I am not the poster child for weight loss. Growing up I never had much of a weight issue actually. I ate what I wanted when I wanted and didn’t think much about diets or anything of  the sort. That is until I entered college and gained the dreaded “Freshman 20″(which in my case was actually around 30). Drizzling ranch dressing on every piece of food wasn’t such a big deal in high school so when my obsession with it continued in college I didn’t realize the end result would be a much slower metabolism. Fast forward more than 15 years later and I’ve been on more diets than I can count and my weight has continued to fluctuate. That is until now.

I’d like to preface this by saying that in no way do I believe I have all the answers. I am simply telling you what has worked for me in the hopes that it works for you. So back to my weight lost journey…I recently lost 15 pounds (small step for man giant step for mankind) and I’ve been able to keep it off by following some simple steps. I admit, I still have a lot more weight I’d like to lose but what’s been very comforting to me during this whole thing is that while I’m not necessarily losing weight as rapidly as I’d like (it bares noting that I’m not consistently working on it either), I also haven’t gained back the 15 that I lost. These tips haven’t been hard to stick to and they’ve worked for ME, everyone is different so use what works for you and fits into your lifestyle. But if you want to know what I’m doing to keep the weight off, keep reading…

1. Keep Snacks Readily Available

I’m a snacker. I quite literally have had a love affair with donuts since the day I was old enough to pop one into my mouth on my own. I find it almost impossible to walk past a donut shop and not come out with some sugary confection and an extra-large fizzy drink to wash it down with. Because I know this I must keep healthy snacks readily available to me. Thank God for  Yoplait Plenti’s new Greek Yogurt! It totally curbs my sweets craving while also being low in calories. Even better is that it comes in yummy flavors like black cherry, strawberry, spiced apple and coconut to name a few.

I love the richness of this yogurt and the super cute packaging just adds to the experience. Most important though is the taste! Sweets cravings be gone because this yogurt tastes a lot like a dessert without the guilt. So if you want to keep the weight off find a snack that is easy to fit into your lifestyle as this one and that makes you feel like you’re cheating when you’re not.

2. Take the Stairs

I know this one isn’t some big “a-ha” moment. You’ve heard it before “Take the stairs instead of the elevator whenever possible”. My spin on this however is that while I take the stairs, I’ve never climbed more than a flight or two at a time. You don’t need to climb every flight of stairs, sometimes the small amount you do goes a long way. I never noticed how many opportunities I had to climb a flight of stairs until I started being cognizant of it. Now I take the stairs when I’m on the train, when I’m at work, when I’m going to an appointment. There’s just SO many opportunities to take the stairs!

3.Make Better Choices

So I’m going to say something that may cause you to cringe-I eat out about 90% of the time. I’m just not a cook, never have been and I probably never will be. Which I know is probably really odd being that I run a blog centered around entertaining at home. However I outsource this job and if I do cook it’s something super simple that takes no more than 30 minutes to prepare. This while super convenient (and very expensive I’m sure you’re thinking) could be a problem for people who are looking to get a handle on their weight. It’s not a problem for me though because when I do eat out I make healthier choices. For instance, I am OBSESSED with McDonald’s. Like if you ask me at any given moment what I feel like eating, McDonald’s is usually my go-to, but when you’re trying to lose weight or keep the weight off that you’ve lost, McDonald’s is the Devil. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to McDonald’s for every meal but I do like to indulge at least once a week. So in order to do that I’ve taken to getting “Mighty Meals” which are a kids style portion of their bigger meals. I’ve found that most fast food places offer these types of portions and also have healthy menu items to choose from as well and when I head out to dinner with my girlfriends at a fancier establishment we’ve taken to sharing meals with one another as well. This way we can indulge in that extra glass of wine or dessert. It’s also worth noting that while do indulge in my  Mickey D’s craving from time to time, I make it a point to keep my other meals fairly light.

4.Purchase Cute WorkOut Gear

At the risk of sounding totally vain, I’ve found that I am more inclined to work out when I have something cute to wear to the gym. It just makes me feel better when my workout clothes look good on my non worked out body. If I’m going to be the fat girl in the gym I may as well be the fat girl with cute workout gear. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not putting on 7 layers of makeup, I’m just making sure my yoga pants don’t have holes and my t-shirts don’t have tears or stains. It honestly just does wonders for my self-esteem to walk into a packed gym with muscle heads and look like someone who may be overweight but still looks fabulous!

5.Don’t Give Up

I have messed up many times while on this journey, I have gained a few pounds, but I’ve lost them again by getting back on track. It’s so easy to get discouraged when you step on the scale and see the number go up, but know that just as easily as the numbers can go up they can go back down again if you do not get give up and make small tweaks to your lifestyle. I think at times we can be discouraged by the amount of weight we have to lose and the big changes we think we seemingly have to make, that we give up before we even start. But like the saying goes, take it one day at a time. Know that like everything else, this takes works and there will be good days and bad days. Just don’t quit!