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By: Lynn VanDyke

What's interesting about weight loss is that many people think that it's just a process that begins when you make changes to lose weight and ends when you've lost all the weight.

However, if you're not continuing with the changes that you've made, you might find yourself back at the original weight that you were. Instead of going up and down on the scale, here are ten secrets that you can use to keep your slim figure.

- Weight training works – Studies have shown that people that have more muscle mass will burn more calories, even at rest. Because of this fact, you will want to incorporate some weight training into you maintenance plan so that as you increase your calorie intake, you're able to burn them off without any gain.

- Food journaling - When you write down what you eat, you will be able to control the amount of food that you are eating. Even if you only write down your food intake for a few days a week, keeping an eye on how you're eating can help alert you of problems before they become pounds.

- Daily exercise – When you want to keep the weight off, exercise will need to become a part of your life. However, this doesn't mean that you need to workout for hours each day. Try to fit in thirty to sixty minutes of exercise each day to keep extra weight at bay.

- Allow yourself treats – Life isn't about deprivation, so neither should your new figure. When you've lost weight, you have learned about how much you needed to eat in order to cut back on calories. Once you've learned this, you can also learn to have a treat every now and then, enjoying it instead of overindulging in it.

- Look at making changes rather than dieting – When you're looking to lose weight, the ‘sprint' approach isn't going to be a long term fix. You need to permanently change your eating habits in order to ensure that your weight stays at its new position.

- Learn to make favorite recipes healthier – If you have a favorite cheesecake recipe; why not learn how to make it lower in fat and sugar? This way, you can still enjoy the foods you love.

- Get support – You don't have to join a weight loss club to do this, but telling your friends and family about your goals can help to get everyone into supporting your efforts. When you do this, people will start to recognize that family gatherings should have healthy options as well as not always revolve around food.

- Keep the stress away - Many people eat when they are stressed, but when you've lost weight, you want to avoid this kind of trigger. Instead, figure out ways that help you deal with stress. What can you do instead of eating to help calm down and relax?

- Watch your weight – Studies have shown that those that regularly monitor their weight tend to keep off weight better than those that don't. You don't have to get on the scale every day, but weighing in once a week can help alert you to when you might need to rethink that second slice of pie.

- Recognize a slip up and forgive yourself – When you start to get angry about mistakes, you can backslide into old eating habits. You will have times when eating right will be more difficult, but you will persevere.

Acknowledge that you made a poor eating choice (or several) and then forgive yourself and eat better at the next meal. There's no need to punish your self.

Keeping the weight off can actually be more difficult than losing it in the first place, but when you're committed to keeping trim, these tips will make sure that you do.

Lynn VanDyke is a master trainer and fitness nutritionist. Her fitness site, http://www.strength-training-woman.com is ranked within the top 1% of all websites. She has authored the wildly popular ebook, Melt the Fat (http://www.melt-the-fat.com). It is yielded as one of the best fitness and nutrition ebooks available.

Would you like some FREE tips on losing weight,
and information on food and nutrition?
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