This IS a fantastic topic! Thanks, Pookie, for bringing it to the 100 Pounds group!
I can relate to everyone's comments here! I have spent the last SIX MONTHS at the same weight. I don't go up, and I don't go down. I guess you can say that I am a GREAT maintainer! I have thought about my reasons for the stall in my weight LOSS. Here's what I came up with:
1) I now feel fantastic and have more energy than anyone I know.
2) I've gone down from a 26W to 14/16 tops and 18 jeans in Misses size.
3) I can shop in the Misses department after "vacationing" in the Plus size department for over 25 YEARS. This was HUGE for me!
4) I like to bake and cook AND sample my foods.
5) I like to join my husband for dinners out in restaurants.
6) I can keep up with Turbo Jam and am learning how to be a lot less clutsy with my newly-begun step aerobics. I'm 55, so I feel pretty good about that! I regularly walk between 5-6 miles at a time and HAVE done 10 a couple times.
7) I really DO have big bones! (Did the "reach-your-thumb-and-middle-finger-around-your-opposite-wrist" test, and there's nearly AN INCH gap between my fingers!!!) People do not believe that I weigh what I do.
8) I CONTINUE to get compliments on my weight loss as I can wear increasingly smaller sizes even though I am NOT losing any more POUNDS. Exercise is working wonders to firm me up.
9) Did I mention I LOVE to eat????
10) I look at pictures of myself at my highest weight (275) from Christmas 2000 and compare them with now, six years later (210), and really LIKE what I look like now compared to before.
I guess what frightens me is if I alter my eating and add more exercise and focus JUST on the weight loss to get to the 160 goal that I set, when I finally reach my goal will I be able to MAINTAIN that weight? I do not plan to go UP in weight again if I can help it. 160 MAY just not be realistic for me as a person.
I think if I had any health issues or couldn't DO things that I wanted to do I might feel differently.
Also, what REALLY rings true to me is the SKIN THING that CLCSC145 mentioned as well as the HORRENDOUS varicose veins that I have all over my legs. Not only do I have spider veins; I have the deep bunchy ones (Thanks Mom, Grandma, Great-Grandma etc.!!!
). They stand out more and more as my legs get smaller and the fat recedes to uncover the unsightly ripples made by the bulgy veins! I seriously doubt that I will EVER put on a bathing suit and/or shorts again! Yuk about my ugly legs!
Even if I get to be the SIZE that I was at 25 when I was married, my body is NOT the BODY of a 25 year-old!
ANYWAY, that's my thinking on it all. I continue to watch what I eat and exercise. I really would like to reach ONEderland, but am not so sure that I can be a permanent resident there and get to eat the way I WANT to eat. That's the truth, and I'm sticking to it!
Anybody have any thoughts to help me rethink this?
Cheryl
Thanks!