You met your goal weight and the hard work has paid off! Now a new wardrobe, new goals, and new life await you. However, staying at one goal weight is stressful because of daily fluctuations e.g. bloat.

Before you transition to weight maintenance after weight loss or weight gain, choose a goal weight range. Other ranges such as the Body Mass Index (BMI) are unsuitable because they are ‘One size fits all’. A personal weight maintenance range is better because it is chosen by you and made for you.

How do you choose the perfect weight maintenance range? Take these 3 steps to find out.

1.    Find out your height

Short people show weight differences (losses or gains) faster because their weight doesn’t cover a large area. This means that short people drop clothes sizes sooner than a tall person, for example, a man over six feet tall might take 20 lbs to drop a size while a woman closer to five feet tall only needs 10 lbs. Remember the weight difference it takes for you to change clothes sizes when you choose yo ur weight maintenance range. If your range is too small, you’ll be stressed out every time you gain or lose a few lbs. If your range is too big, your clothes won’t fit anymore.

2.    Get a fitness assessment

To protect us, our bodies fight attempts at reaching unhealthy weight maintenance ranges. Always remember what’s on the inside. If your insides suffer eventually the consequences will show outside. Of course you should be happy at your goal weight, but you won’t be happy if you’re sick. Make sure that qualified professionals – doctors, dieticians, and fitness trainers – agree with your maintenance range.

3.    Get a reality check

Could you stay within your range forever? Would your range survive a weekend mishap or the holiday season? Do you look and feel great at your range? If you answered, “No” to any of those questions, especially the first one, change your range. Your weight maintenance range must suit your needs and goals or you won’t be maintaining for long, let alone forever. Ready for another dose of realism? Always remember that staying at a certain range isn’t going to solve all your problems. Some people become obsessed with ‘Just 5 more lbs’ to reveal their dream body. Unfortunately, things beyond your control – saggy skin and droopy breasts – might stop you from being totally happy, so you might have to settle with being content instead of the media’s image of perfection.

To summarise, your range must account for your height, health, and happiness. Those three steps should reveal your perfect weight maintenance range, where you must focus on staying forever. If you have conquered weight loss or weight gain, weight maintenance is more than doable but only with the right range. Choose wisely, maintainer, and good luck!