As in temporary maintenance. I'm not sticking here for long!! I've been holding steady at 253-255 for about a month. I'll be honest, I've been very lax about tracking calories and haven't been vigilant about my exercise goals.

I got excited with my success and a little frustrated with the slow down in how fast the pounds were dropping. I allowed myself to coast for a bit. In the past, I would now go back to my regular eating and gain the 20 lbs back plus some and get mad at myself. THIS time, I've made big lifestyle changes that will be super easy to transition from "maintenance" back into weight loss with little effort.

My main issue has been the carby treat right before bedtime. Be it Cheerios and milk or toast with butter an honey, I've had several nights a week for the last month or so. I've also really relaxed on tracking every bite. Starting tonight, I'm going back to the Chamomile Tea with honey as my bedtime treat.

I've approached this go-round of weight loss as a lifestyle change without freaking out about slips or whole months of coasting.

Changes I have made that are lasting:

1. I loathe fastfood unless it's an emergency salad or grilled chicken sandwich.

2. I pack a huge salad lunch for work every day.

3. I have made one stick of real butter last months as I use it for flavoring or spread it really thin on my toast.

4. I buy two BIG bags of Spinach, two 1 lb bags of baby carrots, 2 boxes of sliced mushrooms, two BIG bags of salad mix, 4 lbs of apples, 1 lb bananas, 2 lbs of frozen chicken breast EVERY week at the store. Gone are the days of TV diet dinners, chips & cookies (for the kids of course), fatty pasta sauces, fried foods.

5. I drink 8 oz of water first thing in the am, with each meal and right before bed. I dislike water but if I drink it like that, it's done without thinking too much about it.

6. I've bought nice walking shoes and put them to use 3 times a week.

7. I'm in this for life, not looking for a quick fix.

I'm kicking this back into weight loss mode as of 5 am this morning. I woke up and walked the dog instead of just putting him out to potty. Thanks for the opportunity to vent here and share my little success and little set backs!

I have been doing something similar, in that I've been at this weight for weeks and I've actually made peace with that. My doctor and dietitian are both happy that I've made such progress since December and I feel that now it's time to really get back to weight loss again! Maybe we just needed a to let things settle!

WTG - sounds just like what you needed to do!!

You made some great changes. I like to call it "practice maintenance" when that happens, lol. We all have to maintain eventuallyt, right?

Sounds like you know what you need to do!

I think it's great to look at a stall/plateau/whatever as practice maintenance. At some point, the loss stops and we still have to keep doing the same things day after day after day.

And I also think it's great that you are honest enough with yourself (and to post!) that you know what you need to change to get the scale moving again. Good for you for maintaining and then turning things around instead of "maintaining" yourself into a gain! lol!

Michelle thank you for this thread. This is just about what I have been doing all of April. Calling it practicing maintenance is a lot nicer way to say it. But really I think for me I have been playing with fire. Eating little things here and there that I know are trigger foods. I have wanted to start a thread to talk about it....BUT....I don't know where to start. So many ideas are going through my head...bottom line I am NOT eating clean.

Although there is April good news...I have been walking on my treadmill. Yep! I am so excited. I really really really do enjoy exercise. And I have been fighting with myself for a long time to get back to doing it. Exercising feels so good.

Why do I have to be such a hard head? Why do I have to fight everything? **sigh**

Michelle I am with you...I am kicking it in to weight loss mode! HOOT!

Cathydoe: playing with fire, yes. The stall/temporaray maintenance...slower scale, not eating clean...could be a recipe for disaster. For me, weighing often helps this. If the scale moves too far up...I'm worried and try to be closer to plan.

Thanks all for your feedback! I appreciate it :-) Today is the 2nd day back in weightloss mode. My DailyPlate account is my new best friend again!

I did the same thing when I first started. I maintained a 40 lb weight loss by putting to use the skills I learned. I weighed in, just to make sure I wasn't gaining, but beyond that I let myself maintain the weight without the stress to lose. It worked for me because it let me know I could maintain a weight loss. When I was ready to dedicate my efforts back into losing weight I did, and I continued to lose. It's good to look back during a maintained phase and see that you can keep the weight off and see the skills you learned.

I love calling it "practicing maintenance"! This is great. I've actually gone into my LAST attempt at weight loss by starting at maintenance. That's what I'm calling it, at least. I've decided to eat healthier, everything in moderation, and exercise = that I can do for the rest of my life. I am working towards how I want to live my life now, and tweaking as I go.

I love the idea of "practicing maintenance", too. Sometimes our bodies need a time of adjustment, I think, before heading further down the scale.

This is such an awesome post! I think that getting past the idea that you must be perfect or give up will set you up for a healthy lifestyle for the rest of your life! I plan to learn from you.