[MaintenanceMomma]

Hello! I am also new to this stuff. I have come to the site a few times just to get recipes but have never posted anything. I was thrilled to see a section on maintenance! I joined Weight Watchers a year ago (exactly one year and one week to be precise!) The weight came off steadily and I am thrilled with the outcome. (I am just shy of 5' 4" and now weigh between 114-117) Unfortunately the past couple of months I am finding myself totally undisciplined. I know what I need to do but keep blowing it. I think maintenance is tougher because you don't get that reward on the scale each week. My three sisters and a cousin have since joined Weight Watchers and we support each other but they don't understand how hard it is to stay committed. If I whine about my weight creeping up to 122 they threaten bodily harm because they would be content to be 10 pounds over that. They don't understand how scarey it is to think that you might gain the weight back. Hopefully this group can help to get me refocused.

Here's a little back ground information about me. I am 41-years-old and on my second marriage (4 years). I have a 13-year-old son who is autistic (very high functioning) and a 10-year-old daughter who has attention deficite hyperactive disorder. Incase I don't get enough excitement at home, I have been teaching special education for 20 years! I have an adult step-son and two beautiful step-grandchildren.

I have always been weight conscious. Unfortunately as I neared 40 the things that use to work, didn't. My weight slowly crept up. Finally I decided to do something about it and joined Weight Watchers. My biggest hurdles are my sweet tooth and the fact that I loath exercise. I am fine if it is something fun like dancing or golfing but my husband doesn't dance and I live in Michigan, so golfing is limited. I have a great weight room in my house with a tread mill, weights, tv/vcr with tons of tapes, etc... The most excercise I get out of it is when I go down to dust! How do you motivate yourself when you are void of energy?

[Meg]

Welcome and congratulations on your success! We're glad you found us here and hope you join us in posting on our weekly chat threads.

It sounds like you're stuck right in the realities of maintenance with the rest of us. It IS hard to stay motivated and committed when we don't have that instant gratification of the scale going down and clothes getting looser and the compliments dry up ...

So I don't even bother looking for motivation any more. Whether I'm motivated or not isn't really relevant to the choices I make. I don't ask myself if I *want* to do something, like exercise or prepare healthy meals. Not to sound like a cliche, but for me, it's become a matter of just doing it.

Just like you say in your post, I know what I should do and I also know what's going to happen if I don't do it (gain the weight back ). So when I weigh the two options against each other - doing what I need to do to keep the weight off or gaining the weight back - I'll pick Option A, thanks!

I'm guessing that your energy will come back if exercise becomes a regular part of your life. Honestly, I never believed that exercise would give me energy - the whole notion seemed ridiculous and counterintuitive - but lo and behold! They were right! No matter how tired or frustrated or depressed or whatever I feel - I ALWAYS feel better after I work out. Who would have thunk it??!!

In addition to being an energy boost, exercise also is a critical component of maintenance. If you poke around and read some of our old threads, you'll see how essential daily exercise is for all of the maintainers here. Statistics from studies back our experiences up and you've probably read the latest government recommendations for weight loss maintenance: 60 - 90 minutes of exercise per day. So the bottom line for me is that exercise is non-negotiable. It's built into my day, whether I'm motivated to do it or whether I'd rather stay in bed and sleep for an extra hour.

So my suggestion for you is to schedule exercise in as part of your day. Write it into your planner if necessary! And then just do it. Don't ask yourself if you want to or if you feel like it because that gives you the option not to do it. Just do it as one of those things in life that we do whether we are motivated or not (brushing our teeth, changing the kitty litter, paying our taxes etc). I'm guessing that soon you'll feel the rewards of exercising and it will become something you enjoy and want to keep on doing.

Anyways, sorry for the long dissertation and welcome to Maintainers!

[MaintenanceMomma]

Thanks Meg. What type of exercises do you do? Now that it is almost summer, it should be easier for me. I have two more weeks of school then I'll have all the time in the world. Hopefully I'll be able to get exercise to be at the rewarding stage by the time school resumes, so I'll be motivated to continue.

[tampagirlcmb]

Since excercise isnt one of your favorite things to do, and maybe these arent either- you could garden or clean your house from top to bottom! If you use Fitday, you can see just how many calories everyday activities burn and you can factor that all in at the end of the day. I'm from Wisconsin, but live in florida now and I know sometimes I get the urge to move back up north just to go hiking down some of those midwestern trails! Enjoy the summer and keep it off girl!