyle overall. There are no quick fixes to avoiding weight gain long-term, but with lifestyle changes you can maintain a healthy weight.

Steps

Managing What You Eat

1. Track your weight and caloric intake. To begin with, start keeping track of your weight and eating habits daily. This will help you establish where you are now and give you a sense of what changes should be made.
   • Start weighing yourself once a day. Keep track of what you are eating and when. You can keep a journal that you use each day. Record your weight at the top of the page and then jot down everything you eat each day. If you see the pounds beginning to creep upward, you'll know you need to make some lifestyle changes.
   • Estimate how many calories you are eating daily by using calorie measurements provided on pre-packaged meals or restaurant nutrition guides. If you're cooking meals at home, you can find information on the caloric content in many basic foods online.
   • Some meals and restaurants provide little to no information on their nutritional content. It can be difficult to estimate exactly how much you've had when you're unable to measure and prepare the food yourself. Consider altering your diet to only consume meals when you know the calories you are consuming.
   • Consider measuring your portions by weight rather than volume. Invest in a small scale for your kitchen. Weigh ingredients before adding them to a meal and use these weights to estimate caloric content.
2. Use an online calculator to figure out how many calories is healthy for you.Use an online calculator to estimate your daily caloric allowance for weight maintenance. Websites such as the Mayo Clinic provide such calculators. Calculating your caloric needs involves a formula that takes your current age, height, weight, sex, and exercise level into consideration. Have all this information ready when using an online tool.
   • Your daily allowance will change if you gain or lose weight. Keep your allowance updated accordingly.
   • These are only estimates. If you find you are gaining or losing weight while following these guidelines, adjust your allowance in small increments (e.g., 100 calories) to accommodate your body's behavior.
   • If you're unsure whether an online calculator is accurate, or if you have a medical condition that affects your metabolism, talk to your doctor. He or she will be able to give you a better estimate of your daily caloric needs.
3. Eat a healthier diet. Feeling hungry is often a matter of what you are eating. Proteins and complex carbohydrates tend to prevent hunger for longer periods of time than simple sugars. Improving your diet will result in you eating less overall. This can help prevent unwanted weight gain.
   • The major food groups include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy, and lean proteins. Include a variety of foods from all these groups if you want to improve your diet.
   • Keep your proteins lean. Leaner proteins are better for your overall health and tend to keep you full longer. These include legumes, like beans, nuts, seeds, poultry, and fish. Instead of having beef as your main course for dinner, for example, make baked salmon and include a side of grilled vegetables.
4. Cut back on added sugar. Cane sugar, which is often added to foods and sweets, can cause unwanted weight gain. Such foods are also often low in nutrients, resulting in hunger cravings shortly after eating.
   • You don't need to have a sweet tooth to have a high sugar diet. Many products you buy at the grocery store, like breads and canned pasta sauces, are loaded with added sugar.
   • Read labels before purchasing a product at the store and pay attention to how much sugar is included. The American Heart association recommends no more than 9 teaspoons of added a sugar a day for men and no more than 6 teaspoons a day for women.
5. Go for complex carbohydrates. Complex carbs, which include a lot of whole grain and fiber, fill you up faster than simpler carbohydrates. Go for whole wheat or whole grain bread, whole wheat pasta, and brown rice over refined carbohydrates. White rices, breads, and pastas lack nutrients, leading to unwanted hunger cravings.
6. Develop self-discipline. There is nothing wrong with indulging in moderation. In fact, giving yourself a treat on occasion can actually help you stick to a healthy diet longer. However, make sure you develop self-discipline when indulging to avoid accidentally gaining weight.
   • If you have a sweet tooth, keep the American Heart Association guidelines in mind. There are easy ways to give in to sugar cravings without going overboard. Have a fun-sized candy bar as a treat instead of a regular sized one, for example. If you're out at dinner, see if a friend or family member wants to split dessert.
   • If you love salty snacks like chips, buy 100 calorie bags. This way, you'll get a small amount of what you crave and won't go overboard with calorie content.
   • Allow yourself a "cheat meal" once a week. Every Friday night, for example, order take-out or go out to dinner and don't worry about recording the calories. A once a week indulgence can help provide motivation to stay healthy throughout the week.
7. Establish regular meal times. It seems like a small issue, but eating at odd times can lead to unwanted weight gain. If you skip breakfast, for example, you may crave unhealthy foods at lunch and overeat. Eating in front of the television instead of having a sit down dinner can also lead to mindless binge eating. Try to eat three meals a day at roughly the same time. This can make a difference in your weight.
8. Make small changes. Sometimes, tiny tweaks to your eating habits can translate to a large decrease in overall calories. Try incorporating some of these small changes to your eating regimen and see if you notice a difference in weight gain.
   • Use vinaigrette on salads instead of creamy dressings. Aim to use about half as much as normal.
   • When eating out, go for a healthy appetizer or skip appetizers altogether. If the restaurant offers sides with an entree, go for a salad or grilled veggies over fries or potatoes.
   • Use vegetable based pasta sauces over cream sauces.
   • Avoid drinking fruit juice. If you do crave juice, go for 100% juice without added sugar.
   • Go for low-fat or fat-free dairy products over products with whole milk.
   • Drink water throughout the day. Go for low calorie or no calorie beverage options, like sparkling water and diet sodas, to quench your thirst during meal times. When it comes to preventing weight gain, these are better than products with added sugar or calories.

