I'm very close to my goal. Few more weeks, and I should be in maintenance range. The lowest I will aim for is 133 as it's smack dab in the middle of my maintenance range. But I'll intentionally slow my weight loss as soon as I get to 136. Maybe float down another pound or two as I close the gap in my calorie deficit to find maintenance.

I think I'm going to miss this process, honestly. Now I realize that maintenance is practically the exact same lifestyle without the deficit, so I'm certainly not going to be changing how I eat or exercise much, maybe just add 100 calories at a time until I stop losing. I'm NOT giving the lifestyle up.

But, I think I'll miss the excitement of seeing a new low on the scale. Or having people ask how much I've lost now. Or getting to buy a smaller size. Basically, since November, losing the weight has occupied a lot of my thoughts. It's been my hobby, pretty much. I have truly gotten passionate about it.

Now I realize that I'll have other goals to work towards. Maintaining in itself is a goal (maintain for one week, for one month, for one year, for five years, etc). There are fitness goals, I still want to run a 5k. I have plenty of toning left to do. I'll always be excited about tasty healthy low cal recipes and food finds. But I truly sense that I'll miss the actual loss of pounds aspect. It's almost like I've enjoyed the thrill of the chase, and I'll miss that. I think I'm going to feel frustrated and anxious when the scale is no longer moving down, as if I were in an endless plateau, but the goal is for it to not move. I'm so glad I'm finally here, don't get me wrong, I'm just wondering if I'll miss the thrill of the transformation process.

Does that sound strange?

Nope not strange at all and this very thing TERRIFIES me! I'm worried what will motivate me once the novelty of my new body wears off. What happens when I start to take the new sizes and stores I can shop at for granted. I'm going to make new fitness goals for myself and try to work towards real nutrition and eating real foods w/ less low fat and low sugar, maybe take a cooking class, but nothing is as intoxicating as seeing loss on the scale or fitting into a new size. I worry that staying within the same 5-10lb range will be a struggle and maybe get monotenous at times, but I REFUSE to regain this weight and I'm DETERMINED to keep coming back to 3FC and read others struggles, to give advice, and remind myself what a journey this really has been and one, that while wonderful, that I never want to take again. I'm really worried too about what hard work maintenance is going to be. We all know and if you don't know you need to know that maintenance is not any different than weight loss, so I'm trying to come to terms with the idea that for me, journaling, counting cals and watching what I eat is going to be a way of life forever. While others may be able to no have to do these things and maintain I know I will not be able to. So I'm trying to accept this now. Luckily I enjoy journaling and counting, not eating cookies and cake not so much, sometimes I miss those things. So yes, I completely understand, but at the same time I wish the weight loss phase was over...I've got at least 11lbs to go and that is going to take me at least 2 months and I'm pretty sure if I'm really honest with myself I want my maintenance range to be 135-140 so I'm probably looking at closer to 4 months from goal...so I guess I have some time still to figure this all out. CONGRATS to you for all you've acomplished!

I've tried to have the mindset that the way I'm living right now is the way I will live the rest of my life. Although I have a goal weight listed on my ticker, I'm hoping that my goal will find me - meaning that I'll keep doing what I'm doing and eventually, I won't lose weight anymore and that will be my maintenance weight (I obviously may need to revisit that theory if I'm not happy with where the weight loss stops but I'm not going to worry about that for now.)

So I understand exactly where you are coming from, but I'm hoping that by having the permanency of what I'm doing in mind, it won't be a dramatic transition when I no longer get to experience the excitement of seeing a drop on the scale.

Actually, since I've been overweight since I was a child, I figure I've got 40 years worth of being excited to see a low weight on the scale every day stored up. I think for me, that will be less boring than it might be for someone who turned their life around at a much lower weight/younger age than I did! lol!

lol, yes. I HATE the process so far. i'm not anal normally with most things in my life, actually i'm a pretty laidback person. So controlling absolutely every aspect of my body, from exercise, water intake, and counting calories, is something really foreign to me. and it can be so confusing starting out, i'm not a fan.


congratulations on almost reaching your goal btw!

For me, I am within 10 pounds of goal weight, but I realize how much more I have to do in my healthy lifestyle than lose pounds. So for me, maintenance will be a huge challenge. I have a lot of fitness and healthy eating goals & my eating and exercise is nowhere near where I want it to be.

