Two Years In: What I've Learned
 

Well, it's not quite two years maintaining, but in about two weeks it will be. I've maintained about 45-50 lb. weight loss since the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, 2011. I was 140 when I decided to start maintenance, and I was 136 at my last weigh in. FWIW, here are some discoveries I've made:

1) Maintenance is not as difficult as I thought it would be. There---I've stated it. Last time I posted those words, all of a sudden, maintenance became difficult for a while. But I'm not a superstitious person, so I have no problem asserting it again. There have been times when maintenance has seemed more difficult, but overall, it's easier than I thought it would be.

2) I've had to cut down on my calories a bit (from 2200 per day to about 2100). I don't know whether that's the calorie reduction that comes with aging or whether it's just that I'm not as assiduous as I used to be about weighing and measuring my food.

3) I trust myself more. In the past, if I pigged out, I would panic about regaining my weight. Now, I realize that most people pig out from time to time, and I can get right back on track. I log the calories and move on.

4) The only thing I fear is a change in my routine. Right now, my routine is perfect. If I were to move, get another job, etc. then I would be worried.

I haven't posted in a while, but I wanted to post this to encourage anyone who thinks they'll never maintain. I yo-yoed for years, and if I can maintain, anyone can. Just do what works FOR YOU.

Congrats on the continued success! You're a huge inspiration for sure. :)

That is it for me too. I wonder if the "ease" you're experiencing wrt weight maintenance is an outgrowth of your own general satisfaction with the rest of your life. I think people's weight go up substantially during times of change or instability.

Congratulations on your success! Thanks for sharing! I have yo-yo-yooooooed and I really don't want to do that anymore and so I love hearing about maintenance success stories!

Great update. I am glad you're finding maintenance breezy and able to let loose and recover.

You may be right about this.

Great job the last two years! Woo!

Awesome post, and so encouraging to read; thank you, and congrats!!

Congrats and glad your routine is in place! Having more irregularity than I like is what's made things difficult over the last few years.

Thank you for posting. I once believed that I could not possibly lose a large amount of weight but now have proofed that I can. So I have switched to worrying about maintaining the weight I have lost. Your post and all the other maintainers here are very encouraging to me.

Amen, sistah! Good to see you on the board. As I've said before, I'm a "bad" maintainer. I do so many things "wrong." But in the end the proof's in the maintaining, isn't it?

F.

Freelancemomma - the fact that you break some of the "rules" we all hear so much about is very encouraging to someone like me. While I have to have more annoying rules for myself than you do, I'm much quicker to recover when I break one of my rules when I remind myself that folks like you maintain without having that rule at all. It's a weird mental thing, but so helpful.

I'm not doing a good job explaining this (I can't find my words this morning, need coffee) but basically, your rulelessness enables me to cope with my own rules so much more gooder. ;)

Congratulations!! That's a huge accomplishment :D

I agree that maintenance is easier than I thought. I've regained 10-12 lbs of what I'd initially lost, but that's because I *binged* my way up at a stressful time in my life, not because it was so hard to eat at maintenance level. I'm still keeping off 25 lbs 18 years later. And still trying to find the mojo to lose those 10-12.

That fact that you're maintaining a 25 lb. loss after so many years is so encouraging to me! I am proud of my two years, but from what I've read, five years of maintenance is what is required to get out of the typical danger zone of regaining. It's good to see a post from someone who has been maintaining for more than triple that time.

Ha! Sorry to say that I regained that weight *precisely* five years after I'd lost it :( My original goal is a vague recollection by now. I have lost 8-10 lbs several times in the past 13 years, but I haven't been able to maintain. It's not that my goal is too low (FAR from that, and I maintained it for five years), it's just that I always end up binging my way up. Then something hits me and I go like "what do you think you're doing, you'll regain everything!" and I stop. I just don't understand why that thought can't hit me BEFORE I regain! Anyway, I suppose my 25 lbs is reassuring. I barely remember what I looked like at my highest weight, and can't believe I ever let myself get that heavy!