The Mediterranean diet emphasizes eating good fats and good carbs along with large quantities of fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, fish, and olive oil—and only modest amounts of meat and cheese. The Mediterranean diet is more than just about food, though. Regular physical activity and sharing meals with others are also major components.

Whatever weight loss strategy you try, it's important to stay motivated and avoid common dieting pitfalls, such as emotional eating. We don't always eat simply to satisfy hunger. All too often, we turn to food when we're stressed or anxious, which can wreck any diet and pack on the pounds.

Do you eat when you're worried, bored, or lonely? Do you snack in front of the TV at the end of a stressful day? Recognizing your emotional eating triggers can make all the difference in your weight-loss efforts.

If you eat when you're:. Stressed — find healthier ways to calm yourself. Try yoga, meditation, or soaking in a hot bath.

Low on energy — find other mid-afternoon pick-me-ups. Try walking around the block, listening to energizing music, or taking a short nap. Lonely or bored — reach out to others instead of reaching for the refrigerator. Call a friend who makes you laugh, take your dog for a walk, or go to the library, mall, or park—anywhere there's people.

BetterHelp is an online therapy service that matches you to licensed, accredited therapists who can help with depression, anxiety, relationships, and more. Take the assessment and get matched with a therapist in as little as 48 hours.

Avoid distractions while eating. Try not to eat while working, watching TV, or driving. It's too easy to mindlessly overeat. Pay attention. Eat slowly , savoring the smells and textures of your food. If your mind wanders, gently return your attention to your food and how it tastes.

Mix things up to focus on the experience of eating. Try using chopsticks rather than a fork, or use your utensils with your non-dominant hand. Stop eating before you are full. It takes time for the signal to reach your brain that you've had enough.

Don't feel obligated to always clean your plate. Permanent weight loss requires making healthy changes to your lifestyle and food choices. To stay motivated:. Find a cheering section. Social support means a lot. Programs like Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers use group support to impact weight loss and lifelong healthy eating.

Seek out support—whether in the form of family, friends, or a support group—to get the encouragement you need. Slow and steady wins the race. Losing weight too fast can take a toll on your mind and body, making you feel sluggish, drained, and sick.

Aim to lose one to two pounds a week so you're losing fat rather than water and muscle. Set goals to keep you motivated. Short-term goals, like wanting to fit into a bikini for the summer, usually don't work as well as wanting to feel more confident or become healthier for your children's sakes.

When temptation strikes, focus on the benefits you'll reap from being healthier. Use tools to track your progress. Smartphone apps, fitness trackers, or simply keeping a journal can help you keep track of the food you eat, the calories you burn, and the weight you lose. Seeing the results in black and white can help you stay motivated.

Get plenty of sleep. Lack of sleep stimulates your appetite so you want more food than normal; at the same time, it stops you feeling satisfied, making you want to keep eating. Sleep deprivation can also affect your motivation, so aim for eight hours of quality sleep a night.

Whether or not you're specifically aiming to cut carbs, most of us consume unhealthy amounts of sugar and refined carbohydrates such as white bread, pizza dough, pasta, pastries, white flour, white rice, and sweetened breakfast cereals.

Replacing refined carbs with their whole-grain counterparts and eliminating candy and desserts is only part of the solution, though. Sugar is hidden in foods as diverse as canned soups and vegetables, pasta sauce, margarine, and many reduced fat foods. Since your body gets all it needs from sugar naturally occurring in food, all this added sugar amounts to nothing but a lot of empty calories and unhealthy spikes in your blood glucose.

Calories obtained from fructose found in sugary beverages such as soda and processed foods like doughnuts, muffins, and candy are more likely to add to fat around your belly. Cutting back on sugary foods can mean a slimmer waistline as well as a lower risk of diabetes. Even if you're cutting calories, that doesn't necessarily mean you have to eat less food.

