Just got to my goal weight -- feel so happy and relieved and proud of myself, and yet, at the same time....

SO LOST.



Maybe because:

1. I'm not sure if this is the right weight for me or not...maybe I should try to go lower? (I don't want to be unrealistic, though. This is the lowest weight of my adult life)

2. I'm terrified of gaining the weight back.

3. 3FC is so huge and I don't really know anyone here. I'm afraid I'll stop checking in because I feel disconnected.

Can anyone relate or have any advice for me?

I mean don't get me wrong...I'm SO happy to be where I am.

Just also feeling kind of freaked.

Anyways, thanks in advance for any input.....

~nineteen

Hi nineteen! And congrats You made it and can be so proud of yourself
If youŽre terrified of gaining weight again you maybe need a support group so that you can chat a bit with other members and get to know these members better. IŽd read my way through the support groups and see which one might fit for yourself.
If you like pm me

Congratulations nineteen! I have only been at my goal for aobut 3 weeks and I share your questions and fears. I have started posting in the Maintainers weekly chat thread and I hope that will help me stay accountable for my weight. I'm sure some of the experienced maintainers can better help you but I just wanted to let you know your feelings are echoed by at least one other person. Good luck.

Have you seen that thread you started over in the 20-somethings? You definitely have some support over there! I can certainly relate to what you're going though. I was surprised at the gammet of emotions that was running through me when I hit my goal. In fact, that's what led me to 3FC. I just read read read everything I could and kinda bounced around. This is a great source of support whether you are at goal, still losing, or just thinking about it.

PM me anytime

I can totally relate. As happy as I was to get to my goal and to exceed it by a pound, I felt a little scared. I don't intend to change the way I eat at all or the amount of exercise I get, but adding a few hundred calories a day to my eating really freaked me out. I have grown so accustomed to eating between 1200 and 1500 calories a day and now I eat between 1700 and 2000. But I'm really active. And it's been almost a month and I'm doing well. I felt extremely comfortable in weight loss mode. I just figure I have to get a feel for maintenance, which I am slowly starting to get.

Don't worry, you'll get there! Make new challenges for yourself. Perhaps, not "weight related" ones. I am currently trying to become less of a pack-rat. I have successfully managed to de-clutter a large portion of my home, room by room. My next challenge is learning how to do some DIY with the hubby. We want to add a deck onto the back of our home. hmmmm... We'll see. While I never want to lose my niche in healthy living, I feel that it's time for me to be not-so-focused on weight and start feeling more confident in my newly established habits. I need to believe in my abilities more.

Good luck!

Dear Nineteen,



and



We're so glad to have you here. I hope you'll stay and join us on the weekly thread. The more you post, the more you will get to know everyone here and the more you'll feel connected to the larger community. I think you'll find we're really a charming bunch, if we do say so ourselves.

Many of us have found that it's useful to stop and assess after reaching an initial goal weight. It may be the right weight for you; you may wish to keep going. You will learn that over time. For now, you can begin to develop maintenance skills as you come to terms with the new you.

Maintenance really looks a lot like losing. I eat much as I did when I was losing, albeit a few more calories every day. Even after all these years, I still weigh, measure and log what I eat and I work out regularly. Your weight may fluctuate some, but you won't "gain it all back" if you work at maintenance like you worked at weight loss.

I've got a treadmill waiting for me, but I'm sure others will jump in here. In the meantime, welcome again. Join us on the daily thread; we're glad to have you

Thank you Artsygirl -- and it does help.

Libby~ That's a good idea...non weight-related challenges. (I'm trying to de-clutter, too!)

Airegirrrrl~ Thank you for making me feel so welcome here. I will start posting in the weekly thread. I think I'm going to to take a little time at this weight and see how it goes.

Welcome to the great, empowering (and yet also scary) World of Maintenance!

I have fluctuated within a small range, but have basically kept the weight off since November 2004 (yeah me!). Right now I am 4 pounds over where I'd like to be, but this week I stuck to WW Core and I think it helped. We'll see what the scale at my meeting tells me tomorrow.

What has helped:
Staying consistent with healthy eating
Finding good snacks so I don't get bored
Eating frequently during the day--being too hungry by lunch or dinner always spells disaster for me
A minimum of 4 cardio workouts each week
Reminding myself how great it feels (and how great I look) to be fit and strong!

I think it's perfectly normal to feel anxious and confused at this stage. We will all support you and answer any questions/concerns you have. Don't be afraid to ask for help.

Hi and Congratulations. Welcome to maintenance. I, too was very afraid when I reached my goal 9 months ago. I worried if I should go lower or try to maintain. For me, maintaining was the answer. I've basically stayed withing 4-5 lbs. of my goal in either direction. I had gotten so used to trying to lose more weight that staying the same weight was very frightening. But, it's working out OK. A huge bonus has been that my clothes still fit and I pretty much know what size to buy now. Like the others have mentioned, I still exercise and monitor what I eat and log my food daily

I look forward to seeing you in our weekly chat thread.

I too would love to join you all over here in Maintainence! It has been extremely hard to lose any more pounds on the scale and I think I have finally come to the realization that my body likes it where it is. I exercise a lot and my body seems smaller even though I have not seen a difference in scale weight. I feel great and know that exercise is really a key for me to keep it off. At times in my life I have been 20 lbs. heavier than I am now but I have been able to maintain this weight for about 5 years. Can I join in here?

Thanks

I'd say a weight you can maintain for 5 years certainly qualifies as a maintenance weight. It's all about what works. The weight I originally picked as my goal (and I did get to it) was 4-6 pounds below what I could realistically maintain. The exercise will influence your body (and how well clothes fit) even if the scale number isn't much lower.

Nineteen & Azmon ~ Welcome to Maintenance.

I've been here about six weeks and enjoy the commorarity of the group. It's small enough that you get to know a bit about the various members while being diverse enough to learn how everyone has her own way of maintaining her weight.

Most are able to keep their weight within a small range. When the pounds creep back on, and they will if we're not diligent, these ladies immediately get back on track.

Like you, I'm not sure what my ultimate weight goal will be or what amount of calories per day that I'll be able to eat. I've learned a lot from the time I've been here (and before that from the time I was on the Featherweights forum.)

Keep posting. See you on the Weekly Chat thread.

Thank you, I feel very welcome! Look forward to chatting with all of you successful ladies!

Thank you all SO MUCH for your support.

It's good to know I'm not alone.

I TOTALLY understand the fear. It's hard to try to continue to eat and exercise with a similar mindset to losing weight - for the rest of your life! Not to blame society, but we DO live in a society that encourages weight gain, so it's hard to continuously swim against that current! I guess we have to take it one day at a time....