I want to learn to cook, eat more variety in my diet, explore organic foods, consider vegetarianism, etc, etc. I also have an eating disorder so for me, the scale isn't always the success, it's my eating behavior. Every day I am faced with the temptation to restrict and binge & moderating my eating will be a lifetime project. Also, I am 40 and exercise is important. I want to do build my endurance and strength so that I can look and feel as young as possible.

What terrifies me most is not seeing the scale number stop going down, but how will I react if/when it goes up. Since overeating is second nature to me, I fear backsliding and relapsing into old behavior.

I think it's cool that you, ncuneo & I have been posting a lot about maintenance lately. I consider the two of you to be in the freshman maintenance "class" with me and I enjoy reading your posts.

Yes, I am getting close, darned close, and it's making me nervous. Not that I worry about sabotaging myself out of fear of success -- anything but -- but because hey, I know how to lose weight. I'm pretty good at it, I enjoy it, and it's really a lot of fun to have been plugging away for a while, kind of bouncing around a bit across a small range, and then, BAM! There it goes, and my weight drops, and it's exciting and rewarding, and I worry that I'm going to miss the thrills, you know?

So I'm looking for more thrills at maintenance. How I plan to do that is by really kicking up the fitness focus. I've been exercising all along, but there are a few things I want to do that I've held in reserve, so I'd have a brand new set of goals (beyond maintaining it) once I got to my final goal weight. Stuff like yoga, Pilates, spinning, etc. I could've been doing them all along, I know, but as I said, I wanted to have a bunch of brand-new things to try once the loss portion of the project was completed.

i used to weigh more about 5 years ago, but crept up a clothing size in the last year, but realisticly have been on maintenance for 4 years or so.

The motivation to diet or to maintain changes from reward (of seeing the scales drop) to punishment (of not fitting your clothes and feeling fat) - so i guess how easy weight loss or maintenance is depends on if you're more motivated by reward or punishment!

Fitness goals definitely are a whole new world, and equally or more compelling and rewarding than the weight loss one i reckon. I ran my first half marathon a couple of years ago and that felt a huge achievement for me.

it is good you are realistic about maintenance, because that is the key. during maintenance your "runner's high" should be "i haven't gained any weight or lost any weight!"

congratulations. Don't be a statistic..keep it off!

Oh I understand completely. I was definitely kinda sad to see this very special time in my life pass.The time that I spent losing was absolutely THRILLING for me. What an adventure!! Such a learning experience. One of self discovery, self growth. I loved the strength I found in myself. I educated myself on nutrition. I discovered discipline and self respect.

I LOVED seeing that scale and my clothing size plummet. LOVED manipulating that scale. And yes, LOVED the compliments that came my way. LOVED the emergence of my muscles and bones. Loved re-discovering my femininity and vanity. It was without a doubt dare I say the most wonderful time in my life. It was the end of my misery and the beginning of my re-birth. Act two so to speak.

But, and it's a big one - I love that I'm HERE. That I've done it. I'VE DONE IT!!! And that I get to STAY here!

I get to visit my gorgeous wardrobe and choose out a great outfit to wear each and every day. It's like every day I'm living in a fairy tale walking around in this slim, trim body. ME? Yes, ME!!! Every single day I get to live what I've dreamed about for decades. The reward truly IS just BEING slim, trim and fit and active. Each day is so special to me. Instead of dreading the day, I look forward to it. I walk around with a big grin on my face.

I get to go to the doctor and get phenomenal check ups. Ummm, even going to the bank, the dentist, doing the laundry - everything is better, simpler because of how I feel.

I LOVE that I don't have to worry about social events and what I'm going to wear and say and look like. LOVE that I'm ready for anything!

I love that I know how to maintain my loss. I mean I could do this with my eyes closed so to speak.

So although that newness is gone, there IS something wonderful about the comfort of being here. There is a calmness and a peacefulness about me.

mkendrick, you ought to stop over at the MAintainer's Forum. We've all had thoughts just like yours. There's a maintainer's weekly chat thread (which I admit I hardly ever participate in) but it's there for you. And there's lots of thread on all sorts of issues I'm sure you (& everybody, as everybody is welcome) would benefit from.

I know what you mean. It's kinda neat, though, to instead set new goals. Maybe health related - a race, cooking goals, reaching your toes, whatever.

Even nonhealth related goals - because if there's one thing we learn losing weight, it's how to plan, stick to it, and achieve something.

I think it's wise to respect how much the loss of focus can affect you, and be prepared for it.