Photo: Courtesy of Josie Maurer
2 of 4
2. Build Strength
Josie Maurer
Weight lost: 45 pounds
For how long: 7 years
When Josie Maurer, 44, first started on her weight-loss journey, she focused on what many of us do: cardio (by walking more) and watching what she ate (by counting calories). "But as I lost weight, I still felt like [my body] looked wobbly," she says. "So, I started integrating strength training and everything changed. The weight fell off so much faster, and I began to look and feel so much better than I had before."
Seven years and 45 lost pounds later, Maurer says strength training has been vital to boosting her ability to keep the weight off—even after two pregnancies. She spends about 30 minutes every morning performing upper-body and core work then, during the workday, she integrates lower-body moves—such as squats and lunges—into downtime, such as when she's waiting for the microwave to heat up her packed lunch.
The good news about strength training is that a little time spent doing it can go a long way. One
study found that as few as 80 minutes a week of resistance training (or aerobics) helped prevent belly fat regain after losing weight.