Exercising Regularly

1. Monitor your exercise routine. If you want to get a sense of whether you need to exercise more, start monitoring your daily physical activity. Note both the type of activity and the duration. If you are running or biking, note the distance travelled. These will all be important when calculating how much exercise you need to maintain your weight.
   • Do not include everyday activities, such as walking from your car to your office or walking up or down stairs. However, include time spent jogging or biking to work if you do so for 20 or more minutes daily.
   • Do not weigh yourself after you exercise. You will have lost weight during your workout. This will give you a weight that doesn't properly account for your body's fluid requirements. In other words, it will be incorrectly low.
2. Calculate your calorie needs. Using your weight and height you can estimate your daily calorie requirements. Use an online calculator or ask your doctor how many calories you should be consuming based on your weight, lifestyle, and other characteristics. Compare this to what you are currently consuming daily. If you are consuming more calories than you need, that difference is your daily exercise requirement.
   • To estimate your calorie requirements you typically need to know your current weight, sex, age, and height. When asked about your exercise level, report what you regularly do rather than what you expect to do in the future.
   • If you are consuming too many calories, it may not be possible to increase your exercise to accommodate. You may need to cut down on calories to prevent weight gain in addition to exercising more.
3. Establish an exercise routine that becomes part of your life. Exercise should be a part of your daily life, as routine as brushing your teeth in the morning. It can be difficult to get started on a workout routine, but the benefits on your mental and physical health are worth the commitment.
   • To start, pick an activity you like. Many people underestimate how much exercise you need to maintain weight. People who have lost weight and kept it off longterm typically exercise 60 to 90 minutes most days of the week. Obviously, this much physical activity will seem tedious if you pick something you hate. Choose an activity you enjoy. If you love long walks, go walking each day. If you love riding your bike to work, incorporate bike rides a few times a week. If you're into sports, start playing tennis with friends or join a local league.
   • You do not need to engage in 60 to 90 minutes of exercise all at once. In fact, given the demands of work, family, and social engagements this is probably not realistic for most people. You can break up physical activity throughout the day and get the same results. Take a brisk 20 minute walk with your dog before working in the morning. Then, hit the gym for 30 minutes after leaving the office. In the early evening, take your dog for a short 20 minute jog in the park.
   • Depending on your medical history, you may need to talk to your healthcare provider before exercising for 60 to 90 minutes a day. However, even if you don't have any existing health conditions it's a good idea to speak to your doctor before starting a new workout routine. A medical professional can give you advice on how to ease into a new routine so you don't end up straining yourself early on.
4. Incorporate strength training. Muscle burns more calories than fat. In addition to aerobic exercises that get your heart rate up, look into workouts that help build your body's overall strength.
   • If you don't have a gym membership, there are many activities you can do using your own body. Push-ups, sit ups, and routines like Pilates and yoga can help you build strength.
   • If you want to incorporate some equipment, invest in resistant tubing. This lightweight and inexpensive material provides resistance when pulled and can be used in strength training exercises. You can buy resistance tubing online or at a local gym or fitness shop. Free weights are also relatively inexpensive and can be incorporated into a strength training routine.
   • Talk to a doctor or trainer when beginning a strength training regimen. If you're a beginner, it can be easy to strain yourself. Injury can prevent you from exercising, potentially causing weight gain.

