A good weight loss plan will include exercise to alleviate stagnation

Water weight comes back once a healthy diet is resumed, and loss of muscle can slow metabolism, making it even harder to lose weight the next time. Consuming healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, etc. and allowing a low calorie treat every now and then as part of your eating plan can help you from feeling deprived, while still allowing for weight loss.

Things to think about:

Those who are the most successful at keeping weight off examined the eating habits that got them into trouble in the first place and substituted new ways of looking at food. Faulty patterns included skipping breakfast, dining out often, consuming alcohol or other high calorie drinks, and eating for emotional reasons rather than hunger.

So-called comfort foods boost certain chemicals in the body responsible for making us feel good in the short term. This is followed by the inevitable “crash,” which leads us back to wanting more of the same pick-me-up food.

Just trying to talk yourself out of grabbing a candy bar is probably not going to work in the moment but getting out of that environment can work wonders. Exercise doesn’t just burn excess body fat, but it provides a focus other than food, alleviates boredom and creates positive, healthy chemical changes in the body that help regulate appetite and improve mood.

The scale is one way to check progress, but it doesn’t tell you if pounds lost are from water weight, body fat or from losing muscle, as it will be a combination of all three.

A better way to track body fat levels is by taking a waistline measurement.

Use a cloth tape measure and put it around the widest part of the waist, at or just below the navel, being careful not to pull it too tightly. Record this number and re-measure every month. A waist size of 40 inches or more for men and 35 inches or more for women is considered high risk.

To be noted: Bloating can make an otherwise normal looking waistline look distended and can be triggered by what we eat and drink and by certain medical conditions.

Some of the top belly bloaters include sugar alcohol, high sodium foods, refined carbs, processed meats, carbonated drinks, soda and alcohol.

Just because a product is labeled as low fat, low carb, or ‘light’ does not mean it is low calorie. Low calorie foods are labeled as such.

Your best bet is to check the ingredient listing, along with serving size and calories per serving before deciding whether it fits into your weight loss plan.