Hi Lightrae,

Welcome! You should absolutely stick around here! I completely understand what you say about not wanting to get caught up in the numbers and negative self-image that can sometimes be connected with weight loss and/or a more health-conscious lifestyle. Some of us might use the scale as a tool to help us be aware of weight gain before it gets out of hand, but it is certainly not any kind of requirement. If you don't pay attention to numbers, it doesn't matter a whit to anyone here! And there is plenty to focus on being healthy without scale numbers - eating foods to give more energy, improve cholesterol or blood pressure numbers, weight training goals, cardio goals like running a 5K, are just a few of the other "goals" some of the people around here shoot for.

And like you, my family (on both sides) has a history of obesity, heart disease, cancers, dimensia, alcoholism... just to name a few. I was quite overweight as a teenager, but I continue to focus on health now that I'm at a healthier weight for the same reasons as you. I'm 26, but I'm trying to avoid those problems as I age.

My point is that this is a great place for you!

So please, dive into our conversations and join us! Glad you're here!

thank you megan and rockinrobin for the welcomes.

hello!

i always thought that losing weight would be my biggest hurdle, but now that i'm on the other side i find that i'm maybe more entangled in numbers internally now than when i was outwardly counting and obsessing openly in my fitness journals.

my start weight was 165 and my goal weight was 125, but my doctor told me 130 was healthy for my height so i should stay around there. i've been up and down the 130 mark for the past few months and it's making me insane! currently i'm at 136.5 and trying to lose.

the worst part of maintaining is knowing that i've been less before so it's almost like i beat myself at a more sinister and intense level because it's like i've failed. i can't help but live in the numbers....but it's not so much calories now as it is clothing sizes [which i know are insubstantial BS anyway], and the scale.....i feel healthy and all that jazz, but i knock myself down because of my jean size.....[i'm currently enforcing a jean boycott]

anyway, i should save this rant for the appropriate thread. i found this site through a friend who swears by it. i'm looking for the support and community a maintainer needs in order to safely ***** about "fat days" without getting the stink eye....

i applaud everyone for reaching their goals and i look fwd to getting support and also helping others along the way. maintaining is difficult!

thanks for reading ^_^

Welcome Blue Parade! Congratulations on all of your hard work and accomplishments! The head and numbers games of maintenance can be very daunting, I agree. I'm still trying to figure it all out myself. But I'm glad I've got so many supportive and understanding people here to talk to and listen to me. I don't really have anyone IRL who I can relate to about weight maintenance, so this forum is a wonderful place for me. I'm so glad that you found us!

Tell us about yourself!
While I am new to the maintainers forum, I am not new to 3FC. Most of my story can be read by following the link in my signature, so I won't re-post it here.

• Is this the first time or one of many times that you've tried to lose weight? Definitely it was one of many, but thankfully - due to the lessons I have learned here at 3FC, it was the last
• Are you where you want to be? Almost. I would love to be at 125 with 130 as a "bumper weight".
• How has life changed for you since you've lost the weight? I have more balance in my life. I do more things with others, and I have hobbies (like hiking) that help keep me fit. I feel more confident in my work environment and I love helping others along their journey.
• If you're maintaining, what's that like for you? So far, it is easy - but it doesn't look much different than losing did. I suspect that the challenge will come this winter when I have to rely on indoor forms of exercise. I think the novelty will have worn off and could bring some challenges. Time will tell.
• Do you exercise regularly? Yes, though moderately. I try to rotate among fitness ball/weights/pilates/yoga/resistance band workouts 5 mornings a week, and then either walk or dance 4-5 times a week after work. Weekends are "off" times, but often include activities that are quite physical in nature.
• Now that you're near or at your goal, what are your concerns? Exercising faithfully. I truly think (maybe naively) that I have made lifestyle changes that are sustainable where food is concerned. Stress eating is non-existent and I am enjoying eating mindfully. Again, time will tell.