Making Lifestyle Changes

1. Manage stress. Stress can actually cause weight gain. People who are stressed out tend to overeat and go for high calorie comfort foods over healthier options. Working on managing your stress level can help prevent weight gain.
   • Warning signs of stress include things like heightened anxiety, muscle tension, and irritability. When you feel these warning signs, be extra conscientious about what you're eating. Are you actually hungry or are you eating due to your mood? Is the food you're eating healthy and nutritious or are you binge eating low-quality food to combat anxiety?
   • Yoga, meditation, stretching, massage, and deep breathing are all excellent methods to combat unwanted stress. Try incorporating some of these techniques into your day-to-day life and see if you notice an overall improvement in mood.
   • Work on establishing a good sleep schedule. Running low on sleep can worsen stress. Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time each day, aiming for about 8 hours of quality sleep each night.
   • Not everyone can manage stress on their own. If you have trouble regulating stress, you may have an anxiety disorder or other underlying mental health issue. Make an appointment with a therapist to talk about better managing stress. You can find a therapist by asking your regular doctor for a referral. You can also call your insurance company and ask for a list of therapists and psychiatrists in your network. If you are a college student, you may be entitled to free counseling through your college or university.
2. Practice mindful eating. Sometimes, the way you eat can lead to overindulgence. Making a habit of eating more mindfully can help you control how much you eat. This can lead to less weight gain.
   • Give your food 100% of your attention. Eat meals at a table. Stay away from the television when eating. Do not eat while you're working or doing another task. Focus solely on the food and the sensations it brings you.
   • Check in as you eat. Pause once in awhile and think, "On a scale of 1 to 10, how would I rate my hunger?" Take note of when you feel somewhat full and when you feel completely full. Many people do not pay attention to their body's signals and end up eating well after they feel satisfied.
   • Tune into your senses as you eat. Chew each bite slowly and pay attention to how eating feels. How does the food taste and smell? Tune into the textures and flavors of each bite you eat.
3. Limit alcohol consumption. Alcohol is a major culprit for many when it comes to unwanted weight gain. Alcoholic beverages are high in empty calories and, when inebriated, people often develop food cravings. Work on drinking in moderation.
   • Understand what it means to drink in moderation. For women and men over 65, drinking in moderation means no more than one drink a day. For men under 65, this means no more than two drinks a day. A drink generally means 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of spirits.
   • In some situations, it can be hard to avoid overindulging. If you're going to a party, for example, you may feel pressured to drink. Try to avoid situations where heavy drinking is the main event. If you do attend an event where there will be drinking, try ordering a non-alcoholic beverage. This will keep your hands occupied and may reduce some of the temptation to drink.
   • If you do go out to a bar for drinks with friends, eat a nutritious meal beforehand. This will leave less room for alcohol and may prevent food cravings after drinking.
4. Seek support from others. Avoiding weight gain can be difficult. Many people struggle to maintain healthy eating and exercise habits. Seek support from others if you're trying to maintain a healthy weight.
   • Talk to your friends and family members about the changes you're making. There may be small things they can do to help. For example, they could avoid serving sugary snacks at parties you're attending. Your friends could agree to plan events that do not involve drinking or eating on the weekends.
   • Network with others working on maintaining a healthy weight. Make friends at the gym. If you're in a weight loss or weight management program, like Weight Watchers, plan social events with other members.
   • If you struggle with your weight due to a mental or physical health issue, see if you can find a support group in your area. If you can't find a physical support group, there are forums online for people with a wide variety of mental and physical health issues.

Tips

• Drink a lot of water, especially before meals. Try drinking a full glass of water immediately before eating. This helps you feel full sooner than normal allowing you to sate your hunger while eating less.
• Hang out with people who maintain a healthy weight. You will probably pick up some good habits, and avoid some unhealthy ones. They're less likely to suggest fast food when eating out. Beware, though, of people with amazingly good metabolisms, who eat like pigs and don't exercise. It will eventually catch up with them...but it will immediately catch up with you, if you follow their eating and activity patterns.
• An underactive thyroid can increase weight gain. Check your thyroid by taking your temperature as soon as you wake up each morning. If your temperature is below 98.6 degrees for 7 days in a row, bring the results to the attention of your physician. He/She can run further tests. About one in two Americans has an under active thyroid.
• Avoid consuming too much alcohol. Alcohol slows down the metabolism and is processed like sugar by the body. Consider a can or bottle of beer to be roughly equivalent to a same-sized soda.
• Be sure to eat your daily allowance of calories. If you do not, your body goes into a starvation mode, where it uses muscle for energy needs while conserving fat. Eat at least three staggered meals per day. Never skip a meal, unless it’s at night.
• Avoid snacking throughout the day. If you really want a snack, make it healthy, like grapes or apples.
• If you aren't hungry, don't eat anything. There isn't any point in eating when you aren't even hungry. That's a waste of money and there are consequences to that.

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Sources and Citations

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