Shy moment, I think lots of us feel that what we're NOW doing is "normal". At least that's what I took from this thread. I think even the OP feels that this is and can be a "new" normal. I'm so glad that you are able to take it one step further and feel that it's all so easy. So please, don't be frightened. No need to worry. It's all good.

Robin
Thanks. I really needed to hear that.

Wow, Glory and AnnRue - you both said things that I really, really needed to hear right now. Thank you for taking time to make such thoughtful and inspiring posts.

And, Robin, of course you are right. As the "OP" - I absolutely am looking for a new "normal." Shy Moment - I think you are doing all of the right things for you, and I'm thrilled that you aren't fighting against it like I do sometimes. I posted because I needed wisdom, as I knew that there had to be something better than what I was doing.

And, Traci, thank you for resurrecting the thread with your thoughts. It is great to hear that it can become part of a routine. Still planned more than I used to plan, but not so much of a monumental effort. As AnnRue pointed out, it's great to have the discipline to be able to plan without the pain of starting something new.

Again, I so much appreciate learning about how people are able to manage their lives and their weight. I'm still struggling, and may struggle for the rest of my life, but I prefer the struggle to the alternative.

It's really hard to articulate - maintaining weight loss is easy in a way. I have good habits, I found healthy food I like, I'm really good at starting the day well with a good breakfast and bringing snacks to work and using the salad bar. I don't mind going to the store, I don't mind cooking. In my normal, planned, calm day-to-day, weight maintenance is easy.

I also really really LIKE eating healthy and doing good things for my body. I do a ton of reading, I'm interested in nutrition. I really don't want to eat the typical American diet anymore, it don't want a ton of preservatives, fake stuff and transfat. I can't believe I love non fat greek yogurt and fresh blackberries as much as I used to love scones. I can't believe how much I like natural peanut butter on a Kashi waffle. How much I love baked sweet potatoes, roasted cherry tomatoes, grilled salmon. The foods I eat feel very normal to me now, fast food seems weird.

I love the way eating whole foods makes me feel - I feel 100% physically better than I did when I was heavy (mentally too). The physical change is huge motivation to make this my new normal - I used to fall asleep everyday in my office after lunch, now I nearly zing with energy every day.

In another way, weight maintenance is really hard. Food is so much in the American culture, we are bombarded with ads, restaurants serve enormous portions with way too much butter, the aisles in the grocery store are arranged for maximum temptation. Lives are busy, convenience foods are....convenient. The social aspect is the toughest part - how do you turn down a sweet coworker who makes a lemon start "because I know how you love them?" How do I go to a catered 3 day work conference and eat just boring iceberg lettuce salads with limp pale pink tomatoes for lunch because the soup choice is cream and all the prepared sandwiches have cheese and mayo? How do I avoid the big cookies and brownies brought out every day of the conference at 3? How do I order at a restaurant? How do I turn down restaurants which I know have no healthy options? How do I decide if it's okay to have a glass of wine? How do I decide how many nights out a week is too many? (just a few of the hundreds of daily decisions).

While I was losing weight, it was actually easier in a way because everything was so black and white - I didn't eat this this and this and it was okay. Now that I'm maintaining, I have to balance some off plan items because I definitely don't want to live my entire life without chocolate molten lava cake. When I'm doing my own thing, it definitely feels perfectly normal, it only feels "tough" really when I'm interacting with other people (work, social, etc).

One of the biggest, most positives things I did with weight loss was lose the "black/white." Before, eating anything off plan was a sign of total failure, completely demoralizing. Now, I realize that life requires flexibility and forgiveness. I will be tempted, sometimes I will eat offplan, that's okay - as long as I get right back on track the next eating opportunity.

I used to beat myself up, hate myself, think I was a no will power loser, now I trust myself a little more. One off plan work meeting where I ate too much cheese/crackers is not what made me fat. My goal is to make 90% of my choices good, healthy choices and not overly sweat the other 10%. It has worked very well, my weight has stayed between 127-131 for almost 3 years with this method.

I did want to say, when I was heavy, I spent WAY MORE time obsessing and fantasizing about being thin than I do now that I'm thin obsessing about staying that way. At least my "stay thin" thoughts are mostly productive - what healthy thing will I make for dinner, do I need to go to the grocery store for berries for snacks? My "heavy thoughts" were pretty useless - "I wish I were thin, I wish I were thin, I wish I were thin."

LauriDawn
Thank you, I need the encouragement sometimes.

Glory
I find it all so easy. Fast food yuckkkkkkkkk have you seen any of those people wash their hands. Basically same goes for eating out at all lol.