And anything else that you might want to share with us! How absolutely inspirational everyone here has been for me. Without your success stories and faithful participation at 3FC, I don't think I would have assembled all of the necessary keys to unlock the secrets to maintenance. Learning that I had to change me, instead of limiting food for a prescribed period of time, is a lesson that I needed to learn, and I don't think I would have, without you.

Hello there!

I've been maintaining my goal weight (130-132 lbs.) for 2 1/2 months so thought I'd just slide on over here.

I've been a faithful poster in the "featherweight" threads for over a year now and have lost 17 lbs. I've never been obese but always carried just enough extra weight to not really love my body.

I have practiced, over the many many years I've been dieiting/bingeing etc., a quite unhealthy form of maintenance. I would drink alcohol and binge eat all weekend and then starve myself and exercise like mad all week. I generally fluctuated about 3-5 lbs. every week for years.

That has stopped. I find I am now maintaining my weight by healthy eating all the time and I've given up alcohol entirely (since I just immediately cave and start eating after a glass of wine or a beer).

I still stress eat but nothing like the binges. My body has started saying no to junk food. I'm looking at the long term now (I'm 51) and realize that I've got to just do this for the rest of my life.

Loooking forward to chatting and getting to know all of you in the weekly thread.

Dagmar

Hi everyone!! So excited to be here...well, almost

Is this the first time or one of many times that you've tried to lose weight?

Definitely one of many times...I just never stuck with it! Finally, this year I came to the essential realization that I had no other option but to make a lifestyle change if I wanted to be slim and healthy. So several months ago I started exercising every day and eating small portions of nutritious foods - no diets, calorie counting or specific food plans for me, just plain old watching what I eat and working out. To my surprise, I have been able to lose about 1lb/week during the summer and only have a few more to go!!

Are you where you want to be?

While my weight is down, I would like to keep working towards a firmer body. I still feel chubby at 105lbs, so adding muscle to my frame is my current goal.

How has life changed for you since you've lost the weight?

Well, it has only been 3.5 months since my "journey" began, but I am enjoying life more and more as I get healthier! I am less self-conscious and clothes shopping is so much easier when you are proportioned. Physically, I don't become winded from doing something as simple as walking up the stairs quickly.

Do you exercise regularly?

Yes!! And that will not change until I am too old to move...

Now that you're near or at your goal, what are your concerns?

Gaining it back, of course....I am studying abroad in Spain this year, and my main fear is destroying all the hard work I've done by eating too much yummy food But I am planning on exercising at a gym near the university I'll be attending, so that I can explore the local cuisine without simultaneously expanding my waistline.

Also, since I used to hide behind my weight somewhat and use it as an excuse (i.e., "When I'm thin, I'll <insert risk/reward here>"), I am slightly concerned that I STILL won't go after what I want...like many of you probably learned, being "thin" doesn't automatically fix everything in your life. I am still the shy girl I was before, only more compact So my goal is to transfer the knowledge I have gained from weight loss, that I can do something I set my mind to, to other areas of my life.

I hope to remain accountable and find support here in the future, which doesn't seem so difficult after reading your posts since so many of you are very inspirational!!

Hi Kimberly!

I'm so glad you've joined us! Congratulations on all of your health accomplishments so far. You know, I've heard/read a lot of people who say that when they study abroad in European countries in some ways it's easier to maintain their weight loss because people in Europe tend to walk more, appreciate truly delicious/quality food more, and eat more intuitively. Hopefully you will find this is true. Sounds like a great experience. I hope to "see" you around!

Countingdown, welcome to you too! I'm glad you've joined the maintainers and congratulations on all of your hard work!

Dagmar, welcome, again, glad that I see you around the maintainers forum already.

I just realized that I've posted several things on the Living Maintenance section, but never got to the Introduction part... So, here I am in a nutshell...

