[JohnKY]

Hi,

What a great and active group of maintainers you have here. I was reluctant to post at first as I didn't know if this was an all-ladies forum. The admin tells me it's okay.

I'm a formerly obese 37-year-old guy from Kentucky. I lost about 115 lbs in 2000-01 and my wife lost 55 lbs at the same time on a low-glycemic, whole-foods diet and a program of regular exercise. Mostly hiking. We've kept it off since.

Been on the lookout for a good maintainers forum. The Internet is awash in weight loss forums, but it seems very few of them have a strong maintainer presence.

Here to share strategies and support for fitness in the long-term.

Good to meet you all!

John

[WaterRat]

John! Great job on the weight loss - and the maintenance! I lost about 70 pounds in 2000, but unfortunately I'm in the process of losing some of it again. Come on over to Living Maintenance, where we chat.....

[mandalinn82]

Welcome! Not officially a maintainer yet, but I'm so darn close (and the scale says I'm maintaining anyway at this point) and I get so happy when we get new members that I had to say hello.

The men on the board are few, but vocal. Just wait until you "meet" Gary!

Again, welcome!

Amanda

[bargoo]

Glad to have you here, I can lose , but have difficulty maintaining.That is why I had to start over, the starting weight is not my highest weight but the weight I was when I started over, again.

[JohnKY]

Thanks!

And congratulations on your weight losses!

Maintenance for me has always been a difficult balance. That's why I wanted to seek out a community of people doing the same thing.

We don't keep a scale at home anymore. Just checking our weight at the gym or doctor's. I've got to know myself well enough that I know if I've put on or lost more than a couple lbs. I try and adjust my intake and exercise accordingly. But it does seem to always be a struggle to remain at a set weight.

I've read that you never really lose fat cells once they're created, that they lie in wait for additional resources to come their way so they can fill up again. I think I visualize those millions of fat cells I must have, standing by to wreck my efforts. Surely this is why formerly obese folks can accumulate weight faster than people that have never been heavy. I guess thinking of that sort of helps keep me in line.

John

[Meg]

We'd be delighted to have a gentleman join us!

You're so right about maintenance being ignored and overlooked. Is it any surprise that the statistics about weight regain are so dismal? Popular culture and diet books tell us that the hard work is over once the weight is off and - la de da - we just live our lives like 'normal' people. Wrong, wrong, wrong!

I'm passionate about maintenance and my goal is to have everyone here at 3FC keep off every pound that they've worked so hard to lose. That's why we have the Maintainers Forum here -- because maintenance needs as much group support, knowledge, and encouragement as weight loss.

We're looking forward to hearing lots more from you.

[alinnell]

Welcome John!! Yay, another guy on the board! We do have a few here and there and it is always refreshing to hear that it is not just us girls who struggle with weight loss and maintenance. We like a guys perspective from time to time, too!

[JohnKY]

Thanks for the welcome!

Good to meet you all!

John

[SoulBliss]

Congrats and welcome

[Mel]

Welcome John! You're right about the internet being awash in diet forums...and that's the easy part! OK, not so easy. But for me, maintance has been the toughest and the biggest eye-opener of my life. I'm at five and a half years, though I've been changing a lot while maintaining by setting the fitness bar higher and higher.

Congratulations!

Mel