High-fiber foods such as fruit, vegetables, beans, and whole grains are higher in volume and take longer to digest, making them filling—and great for weight-loss. It's generally okay to eat as much fresh fruit and non-starchy vegetables as you want—you'll feel full before you've overdone it on the calories.

Eat vegetables raw or steamed , not fried or breaded, and dress them with herbs and spices or a little olive oil for flavor. Add fruit to low sugar cereal —blueberries, strawberries, sliced bananas.

You'll still enjoy lots of sweetness, but with fewer calories, less sugar, and more fiber. Bulk out sandwiches by adding healthy veggie choices like lettuce, tomatoes, sprouts, cucumbers, and avocado.

Add more veggies to your favorite main courses to make your dish more substantial. Even pasta and stir-fries can be diet-friendly if you use less noodles and more vegetables. Start your meal with salad or vegetable soup to help fill you up so you eat less of your entrée.

Set yourself up for weight-loss success by taking charge of your food environment: when you eat, how much you eat, and what foods you make easily available. Cook your own meals at home. This allows you to control both portion size and what goes in to the food. Restaurant and packaged foods generally contain a lot more sugar, unhealthy fat, and calories than food cooked at home —plus the portion sizes tend to be larger.

Serve yourself smaller portions. Use small plates, bowls, and cups to make your portions appear larger. Don't eat out of large bowls or directly from food containers, which makes it difficult to assess how much you've eaten. Eat early. Studies suggest that consuming more of your daily calories at breakfast and fewer at dinner can help you drop more pounds.

Eating a larger, healthy breakfast can jump-start your metabolism, stop you feeling hungry during the day, and give you more time to burn off the calories.

Fast for 14 hours a day. Try to eat dinner earlier in the day and then fast until breakfast the next morning. Eating only when you're most active and giving your digestion a long break may aid weight loss. Plan your meals and snacks ahead of time.

You can create your own small portion snacks in plastic bags or containers. Eating on a schedule will help you avoid eating when you aren't truly hungry. Drink more water. Thirst can often be confused with hunger, so by drinking water you can avoid extra calories.

Limit the amount of tempting foods you have at home. If you share a kitchen with non-dieters, store indulgent foods out of sight. The degree to which exercise aids weight loss is open to debate, but the benefits go way beyond burning calories.

Exercise can increase your metabolism and improve your outlook—and it's something you can benefit from right now. Go for a walk, stretch, move around and you'll have more energy and motivation to tackle the other steps in your weight-loss program.

Lack time for a long workout? Three minute spurts of exercise per day can be just as good as one minute workout. Remember: anything is better than nothing.

Start off slowly with small amounts of physical activity each day. Then, as you start to lose weight and have more energy, you'll find it easier to become more physically active.

Find exercise you enjoy. Try walking with a friend, dancing, hiking, cycling, playing Frisbee with a dog, enjoying a pickup game of basketball, or playing activity-based video games with your kids. Far from it. Since it was established in , The National Weight Control Registry NWCR in the United States, has tracked over 10, individuals who have lost significant amounts of weight and kept it off for long periods of time.

Whatever diet you use to lose weight in the first place, adopting these habits may help you to keep it off:. How choosing healthier carbs can improve your health and waistline.

This diet can help fight heart disease, diabetes, cognitive decline, and more. How focusing on the experience of eating can improve your diet. Tips for building a fitness plan, and finding the best exercises for you.

BetterHelp makes starting therapy easy. Take the assessment and get matched with a professional, licensed therapist. Millions of readers rely on HelpGuide. org for free, evidence-based resources to understand and navigate mental health challenges.

Please donate today to help us save, support, and change lives. When autocomplete results are available use up and down arrows to review and enter to go to the desired page.

Touch device users, explore by touch or with swipe gestures. Fortunately, there are many things you can do to combat stress, including exercise, yoga and meditation.

It is important to keep stress levels under control to maintain your weight, as excess stress may increase the risk of weight gain by stimulating your appetite.