As far back as I can remember I've never been comfortable with my weight. I was never the biggest girl in my class, but was never the smallest either. I was always self conscious about my appearance, whether it was about my poochy tummy or my non-existent boobies. I always felt like I should be skinnier than I was - I have a pretty small frame that just seemd like it was meant to be carrying less weight than I made it carry. This self conscious feeling was compounded by my 5'3" mom who weighed 105-115 pounds when I was young and constantly felt like she was overweight. She was always talking about how she needed to diet, had to lose weight, how disgusted she was with herself for getting bigger. Looking at myself through that vision said "wow, she is disgusted with herself for weighing 105, she must really be disgusted with me for weighing 110, 120, 135, etc..." I used to hide snack chips under my bed so I could eat at night when no one would see me. I said it was because my brother always ate my favorite things if I didn't hide them, that was a lie to make myself feel better.

I outgrew her when I was in junior high so we couldn't share clothes anymore - she commented on that a lot too. As an adult, I realize that she had her own body issues, ones that she still hasn't dealt with to this day. She is still unhappy with her weight, only now it is because she went from an unhealthy 82 pounds to an only slightly less unhealthy 97 pounds. She has an assortment of health problems, all of which I track back to never eating right. It worries me. I also realize as an adult that I'm 4 inches taller than her, so it makes sense I would outweigh her, even as a teenager.

Enter my brother's girlfriend, now wife. Cute, thin, smart, big boobs, great hair, loved to shop. The daughter my mother had always wanted me to be - they shopped for clothes, talked on the phone, shared clothes. I acted like it didn't bother me and told people how bad she was for my brother and treated her like poo. As an adult, she is great for him - and I learn as a grown up that her thin was hard fought.

I let myself gradually gain weight all through high school and college, always telling myself 'when I weigh XXX' I'll do something about it. Never did anything about it. When I graduated college I was in a size 16-18, weighed somewhere in the 140 range - didn't really weigh myself, didn't want to know. Took a job I hated out of state for a year, came home just under 150, started working as a trainer for a fast food franchisee. I was on my feet all the time, but was eating fast food every meal. Lost back down to the 145 range, but ate nothing but french fries it seemed.

Enter alcoholic ex-husband, well at the time, he was soon to be husband who told me he had stopped drinking. I ran all the time, lost down to 135 before our wedding - the on my feet all the time thing. Didn't have any healthy habits, just running flat out, never eating, stressed all the time weight loss. He commended the weight loss, but bought me 'fat clothes' anyway. Constantly talked about my SIL and the bikini he saw her in the first time he met her. Reality crashed in on me just before the wedding, but too late to cancel out... I focused in on the good things, well, I only told my friends the good things, lets put it that way. I left him weighing back at 147 in 2001.

I wavered up and down from that 147 for a year, always staying just under that magic '150 will be when I change things'. Then, I crossed 150, the next 'I'll change then' because 155, then 160, 165. At 165 I started taking kickboxing and yoga four nights per week - never lost a pound. Did it to support my Starbucks twice a day habit... I kicked my constantly refilled at every restaurant stop Dr. Pepper habit for the same Starbucks habit. Luckily, the soda habit never came back. The kickboxing and yoga faded away.

Enter my now DH in 2005 (and his son, an infant when DH and I got together) - I was 174 when we got together. I dropped to 145 in the first few months by stopping the snacking (yes, I still hid food in my bedside table, even when it was just me in the apartment), eating more cooked meals, and having a vigorous new sex life. Hey, it was exercise!

We got married in Nov 2006 and I was 134 at that time. I maintained it for what felt like about a minute and a half... was back up to 145 in Jan of 2007. Hovered between 143-147 until this year when I decided I needed to do something. Was there a trigger event? Sometimes I say no, sometimes I say yes. I halfheartedly counted calories starting in August of 2006 when DH and I moved into our new house - didn't get really into it until May. DH bought me a dress for my birthday that was the right size for when we got married, but snug for May 2008. (He didn't see the ten pounds impact on my clothes because I didn't let him, he wasn't trying to be mean. He started dating me when I was 30 pounds heavier, he didn't care what I weighed.) He also bought us tickets to Les Mis, for this weekend actually, and I wanted to be able to wear the dress to that event. It is at the tailor right now getting altered, because it is now two sizes too big...

