Are you afraid of getting fat again? Learn to live without the fear of getting fat again.

Trading an unhealthy lifestyle for a healthy one. Finding time for exercise. Starting exercising regularly. Making eating healthy and leading an active life a top priority. Seeing result. Small scale victory. Introducing a new type of exercise. Adjusting your meals and meal proportions. Giving up chocolate. Losing fat on your hips. Needing smaller clothes. Redefining your whole wardrobe to fit your smaller body. Going to the gym for the first time. Buying the first quality gym clothes. Wearing it to workout instead of those ratty old sweat pants. People complementing you on how you’ve lost weight. You being able to see your new fit body in the mirror. It’s a long journey, it doesn’t happen in a week, it takes time, dedication. And then starting to obsess over getting fat again.

Being afraid of becoming fat again will be one of the issues you will need to address after you lose significant weight and become fit.

The reasons behind being afraid of becoming fat again

First of all, you will need to identify why is  it that you feel like you need to be afraid of getting fat again. Take your time to think about why you are afraid of becoming fat again. Think hard, dig deep. Be honest with yourself about why you are afraid of becoming fat again!

Are you afraid of becoming fat again because you:

#1. Skipped regular  workouts for weeks?

#2. Started eating more junk food and/or sweets?

#3. Scale is showing weight gain?

#4. None of the above!

Now that you’ve identified of why you are afraid of getting fat again you will need to address that fear. Find the reason below and read the tips on how to live without the fear of getting fat again.

7 tips to live without the fear of getting fat again

Choose one of the 4 reasons listed above for you being afraid of becoming fat again, and read on to see how to address that issue efficiently.

Reason #1: Skipped regular  workouts for weeks

You have guilty conscience because you’ve skipped workouts. The fear of becoming fat again is your conscience telling you that you’ve fallen off the right tracks you were on. This is actually a good thing, meaning that your body and mind cares about your health. It is warning you that you need to get back to your active lifestyle.

a.) In case of being lazy or life interfering

In order to silence your conscience, you will need to start exercising again. If you’ve had a longer break, then introduce yourself to exercising slowly. Start by exercising 2 times per week, and then gradually increase that, until you reach the desired number of times and hours per week you were satisfied with.

>>>How to restart workout routine

b.) In case of injury or sickness

In case you have an injury or are unable to workout for a longer period of time, see this guide to help you maintain your weight and gains>>>

>>>How not to freak out about losing workout routine while injured or sick

Reason #2: Started eating more junk food and/or sweets

See why is it that you have the need to eat more junk food or sweets?

a.) In case you’re easing an emotional situation with eating

Looking back I see that one of the reasons I became obese was because of how I handled stress. Every time I faced stress, I ate. Sometimes I ate anything I could put my hands on: chocolate, biscuits, leftovers from the fridge. You name anything, if I was stressed, I ate it.

Eating to ease stress or sadness is a coping mechanism. After you eat, the parasympathetic nervous system gets active when your body hits the “rest and digest” state. Basically you fall into rest mode. So it makes it a perfect subject for misusing this system. Feeling anxious? Stressed? Sad? EAT! Whoah, I feel calm and comforted now.

Solution: Find another way to cope with stress. I started doing yoga and meditating for 20 minutes per day, but you can use anything that helps you handle stress (unless it’s eating junk food and sweets).

b.) In case you’re eating more because you are hungry

In this case you need to examine your hunger. One of the reasons might be that you are starving yourself and your body needs more food and that’s why you are feeling hungry. Maybe the number of calories you calculated that you need to eat are not enough: it depends on your activity level as well. So if you are doing more vigorous exercise such as weight training, you will need to eat more. Just make it a healthy foods, with the right amount of protein/fats/carbs. And most importantly:

Eat until 80% full.

The other reason behind eating more may be that your meals are not balanced out throughout the day. I used to hardly eat during the day while at the office, so naturally I became really hungry once I got home. So I ate my lunch/supper, dessert, chocolate, fruits, nuts, ice cream, cheese. I ate my supper at the table, and then walked back and forth towards the fridge eating until I felt full. Introducing in-between healthy snacks (such as fruits or veggies) while in the office helped me balance out my meals throughout the day. So I’m not feeling hungry anymore and are eating the needed amount of calories for my body and activity level.

Reason #3: Scale is showing weight gain

Stepping on the scale to check your weight and see weight gain might freak you out and make you think that you’ll become fat again. However, this is not so simple. Read on.

a.) In case weighting yourself occasionally

Stepping on the scale occasionally is fine because it can help you keep yourself on track. You’ll notice a major weight gain while it is happening and you’ll be able to interfere.

However, pay attention to the fact that muscle is heavier than fat. So maybe you are experiencing what I was: gaining muscle and losing fat meaning that the number on the scale goes up. However, if you look at yourself, you can clearly see that it’s not fat that you are gaining, it’s muscle. So if you suddenly have visible biceps without flexing or bubble booty, then the weight gain a sign of you gaining muscles!

b.) In case you are weighting yourself daily

Stop. Just stop weighting yourself every day. It’s not healthy to obsess over your weight. Instead focus on the weight of your dumbbells going up instead of focusing on the numbers of your scale going down. Remember, daily fluctuations in weight don’t mean a thing. So you might as well stop obsessing over the numbers on that scale.

Reason #4: None of the above

If your reason of being afraid of becoming fat again is none of the reasons addressed above, then it means that you have some issues you need to deal with.

Losing weight is not easy. Keeping it off in the long run is harder. It needs discipline and developing healthy habits. After becoming fit you will certainly go through a phase where you are afraid of becoming fat again, and it is okay. You can use this fear to motivate you, to fuel your workout or healthy habits. However, you must pay close attention to that fear of getting fat again, because it can lead you down the dark path of obsession over your weight.

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