Happy weight loss tips and maintaining your figure in the fourth month

**Month Two: Lifestyle Tips for Happy Weight Loss**

By now that you've read the advanced section, your lifestyle should be much better than before. As you get closer to your goal, what other ideas do you have to make things even better?

Eat only until you are 80% full.

An experiment conducted by University College Students in California from 1991 to 1993 showed that a group of people who consistently consumed 30% fewer calories than the average person not only weighed less but also had significantly lower cholesterol levels and lower incidences of common modern diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Similar experiments on mice revealed that mice consuming fewer calories lived approximately 1.5 times longer than normal mice. Therefore, developing the habit of eating only until you are not hungry, rather than eating until you are "full," is not only beneficial for weight loss but also for overall health.

**Chew slowly and don't rush.**

When hungry, you're not only prone to eating indiscriminately, but also to wolfing down your food. If you eat too quickly, the satiety cells in your stomach don't have time to send signals to your brain before you've already consumed more than you need to feel full, resulting in a sudden feeling of extreme fullness after the meal. Of course, this habit of overeating over a long period will lead to a rapid increase in weight. To prevent overeating caused by eating too quickly, you must cultivate the habit of eating slowly. You can reduce the size of each bite by about 20%, taking small bites and remembering to chew your food a few more times before swallowing. Sometimes, try dining with colleagues; interesting topics or discussions can distract you from the food.

**Smart Combination Slimming Meal Plan**

Use your food substitution chart smartly and skillfully. For foods with the same calories, choose those that are bulky and take longer to eat, such as replacing rice with porridge or juice with fresh fruit.

**Take more opportunities to move around.**

A study published in the February 1998 issue of the *American Journal of Medicine* divided 235 men and women aged 35-60 into two groups. One group engaged in 20-60 minutes of high-MET exercise, such as swimming or cycling, five days a week; the other group simply increased their daily activities by about 30 minutes, such as walking, gardening, and housework. The study lasted two years. After only six months, the high-MET exercise group showed greater improvements in cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and body fat percentage compared to the other group. However, after two years, both groups experienced a significant decrease in body fat percentage, and their overall health was roughly the same.

Another similar experiment was conducted by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, involving 40 obese women for 16 weeks. In this study, aerobic exercise was used as the MET exercise. The results showed that the weight loss of the two groups was not significantly different, both around 8 kilograms. However, after one year, the aerobic exercise group regained significantly more weight.

These two studies show that what most people think of as "exercise" actually has little effect on weight management. Not only is it tiring, but you also have to spend a considerable amount of money to find a place or equipment to exercise. In fact, this "specially" designed exercise routine is easily interrupted by excuses that are difficult for modern people to avoid, such as busy schedules and commuting. Therefore, your weight will naturally "recover" or even not decrease at all because of these excuses!

**Don't starve yourself and make yourself suffer.**

You may have heard that "fasting therapy" can cure diseases, but I don't know if it's effective. However, it's absolutely not recommended for weight loss. After all, you can't fast forever (that would kill you!). Once you resume your normal diet, because your eating habits haven't changed, you'll quickly regain your original weight. Moreover, because the body instinctively lowers its metabolic rate when hungry, the rate of calorie expenditure decreases. Therefore, after resuming eating, the percentage of calories converted into weight will be higher than usual. In other words, fasting and then resuming eating not only won't make you lose weight, but it might actually make you fatter!

**Month Four: Three Steps to Maintain Your Curve**

Many people who lose weight but regain it often lament, "Losing weight is hard, but maintaining it is even harder." In fact, this is often because dieters cannot maintain good eating, exercise, and lifestyle habits. In addition, the body's metabolic rate will also decrease after losing weight. Once they return to the bad eating and lifestyle habits before losing weight, they will gain weight faster, or even be much fatter than before they lost weight.

To avoid ending up in such a miserable situation, you should do some simple homework. The following "Three Steps to Maintaining Your Curves" can help you monitor whether you've strayed off course and constantly remind you to control your weight. As long as you follow the steps systematically, you won't regain the weight quickly, and you can even continue with the next cycle of your weight loss plan, making your figure slimmer and lighter.

**■Step 1**

Keep a detailed record of your current "24-hour lifestyle and diet log" for 3 days.

Calculate your average daily calorie expenditure using the metabolic rate substitution method (total METs) (× kcal; sum up the calorie expenditure over 3 days and then divide by 3).

Calculate your daily calorie intake roughly and try not to exceed 90% of × kcal.

**■Step 2**

Track your weight at the end of each week (because a person's weight can fluctuate by as much as 0.5 to 1 kilogram between morning and evening, so make sure to weigh yourself at the same time each time, preferably in the morning after you've used the toilet). If you can keep your weight fluctuation within 1/2 kilogram per week, you've found a healthy lifestyle and diet for maintaining your weight.

If your weight fluctuates between 1/2 kg and 1 kg, follow the "stepped calorie adjustment chart" and track your weight once a week until your weight stays within 1/2 kg of change. Then continue to maintain this level of calorie intake and exercise.

"Step-by-step heat adjustment table":

• Weight loss of more than 1/2 kg: Increase daily calorie intake by 300 kcal.

• Weight loss of about 1/2 kg: Increase daily calorie intake by 200 kcal.

• Weight unchanged: Maintain your current lifestyle and eating habits

• Weight gain of about 1/2 kg: Reduce daily calorie intake by 150 kcal and walk briskly for 10 minutes.

• If you gain more than half a kilogram: reduce your daily calorie intake by 200 calories and walk briskly for 15 minutes.

If your weight changes by more than 1 kg, please repeat steps 1 and 2. It's especially important that your diet record be more accurate. If necessary, review the food substitution tables and calorie calculations from previous chapters.

**Step 3**

Repeat step 2 for weight tracking. If your weight fluctuates within 1/2 kg for a month, congratulations! This means you've found a lifestyle that helps you maintain your weight. However, don't forget that weighing yourself at least once a week is still necessary. Of course, if your weight starts fluctuating dramatically again (usually upward), repeat steps 1 through 3 to maintain your weight and prevent it from returning.

***The secret to a slimmer figure-move, move, move!**

Maintaining a healthy weight is simply a matter of balancing calorie intake and expenditure. When you're unsure how much to eat and how much to exercise to achieve true balance, just constantly remind yourself: move whenever you have the chance! Walk more, help with housework, participate in hiking, climb stairs... in short, move whenever you can. If you're consistently active, you'll definitely gain weight much less easily!