I've had other 'ah ha' moments this year - about my mother and her own weight issues, about the fact that she can't see me as smaller than my SIL. For years she bought me a larger size than SIL, because I was larger, then when it flipped and I was the smaller one she still bought me one size larger most of the time. That hurt my feelings, but I'm learning to let it go, and educating my mom to who I am now. SIL and I are actually both dieting and exercising at this point, she is likely always going to be bigger than me now, and she is dealing with that too. We are all working on our issues together. The most recent hurdle was convincing my mom I wasn't wasting away and making her tell me why a size 6 was too small a size for me to be, but not for SIL. Still don't think we are quite done with that, but, a work in progress...

I chose to marry a man with a child when I was always saying I never wanted kids - I love the fact that I can be a part of this wonderful little boy's life. I can see me in some of his behavior and it makes me feel good about who I am and the choices I've made. I want him to see me as an example of a strong, healthy woman.

I'm terrified of maintaining because I'm convinced I'll gain all the weight back. I've never been the engineer of my own weight loss in the past and I have doubts about my ability to maintain a healthy lifestyle. I've worked hard to craft menus that are workable, eat new foods (I discovered I love brocolli, tomatos, carrots, yogurt, almonds, a lot of things I would never have eaten before), build good habits. I exercise a lot now - so much that I know I will hit a wall eventually and that will drop a little, so I'm learning what I need to do now so I can adjust with the future. I have come to love the way I feel with exercise - never thought that would happen...

So, the questions:
1) This is the first time I've tried seriously to lose weight. Other weight loss efforts happened to me by circumstance, I can't take credit for them.
2) Am I where I want to be? Yes and no. I'm at goal, but not shaped the way I would like to end up. I'm shaped completely different than I was six months ago, but I know I still have room to improve.
3) How has my life changed since I've lost the weight? I feel like I am who I'm supposed to be, not who I've let myself be the last several years. I'm more confident, more comfortable in my relationships. I have to credit DH for a good bit of that - he always sees who people could be and encourages them to make themselves better without beating down or disparaging who they are that minute. He is a change agent in the lives of people around him, not just me.
4) What is maintenance like? Well, I'm only a week and a half in and I'm still scared to death. I started maintenance at 124.8, jumped to 126.1 after the first week, to 127.3 yesterday, but am back to 125.4 today. I'm researching some changes I made recently to my exercise pattern and realize that is the most likely reason for the change. So, for me, maintaining is about learning myself and my patterns. There will likely be more ups and downs, I'm going to learn how to weather them.
5) Do I exercise regularly? 6 days per week of 45 min cardio, either elliptical or stationary bike right now, want to add in using the weight bag in place of a couple of those I think. Three days per week of 50 min strength training on my Weider home gym. Yoga, pilates or ab video (10 - 20 min) every day before cardio. I might be a little over the top with the exercise right now, so it could settle down in the future to less total time, maybe not. I'm channeling my fear of increased calories into more exercise right now!
6) Concerns now that I'm at goal? I already answered that up there - scared I won't be able to maintain the changes I've made. Scared that I'll sit back down and let life happen to me instead of me controlling it. Scared that a hershey kiss will make me gain five pounds. Scared that I'll still be 'hands shaking, a little nauseated' scared about maintenance a year from now and won't learn how to live without the fear.

So, moral of the story, I've taken control of my life in the last few years. I left a dead end job I'd had for 12 years for a position I hoped would be permanent, but turned out to be a bad fit. I used it as a springboard to the position I have now, which is a great fit. I love my job today. I'm using my knowledge and skills to influence, not sitting back like I used to and doing just enough to get by. I've done the same thing with my weight - I'm making changes, not just getting by. This website was a big part of that process - I learned things here I don't think I would have learned anywhere else. I can rant here, I can vent here, I can learn here, I can support other people here with things I learn. I firmly believe that I can do this. I can maintain, I can improve, I can survive.

wow, that was longer than I expected...

