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Once you’ve made a plan for how you’re going to lose weight, you need to keep losing weight, of course, and maintain your new weight once you reach it. Many people lose weight successfully, and then gain it all right back, so you want to make sure that you maintain your weight once you reach your goal.

You may not realize this, but at some point, you are likely to hit a “plateau” in your weight loss and reach a point where you’re not losing weight. This can be a little disturbing, but once you realize the cause, it’s not that big a deal. You see, once you lose a certain amount of weight, your caloric “set point” will go down, and you’ll need to figure your new set point and reduce your caloric intake again. Before you decide you’re at a plateau, allow yourself two or three weeks, or even a month, to make sure you’re really not losing weight with your current routine, and then try dropping your caloric intake (or increasing your exercise) to reduce your calories by another 250 calories.

When you weigh yourself, make sure you step on the scales first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach. Weigh on the same day every day, and just make a routine out of it. You need to weigh at the same time of day and on an empty stomach to get the most accurate result.

In addition to weighing yourself, there are other ways to measure your weight loss, and you may wish to use a combination of methods. First, you might wish to take pictures, or have someone else do so, every month or so to really visually track your progress. You may also want to keep measurements of your waist, hips, arms and chest. As these measurements go down, you’ll get a very clear idea of your progress. Finally, you may wish to have your body fat tested regularly, at your gym or doctor, or by doing it yourself.

Okay, you’ve lost your target amount of weight. Congratulations! What now? Basically, nothing changes. You keep eating balanced meals and working out. If you go back to the way you used to live, you’ll also go back to the way you used to look.

If you’ve lost all the weight you want to lose, but are still losing, add a hundred or two hundred calories to your daily diet and watch your weight for a couple of weeks. If you are still losing, you should add more calories. Gaining? Drop the calories. Right where you want to be? Great! Keep it up!

Just a few more tips, and then you’re on your way. First, if you’re losing weight, you probably need to drink about a gallon of water a day to help your body flush away fat and toxins, and maintain your health. Pure water is best, but low-carb sports drinks are fine, too, especially if you’re working out a lot and losing a lot of nutrients. Just make sure you get the low-sugar variety.

Learn to read food labels, and watch what you’re putting in your body. Read the label on everything; you’ll be amazed where you find hidden sugar and fat. Become a conscious consumer.

And make sure you’re working out, even though most people think they lose exercise. You can lose weight by diet alone, but you only get fit and tone through diet combined with exercise. You’ll feel so much better, and look better, too.

Best of luck with your weight loss journey.