One strategy to overcome this is to find a support system that will hold you accountable and possibly partner up with you in your healthy lifestyle.

A few studies have shown that having a buddy to pursue your goals with may be helpful for weight control, especially if that person is a partner or spouse with similar healthy habits 52 , One of these studies examined the health behaviors of over 3, couples and found that when one person engaged in a healthy habit, such as exercise, the other was more likely to follow their example Involving a partner or spouse in your healthy lifestyle may boost the likelihood that you will maintain your weight loss.

Those who log their food intake in a journal, online food tracker or app may be more likely to maintain their weight loss 35 , 54 , 55 , Food trackers are helpful because they enhance your awareness of how much you are really eating, since they often provide specific information about how many calories and nutrients you consume.

Here are some examples of calorie counting websites and apps. Several studies link high vegetable intake to better weight control 57 , 58 , For starters, vegetables are low in calories.

You can eat large portions without putting on weight, while still consuming an impressive amount of nutrients 40 , 59 , Also, vegetables are high in fiber, which increases feelings of fullness and may automatically reduce the number of calories that you eat during the day 61 , 62 , Vegetables are high in fiber and low in calories.

Both of these properties may be helpful for weight maintenance. Instead of on-and-off dieting that ends with going back to old habits, it is best to stick with your new healthy diet and lifestyle for good.

While adopting a new way of life may seem overwhelming at first, making healthy choices will become second nature when you get used to them. Maintaining weight loss is simple when you are consistent with your new healthy habits, rather than going back to your old lifestyle.

Mindful eating is the practice of listening to internal appetite cues and paying full attention during the eating process. It involves eating slowly, without distractions, and chewing food thoroughly so you can savor the aroma and taste of your meal.

When you eat this way, you are more likely to stop eating when you are truly full. If you eat while distracted, it can be difficult to recognize fullness and you may end up overeating 64 , 65 , Studies show that mindful eating helps with weight maintenance by targeting behaviors that are commonly associated with weight gain, such as emotional eating 67 , 68 , Mindful eating is helpful for weight maintenance because it helps you recognize fullness and may prevent unhealthy behaviors that commonly lead to weight gain.

The reason why many people fail at maintaining their weight is because they follow unrealistic diets that are not feasible in the long term. They end up feeling deprived, which often leads to gaining back more weight than they lost in the first place once they go back to eating normally. This looks different for everyone, but essentially it means not being too restrictive, staying consistent and making healthy choices as often as possible.

It is easier to maintain weight loss when you make sustainable lifestyle changes, rather than following the unrealistic rules that many weight loss diets focus on.

However, there are plenty of simple changes you can make to your habits that are easy to stick with and will help you maintain your weight loss in the long term.

Through your journey, you will realize that controlling your weight involves much more than what you eat. Exercise, sleep and mental health also play a role. It is possible for weight maintenance to be effortless if you simply adopt a new lifestyle, rather than going on and off weight loss diets.

Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available. Patients with diabetes who used GLP-1 drugs, including tirzepatide, semaglutide, dulaglutide, and exenatide had a decreased chance of being diagnosed….

Some studies suggest vaping may help manage your weight, but others show mixed…. The amount of time it takes to recover from weight loss surgery depends on the type of surgery and surgical technique you receive.

New research suggests that running may not aid much with weight loss, but it can help you keep from gaining weight as you age. Here's why. New research finds that bariatric surgery is an effective long-term treatment to help control high blood pressure.

Most people associate stretch marks with weight gain, but you can also develop stretch marks from rapid weight loss. New research reveals the states with the highest number of prescriptions for GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy.

Mounjaro is a diabetes medication that may help with weight loss. Here's what you need to know about purchasing it without insurance. Eating up to three servings of kimchi each day is linked to a reduced rate of obesity among men, according to a new study.