But it was a fantastic read!

I was fat from the time I was little. I have no idea when I actually became classified as "overweight" - my parents were both heavy, and I guess in my mind I just took it as being what it was - I didn't associate it with my eating.

I've been home-schooled all my life, and when I was younger all of my fun activities included reading, watching television, playing video games, doing crafts – all sedentary activities. I didn’t really have anyone to play with, so I rarely went outside or walked around the neighborhood.

After I joined Girl Scouts, I started to see that weight isn't something like hair color and height - you don't inherit it. Being around a group of girls that I was by far the heaviest of made me feel like the odd one out. They had their own little clique – and while I know that that was because they went to the same school, I always blamed my weight on why they wouldn’t accept me.

Before I went to a Girl Scout camp I had a physical; I weighed a whopping 160 pounds. This was the first time my weight really hit home for me, because my mother (who had started exercising regularly) weighed the same amount and was 5 inches taller than me. I decided that I needed to get serious about losing weight, starting now.

At the camp I started by hiking around a bit and forgoing dessert. I also ate a lot of the salad bar (though not knowing much about calories, I did eat a lot of Ranch dressing). After I cam home in a week, I had dropped two pounds. That was enough to start getting me motivated.

I started walking and doing workout tapes with my mom. Gradually, I started to eat fewer desserts and less junk food. I also started eating healthier foods. It wasn’t until after my family moved though, that I started to see real results. My family moved near a Navy base that we have full access to. This allows us free gym access. My mother, father and I all started going to the gym four times a week. I still remember the first time on an elliptical. I had never experienced any kind of workout that rigorous, but the feeling of pride I experienced after finishing on it was enough to keep me going.

So, here I am, 45 pounds lighter, happy, healthy, and hopefully remaining so.

I have never had a weight problem growing up, althought I was almost 2 feet long when i was born By the time i was 12, i was 5'11" and hovered around 145-150 ish. Around age 13 i developed a late night binge habit, although at the time i had no idea that that is what i was doing, i just thought i liked larger snacks than most people. I did not gain weight until a few years later, over about a year i put on 40 pounds. I realized it beginning of my sophomore year of high school and went on an innocent "diet". Well 50 pounds and 2 months later, I found myself in an eating disorder hospital with some nice nutritional deficiencies. 6 weeks later i came out at a healthy weight and a much better outlook on things. I maintaned my weight for a few months with minimal slipups, and then i got a boyfriend...Who loved to eat. I slowly began to put on weight and while i was not thrilled with it, i did nothing to stop it. After we broke up, i spiraled out of control pretty bad with drugs, drinking etc, and the binge eating came back full scale. Within 4 months I was up to 275 and while it scared me enough to stop the gaining, i did not make any effort to lose it.
For 4 years i stayed at that weight, had awful eating habits, and was basically completely out of control with everything going on in my life. Although i was completely aware of how big i was, i told myself the usual excuses of "well its better than being too thin", "Im tall so i cant look THAT big". I was, however, completely miserable. I refused to go anywhere, would never have my picture taken, and absolutely HATED shopping. But despite how unhappy I was, I did not stop the binging.
Sometime in august of 07, i had a random idea to weigh myself, and the scale said 252. I was not sure how long of a time period i lost those 23 pounds, but as soon as i saw that they were gone, something clicked. That day i decided I was going to see if i could lose anymore. I did not set any goals or follow any particular plan, just started making better choices and taking a walk everyday. To my surprise the pounds started FLYING off. For months i was losing 4 pounds a week minimum. I suppose its because my body type is just not naturally heavy, and i have been told being young helps. I decided in the beginning to not count calories, because i was afraid old habits would come into play. Well around january i hit my first plateau at 170, and thought i was well enough to start counting again. I was wrong Between february and july it was pretty rough, i told myself i was not going below 1200 a day, although looking back it was probably close to 600. And my whole plan of "eating healthy through the week, treat yourself on saturday" turned into full scale restricting during the week, full scale binge on saturdays. I felt sick and cold all the time, was not losing any weight, and was just overall not healthy
Beginning of july i crashed. It was a saturday and on top of the tens of thousands of calories i had already consumed, I ate 2 pints of ben and jerrys and got awfully sick. The next morning i realized I had a choice, I could just quit and go back to my old eating habits, or buckle down and get healthy. I chose the latter. I did some research, started a food journal, and started eating 6 balanced meals a day at around 1600 cals. And what do you know, once i started eating more, those last 15 pounds came right off.
As of now, I do have some bad days where i don't eat enough, but the good thing is i LOVE working out. Running, weight training, you name it I'll do it. But if i don't eat enough there is no way i can work out the way i want to, and i love the feeling i get from running a few miles so much better than the feeling i get after skipping a meal. Now I am just trying to keep up that happy medium, trust myself and learn to read the signs my body is giving me.

