How to drop weight and keep it down

Many baby boomers are active these days, whether they are bicycling, playing tennis or doing yoga. While regularly working out can carry immense health benefits, it can sometimes be frustrating when your weight doesn't correspond with fitness levels. 

The trick to sustained weight loss, however, may not be so clean cut. A new study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine shows that limiting sugar, eating healthier snacks and joining an exercise program can initially help shed some pounds, but the effects may not be permanent.

In fact, it seems that you may have to switch gears to keep up the improvement. The research team discovered that adults may be able to maintain weight loss by eating lean sources of protein, continually exercising and staying disciplined. If you want to reward yourself for a good workout, that's fine, but the key is to remind yourself why losing weight is important in the first place.

Changing things up "after the six-month time period of average maximal weight loss has passed, is really important," study researcher Christopher Sciamanna told WebMD.com. "It seems somewhat similar to love and marriage. What gets you to the altar is likely to be quite different than what keeps you married in the long-term. [And] not recognizing this transition and adapting with different practices will also get you in trouble."

Although it can seem like a hassle to keep a workout interesting, that isn't the case at Del Webb communities, where more than 70 percent of residents are regularly active. The state-of-the-art fitness centers have everything you need to stay fit, and many of the communities offer miles of trails for walking, biking and hiking.