[Adgirl]

Congrats!!!!

I always read your posts and I you are a great person and most importantly brave. Sometimes I think people think that losing is the hardest part...but I know that maintenance is just as important and sometimes even harder.

[Snowbrocade]

Hi Meg:

thanks so much for your post--this is timely for me because I have been thinking about maintenance a lot lately. I just started what I believe to be the last weight loss program I will be on (Nutrasystem). I finished my third week yesterday and have been thinking about what it will be like for me to have all my weight gone and how I will maintain.

Just after I started I read the study you refer to that talked about how the few people who keep weight off eat less and exercise more than never obese thin ones. It made me feel scared because I didnt want anything to stop me from reaching my goals or to make me gain weight again.

Yet over the last few weeks I have realized that I am in the process of saying goodbye to my old ways of eating. I realize that the very small portions I am eating now are the template for what I will be eating. That developing resourceful ways of making small portions last longer and taste better is contributing to my future life without excess weight. Passing up rich food and detaching from thoughts about eating are developing muscles I will use in the future--not just a temporary tension I can release after a period of concentrated effort.

Routines like getting my leg back and abs exercises done each night by getting on the floor the second the TV goes on and holding off on my evening snack until I complete everything will be in place to reinforce healthful behavior forever.

One thing I plan to do is get some books on changing my thinking about food.

So this post came at the perfect time--not just to inspire me that it is possible to lose a large amount of weight but also that it is possible to keep it off.

Take care Meg--and when you check in next year I plan to be at my goal weight.

Tamara

[SoulBliss]

WOW! What an inspiration you are, Meg! I hope to be celebrating my 5 year at goal date someday within the next 7 years myself

[Libby1972]

Happy Anniversary! Good for you!

[ennay]

Congratulations Meg!

[SilverLife]

I know this is an old thread, and that you've had several anniversaries since then. I will add my congratulations and say "Happy Anniversary!", because I know each day is a kind of anniversary celebration of your victories.

You are such an inspiration. Your post about your five-year anniversary is very moving. Reading it strengthened my resolve to live life and live those dreams inside of me.

Thank you!