Sorry if this seems so long and rushed, on my break at work and wanted to get this down. Thanks for reading!

Tell us about yourself! I name is Jason. I lost 130 lbs on WW. I have kept it off now for over a year. Looking for weight loss and maintenance talk. Love to encourage others.

Is this the first time or one of many times that you've tried to lose weight? I tried everything before and WW coupled with running took the weight off and has kept it off thus far.

Are you where you want to be? Right now I would like to lose 7 lbs max. I would like to be in the 170's but my life time hope is to stay under 185 and I am there so that is a good thing.

How has life changed for you since you've lost the weight? Well, I can breath. HAHA. Everything is easy from running, sleeping, sex, driving, working, etc. I love it.

If you're maintaining, what's that like for you? It is good but a struggle still. I find myself wanting to just say screw it and binge. I keep it in check most of the time but that is why I am here. I want to be able to talk about the issues.

Do you exercise regularly? I do. I get around 50-80 AP's a week and my goal is at least 5-7 hours of activity. I am current planning on running my 5th ultra marathon, the Strolling Jim 40 miler in May.

Now that you're near or at your goal, what are your concerns? Gaining it back and losing control over my eating. It freaks the heck out of me.

Tell us about yourself!

I joined 3fatchicks in January of 2007 . Over a period of 8 months I lost 80 pounds. I walked with WATP until I was fit enough to work out with Jillian's Girls.It was fantastic. I changed my eating habits and my son began to also understand how eating could change his ability to perform as an athlete at school.

Is this the first time or one of many times that you've tried to lose weight?
This was the first time I seriously did something about it. Between the babies I managed to lose weight, but I would gain it back again.

Are you where you want to be?
Well no, I am four pounds over the weight I had when I stopped posting at 3FC.I never made the 142 pound goal I set for myself mainly because I was so happy at the spot I was in.Right now eating is still healthy with a burp here and there. Exercise is 5 days a week because it's apart of my job.

How has life changed for you since you've lost the weight?
I think that is a huge part of my story. I am now a single Mom, working on getting a divorce and dating. I live in the city and gave my beloved horse away. I work full time as a catering assistant around food after being a SAHM for five years.I can climb an 8 ft fence and the last trek on the bike was for 25 miles.

If you're maintaining, what's that like for you?
Maintaining is easier than dieting as I don't measure calories. I look at fat and protein no longer use fitday although I have visited there to remind myself of the way life was when I started. I do have one day a week that I make a turkey burger or fix myself eggs and cheese on the grill.

Do you exercise regularly?

Part of job involves walking a facility that employees 3600 people.I no longer lift weights, but cases of soda and water. I sit down at lunch and for a small morning break. Before I moved to the city and was hired for my job I ran the stairs at the small high school stadium. Regular jogging gave my knee fits- but I knew I had to so something to keep at it.I still do some pilates and yoga on weekends when my kids are with their Dad.

Now that you're near or at your goal, what are your concerns?
I know that my muscle mass has changed from when I was lifting and being true to plan. I don't think it is an issue of weight loss, but I just need to eat cleaner and focus on getting more exercise on the weekends.