Smart Tips to Manage Your Weight

Congrats! You've finally lost belly fat and you don't want to see it come back. With these 10 tricks you'll be able to maintain your weight with ease.

1. Build more lean muscle. If you don't yet train with weights, add this type of exercise to your overall program now. If you do, increase the amount of weight you're working with to keep yourself challenged.

2. Fight off hunger with more filling foods. Those who avoided weight gain the best were the ones whose meals kept them feeling full. Keeping that feeling of fullness can be done with foods high in fiber — think fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein.

3. Avoid temptation. This doesn't mean never indulging in a gooey dessert again, but rather picking — and limiting — your moments.

4. Count calories. Use your calculator to keep a running total throughout the day if you have to. Maintaining weight loss is hard; so it's okay to be as careful as you were during the weight- loss phase of your diet.

5. Plan your meals in advance. A maintenance diet has a lot of the same components as a weight-loss diet. Having a meal-by-meal plan that you can stick to, although it has more calories than your diet plan did, can act as a guide to keep you on track.

6. Consider adding minutes to your exercise plan. Experts recommend at least 30 minutes of physical activity five days a week, however, you should aim for 60 to 90 minutes of physical activity every day.

7. Measure your portions. This doesn't mean you have to carry a food scale everywhere you go, but using it as often as possible at home will teach you how to eyeball portion sizes at restaurants.

8. Weigh yourself daily. Daily weigh-ins, which can be discouraging when you're on a diet, can be a boon during maintenance; they let you see, and stop, any slow creep upward as soon as it happens.

9. Include dairy in your diet. By consuming three or more servings of low-fat dairy daily, you are more likely to keep off the weight.

10. Let your plate be your guide. Simply put, when you serve yourself using this method, at least half your plate should be vegetables and the remaining space should be divided evenly between lean protein and whole grains.