[starbrite]

Wow, interesting to come back to ! Some of the things people said really offended me at the time, but now I totally get it !! Thanks for the sound advice and for helping me stay on track. Over half way to my initial goal of 190, 55 of those pounds of fat.....GONE !!
Keep on you lovely people, together we can do this xx

[starbrite]

Fascinating to re-read my older posts !! Still trucking on at 177

[Deena52]

Hi~

Gosh, so much I could relate about maintaining....which I've been doing for almost a year. But basically, I would say that it boils down to this:

*Nothing comes without a price. And....
*You must take VERY seriously even the slightest move down the road back from where you came.


Nothing comes without a price~

You have to repeatedly go back and review all the negatives about being the weight you were prior to losing it. Remember the misery......the misery of trying on clothing in the dressing room, the misery of even finding anything in the stores to try on in the first place, the misery of going to family functions/holidays/weddings, etc....knowing that the female relatives are all going to immediately check out who's gained and who's lost (they sure as heck do this in my family), the misery of trying to come up with excuses to get out of going to family functions......plus a whole lot of other functions and outings where I didn't want to be seen, trying to tie my shoes while holding my breath, throwing on lounge-wear as soon as I set foot in the door because I was so uncomfortable with regular clothing digging into me, getting weighed at medical appts.......and on and on and on.

I'm sure, for example, that what things were the most miserable for me, might not have been the most miserable for you, in terms of what we'd put up on the top of the list (and vice-versa).....but we all have them in our hidden closet of misery and shame, stored up in our memory. And most of us with weight problems have a list that is pretty similar to ones that the rest of us most likely have.

Then you switch to your gratitude list......how much easier it is to shop and to find things that fit you, how much more mobility you have, how less self-conscious you are now.....just the FREEDOM! The freedom to move about freely, to be able to just throw your leg over the arm of a chair easily, not worry, go to family functions and outings with NO problems, not avoid anyone taking photos, etc.....and on and on and on.

In general, we tend to remember the positives and minimizes the negative for some reason (when we look back at the past). But if we really focus hard...we will remember the true misery of of the negatives (whatever miseries it caused us as individuals)....so we can be truly realistic with ourselves about just how MUCH of a price....or a toll...we would have to pay to go backwards (gain it back....or even just start gaining it back and the emotional toll that would cost).

If you realistically and honestly take a look at the consequences...the price to pay...for falling off the wagon and heading backwards.....and remind yourself of this every time you might be weakening......it goes one heck of a long way to prevent yourself from going backwards.

You must take VERY seriously even the slightest move down the road back from where you came~

Gaining back all the lost weight is only part of the price we'd have to pay. The journey all the way there would be miserable. Every day...week...month....that seeing your weight go up...and up...and up......and telling yourself it was okay, it wasn't out-of-control yet, you could get back on track....blah, blah.....would be extremely depressing and demoralizing. Because no one knows better than WE do what those storm clouds foretell. We did this before. 5 leads to 10 and 10 leads to 15 and we KNOW that while we try to reassure ourselves that it's still manageable....it's really not. Because it isn't very easy to lose 15 lbs. again.....or 20....or 30. Yeah, compared to the total we lost, maybe....but it sure is NOT as easy as we are reassuring and rationalizing it to ourselves.

And feeling your clothes getting tighter and tighter....what else is more depressing and panic-inducing? Getting closer and closer to running out of things that fit you again.

Well.....and that's just one facet of the whole thing. And really, who the heck wants to go back THERE again?? When we love it so much HERE?

In a nutshell....asking ourselves if it would be worth it and not fooling ourselves about what we're doing and where we're headed.

So for me, I would have to say that being realistic and honest with myself, esp. about the price I would have to pay......and thinking about this often......has, IMO, contributed the most to me not gaining any of it back. And I hope this has been helpful.

deena

[OnaMi]

Excellent posting Denna

[darway]

Kind of parlaying what RocknRobin said getting easier - the first few weeks of a dietary change can be somewhat disagreeable to one's digestive system. Initially your body is accustomed to producing the enzymes that are needed to break down greasy, salty junk ... and the E coli in your gut are too.

After "retraining" or "recalibrating" oneself from a month or so, the gas and the gurgling innards settle down, and a higher fiber diet feels normal. The situation is reversed ... eating a geasy fattening meal would feel weird "inside." The the aversion to that sensation, helps calm the tempatation to binge.

I wouldn't mind picking off a few french fries from someone's plate. But I honestly have no desire now, to order a "biggie size and a Coke" as a snack. As someone else said, just the thought of that sitting in my gut is gross!

[PastriestoPushups]

I think that everybody who has serious issues with food need to figure out why they have these feelings. Was it something that happened in your childhood, teenage years, college years, was it a pregnancy, an abusive (physically, emotionally, sexually) relationship. Our problems all start somewhere. My eating for comfort started for me at a very very young age. I grew up with eating fast food during difficult times and now every time I have something difficult come up in my life I often want to eat very unhealthy food and lots of it. It takes time to figure out what is causing this negative relationship but I feel it is very important when it comes to conquering this beast!

[Truffle]

Thank you for this excellent thread. Subscribing so I can read it again later.