This study is observational…. A Quiz for Teens Are You a Workaholic? How Well Do You Sleep? Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. Nutrition Evidence Based The 17 Best Ways to Maintain Weight Loss. By Brianna Elliott, RD on January 16, Why People Regain Weight. Exercise Often. Try Eating Breakfast Every Day.

Eat Lots of Protein. Weigh Yourself Regularly. Be Mindful of Your Carb Intake. Lift Weights. Be Prepared for Setbacks. Stick to Your Plan All Week Long Even on Weekends.

Stay Hydrated. Get Enough Sleep. Control Stress Levels. Find a Support System. Track Your Food Intake. Eat Plenty of Vegetables. Be Consistent. Practice Mindful Eating. Make Sustainable Changes to Your Lifestyle.

The Bottom Line. How we reviewed this article: History. Jan 16, Written By Brianna Elliott. Share this article. Read this next. GLP-1 Drugs Like Ozempic and Mounjaro Linked to Lower Risk of Depression Patients with diabetes who used GLP-1 drugs, including tirzepatide, semaglutide, dulaglutide, and exenatide had a decreased chance of being diagnosed… READ MORE.

Does Vaping Make You Lose Weight? Medically reviewed by Danielle Hildreth, RN, CPT. How Long Does It Take to Recover from Weight Loss Surgery? READ MORE. Why Weight Loss Surgery Is One of the Most Effective Ways to Lower Blood Pressure New research finds that bariatric surgery is an effective long-term treatment to help control high blood pressure.

Can You Get Stretch Marks From Losing Weight?

Instead, people can consume monounsaturated fatty acids MUFA or polyunsaturated fatty acids PUFA , which are types of unsaturated fat. In some cases, removing certain foods from the diet might cause a person to become deficient in some necessary vitamins and minerals. A nutritionist, dietitian, or another healthcare professional can advise a person how to get enough nutrients while they are following a weight loss program.

Self-monitoring is a critical factor in successfully losing weight. People can use a paper diary, mobile app, or dedicated website to record every item of food that they consume each day. They can also measure their progress by recording their weight on a weekly basis.

Those who can track their success in small increments and identify physical changes are much more likely to stick to a weight loss regimen. People can also keep track of their body mass index BMI using a BMI calculator.

Regular exercise is vital for both physical and mental health. Increasing the frequency of physical activity in a disciplined and purposeful way is often crucial for successful weight loss.

One hour of moderate-intensity activity per day, such as brisk walking, is ideal. If one hour per day is not possible, the Mayo Clinic suggests that a person should aim for a minimum of minutes every week.

People who are not usually physically active should slowly increase the amount of exercise that they do and gradually increase its intensity. This approach is the most sustainable way to ensure that regular exercise becomes a part of their lifestyle. In the same way that recording meals can psychologically help with weight loss, people may also benefit from keeping track of their physical activity.

If the thought of a full workout seems intimidating to someone who is new to exercise, they can begin by doing the following activities to increase their exercise levels:. Individuals who have a low risk of coronary heart disease are unlikely to require medical assessment ahead of starting an exercise regimen.

However, prior medical evaluation may be advisable for some people, including those with diabetes. Anyone who is unsure about safe levels of exercise should speak to a healthcare professional.

It is possible to consume hundreds of calories a day by drinking sugar-sweetened soda, tea, juice, or alcohol. Unless a person is consuming a smoothie to replace a meal, they should aim to stick to water or unsweetened tea and coffee.

Adding a splash of fresh lemon or orange to water can provide flavor. Avoid mistaking dehydration for hunger. An individual can often satisfy feelings of hunger between scheduled meal times with a drink of water. Therefore, people should avoid estimating a serving size or eating food directly from the packet.

It is better to use measuring cups and serving size guides. Guessing leads to overestimating and the likelihood of eating a larger-than-necessary portion. These sizes are not exact, but they can help a person moderate their food intake when the correct tools are not available.

