The Dream Team on Keeping It Off

Each month iVillage poses a different question to our Dream Team of experts. Here's what we asked this month: Keeping it off ‑- if you lost a few pounds, what are the best ways to keep the weight off?

Lynn Grieger, RD, CDE

The big three for weight maintenance are keeping a food journal, getting regular exercise and activity, and monitoring your progress. A daily food journal helps keep us focused on healthier food choices and on track with our goals. Keep a log of portion sizes, meal times, hunger and fullness ratings for each time you eat, calories, grams of carbohydrate or fat ‑- the choice is yours. Just be sure to write down what's really most important to you personally, and not what someone else tells you to do.

The new dietary guidelines recommend 60 to 90 minutes of moderate to intense exercise every day for people to maintain weight loss. Don't be afraid to try a different exercise or really branch out into something new and exciting like belly dancing, clogging or rock climbing! Continue to set goals and monitor your progress, and not just with your weight on the scale. Focus on other more tangible goals to keep the weight off. For example, set goals for the number of servings of vegetables you plan to eat each day, or the number of desserts you'll eat per week, or even the number of times you eat fast food for lunch. Stay focused on your goals, and you'll keep the weight off.

Lisa Lillien "Hungry Girl"

Keeping weight off isn't easy. For some reason it goes on way faster than it comes off. (That sucks, doesn't it?) But if you've lost a few... congrats! I think the best way to keep weight off is through exercise. Exercising is great because it not only burns calories but it keeps your metabolism up too. So even if you have to trick yourself into exercising, do it. Walk around the mall, dance around the house, take the stairs instead of the elevator, grab a friend and go for a hike. Every little bit counts... burn, baby, burn!

For more from Lisa Lillien, go to hungry-girl.com.

Liz Neporent, MA

Hopefully, you kept a log all during your diet so you have a record of the lifestyle changes you made. If you did, you have a working blueprint of what has been successful for you. When you find your resolve weakening, go back to page one and repeat the plan. It worked before, so there's no reason it shouldn't continue to work. Even if you haven't been tracking, start now. Besides giving you written proof of your efforts, keeping a diet and exercise diary can be motivating in and of itself. And it can keep you honest. No one wants to see zero minutes of working out written on a page, do they? If keeping a log isn't your thing, consider joining a workout group, hiring a trainer for a session or two or changing up your workout and eating plan to something new. Any fresh change can help keep you interested.

Stacy Berman, Trainer

You made your resolution and have now reached your goal of losing those few extra pounds you put on. The question now becomes, "How do I keep it off?" The answer is to maintain healthy eating habits and to exercise regularly. You can't think of eating right as a diet. You must think of it as a lifestyle change. Ask yourself when starting any program, nutritional or fitness, "Can I do this, or some version of this forever?" If your answer is no, you have a very high chance of gaining the weight back once you start with your old habits. Make it a point to exercise regularly. That does not mean you have to go to the gym every day; instead, take long walks after dinner or walk up steps rather than taking the elevator. Be sure to stay active and remember that health is a lifetime endeavor, not a quick fix.