Many people benefit from mindful eating, which involves being fully aware of why, how, when, where, and what they eat. People who practice mindful eating also try to eat more slowly and savor their food, concentrating on the taste.

Making a meal last for 20 minutes allows the body to register all of the signals for satiety. Many social and environmental cues might encourage unnecessary eating. For example, some people are more likely to overeat while watching television. Others have trouble passing a bowl of candy to someone else without taking a piece.

By being aware of what may trigger the desire to snack on empty calories, people can think of ways to adjust their routine to limit these triggers.

Stocking a kitchen with diet-friendly foods and creating structured meal plans will result in more significant weight loss. People looking to lose weight or keep it off should clear their kitchen of processed or junk foods and ensure that they have the ingredients on hand to make simple, healthful meals.

Doing this can prevent quick, unplanned, and careless eating. Take the assessment and get matched with a therapist in as little as 48 hours. Avoid distractions while eating. Try not to eat while working, watching TV, or driving.

It's too easy to mindlessly overeat. Pay attention. Eat slowly , savoring the smells and textures of your food. If your mind wanders, gently return your attention to your food and how it tastes. Mix things up to focus on the experience of eating. Try using chopsticks rather than a fork, or use your utensils with your non-dominant hand.

Stop eating before you are full. It takes time for the signal to reach your brain that you've had enough. Don't feel obligated to always clean your plate. Permanent weight loss requires making healthy changes to your lifestyle and food choices. To stay motivated:.

Find a cheering section. Social support means a lot. Programs like Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers use group support to impact weight loss and lifelong healthy eating.

Seek out support—whether in the form of family, friends, or a support group—to get the encouragement you need. Slow and steady wins the race. Losing weight too fast can take a toll on your mind and body, making you feel sluggish, drained, and sick.

Aim to lose one to two pounds a week so you're losing fat rather than water and muscle. Set goals to keep you motivated. Short-term goals, like wanting to fit into a bikini for the summer, usually don't work as well as wanting to feel more confident or become healthier for your children's sakes.

When temptation strikes, focus on the benefits you'll reap from being healthier. Use tools to track your progress. Smartphone apps, fitness trackers, or simply keeping a journal can help you keep track of the food you eat, the calories you burn, and the weight you lose.

Seeing the results in black and white can help you stay motivated. Get plenty of sleep. Lack of sleep stimulates your appetite so you want more food than normal; at the same time, it stops you feeling satisfied, making you want to keep eating.

Sleep deprivation can also affect your motivation, so aim for eight hours of quality sleep a night. Whether or not you're specifically aiming to cut carbs, most of us consume unhealthy amounts of sugar and refined carbohydrates such as white bread, pizza dough, pasta, pastries, white flour, white rice, and sweetened breakfast cereals.

Replacing refined carbs with their whole-grain counterparts and eliminating candy and desserts is only part of the solution, though. Sugar is hidden in foods as diverse as canned soups and vegetables, pasta sauce, margarine, and many reduced fat foods.

Since your body gets all it needs from sugar naturally occurring in food, all this added sugar amounts to nothing but a lot of empty calories and unhealthy spikes in your blood glucose. Calories obtained from fructose found in sugary beverages such as soda and processed foods like doughnuts, muffins, and candy are more likely to add to fat around your belly.

Cutting back on sugary foods can mean a slimmer waistline as well as a lower risk of diabetes. Even if you're cutting calories, that doesn't necessarily mean you have to eat less food. High-fiber foods such as fruit, vegetables, beans, and whole grains are higher in volume and take longer to digest, making them filling—and great for weight-loss.

It's generally okay to eat as much fresh fruit and non-starchy vegetables as you want—you'll feel full before you've overdone it on the calories. Eat vegetables raw or steamed , not fried or breaded, and dress them with herbs and spices or a little olive oil for flavor.

Add fruit to low sugar cereal —blueberries, strawberries, sliced bananas. You'll still enjoy lots of sweetness, but with fewer calories, less sugar, and more fiber.

Bulk out sandwiches by adding healthy veggie choices like lettuce, tomatoes, sprouts, cucumbers, and avocado. Add more veggies to your favorite main courses to make your dish more substantial. Even pasta and stir-fries can be diet-friendly if you use less noodles and more vegetables. Start your meal with salad or vegetable soup to help fill you up so you eat less of your entrée.

Set yourself up for weight-loss success by taking charge of your food environment: when you eat, how much you eat, and what foods you make easily available. Cook your own meals at home. This allows you to control both portion size and what goes in to the food.

Restaurant and packaged foods generally contain a lot more sugar, unhealthy fat, and calories than food cooked at home —plus the portion sizes tend to be larger. Serve yourself smaller portions.

Use small plates, bowls, and cups to make your portions appear larger. Don't eat out of large bowls or directly from food containers, which makes it difficult to assess how much you've eaten.

Eat early. Studies suggest that consuming more of your daily calories at breakfast and fewer at dinner can help you drop more pounds. Eating a larger, healthy breakfast can jump-start your metabolism, stop you feeling hungry during the day, and give you more time to burn off the calories.

Fast for 14 hours a day. Try to eat dinner earlier in the day and then fast until breakfast the next morning. Eating only when you're most active and giving your digestion a long break may aid weight loss.

Plan your meals and snacks ahead of time. You can create your own small portion snacks in plastic bags or containers. Eating on a schedule will help you avoid eating when you aren't truly hungry. Drink more water. Thirst can often be confused with hunger, so by drinking water you can avoid extra calories.

Limit the amount of tempting foods you have at home. If you share a kitchen with non-dieters, store indulgent foods out of sight.

The degree to which exercise aids weight loss is open to debate, but the benefits go way beyond burning calories. Exercise can increase your metabolism and improve your outlook—and it's something you can benefit from right now. Go for a walk, stretch, move around and you'll have more energy and motivation to tackle the other steps in your weight-loss program.

Lack time for a long workout? Three minute spurts of exercise per day can be just as good as one minute workout. Working toward achieving a healthy weight for your height can lower your cholesterol and blood sugar levels, lower blood pressure, reduce stress on bones and joints, and ease the workload on your heart.

Which is why it's important to not only lose the weight but maintain the loss to gain health benefits over a lifetime. Keeping extra weight off requires as much effort and commitment as losing weight in the first place.

Reaching your weight loss goals require changes in diet, eating habits, exercise and, in extreme circumstances, surgery. Continuing to use healthy behaviors can help you maintain weight.

Be aware if you're eating as a response to stress, and use exercise, activity or meditation to manage stress instead. Returning to old habits doesn't mean failure. Paying renewed attention to dietary choices and exercise can help you continue behaviors that maintain weight loss.

Identifying situations such as negative moods and interpersonal difficulties and incorporating methods other than eating to cope with them can prevent you from slipping into old habits. Weight cycling is losing and regaining weight multiple times.

Some studies suggest that weight cycling, also called "yo-yo dieting," may result in some health risks such as high blood pressure, gallbladder disease and high cholesterol. However, these studies are not conclusive. You can avoid weight cycling and maintain healthy weight through physical activity and healthy eating.

One myth about weight cycling is that a person who loses and regains weight will have more difficulty losing weight again and maintaining it compared to someone who hasn't gone through a weight-loss cycle.

Most studies show that weight cycling doesn't affect the rate at which your body burns fuel, and a previous weight cycle doesn't influence your ability to lose weight again. In addition, weight cycling doesn't increase the amount of fat tissue or increase fat distribution around the stomach.

Open trials refer to studies currently recruiting participants or that may recruit participants in the near future. Closed trials are not currently enrolling, but similar studies may open in the future. To schedule an appointment, please call: Share on Facebook.

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Home Health Topics A-Z Healthy eating, nutrition, and diet Maintaining a Healthy Weight Share: Print page Facebook share Linkedin share X social media share. Maintaining a Healthy Weight. On this page: Why does weight change as we age? Why should older adults maintain a healthy weight? How are food, exercise, and calories connected?

What should you eat to lose or gain weight? How much physical activity do I need? Sign up for e-alerts about healthy aging. Email Address. These factors may strongly influence your chances of developing the following diseases and conditions:.

Most adults gain on average pounds each year. Some studies have suggested that having overweight and obesity is associated with lower mortality than having normal weight. If you have gained more than 25 pounds in adulthood, losing that weight may seem daunting.

The number of health-related apps targeting behavior change has boomed, with more than , apps commercially available in For example, if a healthcare provider advises a patient to lose weight to improve a chronic health condition, a nutritional app can provide tracking, accountability, and interaction that engages the patient until the next healthcare provider visit.

Also, most of the studies were of short duration at less than 6 months. Still, health apps are worth a try for anyone starting a healthy lifestyle plan and for those who might not have easy access to other support systems. The contents of this website are for educational purposes and are not intended to offer personal medical advice.

You should seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website.

The Nutrition Source does not recommend or endorse any products. Skip to content The Nutrition Source. The Nutrition Source Menu. Search for:. Home Nutrition News What Should I Eat? What Is a Healthy Weight? How useful are the MET Life Height-Weight Tables?

Does having overweight reduce mortality? There was no distinction made between these unhealthy normal weight people and lean healthy individuals. The groups with overweight and obesity did appear to have a lower mortality rate than this mix of healthy and very unhealthy normal-weighted individuals, and this flaw led to false conclusions that overweight and obesity carry no risk and may offer reduced mortality.

Other large studies that accounted for this and other methodological issues have found that having overweight and obesity is associated with increased risk of mortality compared with having a normal weight. The influence of our environments As important as individual choices are when it comes to health, no one person behaves in a vacuum.

The physical and social environment in which people live plays a huge role in the food and activity choices they make. And unfortunately, in the U.

and increasingly around the globe, our environments are not optimized for healthy living. From the persistent marketing and availability of unhealthy foods and sugary drinks, to time and safety constraints for staying active, individuals are faced with a variety of challenges.

Obesity and its causes have, in many ways, become woven into the fabric of our society. To successfully disentangle them will take a multifaceted approach that not only gives people the skills to make healthier choices but also sets in place policy and infrastructure that support those choices.

Should I try a health and nutrition app? Smartphone or mobile health apps are self-monitoring easily-accessible tools people can use to track their weight and dietary intake. Apps may provide a food database from which to search, a photo function to take pictures of meals, a scanning tool to find food products using barcodes, or food icons.

Other apps monitor eating behaviors such as stress-related or emotional eating, eating quickly or on-the-run, and overeating.

A major benefit of these tools is increased awareness of types of foods eaten and eating behaviors that could be contributing to weight gain or changes in metabolic parameters such as high blood glucose or cholesterol.

References Komaroff M. For researchers on obesity: historical review of extra body weight definitions. Journal of obesity.

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Medical News Today. Health Conditions Health Products Discover Tools Connect. What to know about weight management. Medically reviewed by Amy Richter, RD , Nutrition — By Mary West on July 14, Weight management strategies Nutrition tips Lifestyle tips Seeking additional support Summary Sustainable weight management involves following a balanced diet, regularly exercising, and engaging in stress-reducing techniques.

Weight management strategies. Share on Pinterest Getty Images. Nutrition tips. Lifestyle tips. Seeking additional support. How we reviewed this article: Sources.

Medical News Today has strict sourcing guidelines and draws only from peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations. We avoid using tertiary references. We link primary sources — including studies, scientific references, and statistics — within each article and also list them in the resources section at the bottom of our articles.

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