I've been kinda wondering if I should think of myself in maintenance. I am not quite at goal but I have been holding steady for about 3 months. I guess I could still hit my goal but I also know that I'd be very happy at this weight and size. I guess, I don't know. I am not planning on changing my diet because my diet is the way it is because of health reasons (diabetes). I am also pretty unwilling to make any more drastic changes to bring the weight down further. People at work tell me to just stop losing, they don't believe my weight is still 160. Anyway, the point is more than anything, I never want to gain the weight back. 96 pounds not lost but given away. I never want to find them.

I find myself needing support right now. I don't know why I feel like it's a crucial time to not feel satisfied cause that could lead to weight gain. I once read that one key to maintenance is to weigh yourself every day. I do, but I hate feeling so obsessed by weight.. still. But I do know that being obsessed with food is what got me heavy but also it's what made me lose weight. I am always thinking about when I am going to eat, what I am going to eat. It's the way to stay focused.

I feel also like I have to let go of old me... It's been 2 years since I've changed my life but only like 3 months since my weight has held steady. I think i fear a weight gain. I don't know. One of the things that's bothering me is my ID, my driver's license. I still have the same picture as 2 years ago. I travel a lot and I fear someday I'll be unable to get on a plane cause they won't believe it's me. Yet, I can't seem to just go get another picture. The passport is an even bigger deal and I refuse to do it since I am going to need it in about six months and I hear it takes a long time to get your passport. I will just use the one I have.

Big long post but I just feel kinda caught in between.

bluex!!!!

The day you lost your first pound and kept if off, you were in maintenance. There are a number of us here who are not quite at goal (myself included) but I consider myself a maintainer. I spent all last year maintaining a 30 pound loss and am currently trying to lose the last few pounds (after having gained a few over the holidays). Please join us in our weekly threads!!! We'll try to support you with any questions/problems you may be facing in your maintenance.

I weigh myself every day. I tend to gain if I don't. I need that constant reminder otherwise disaster occurs. And everyone needs support--maintaining is hard work.

I'm sure that if you want to, the DMV will re-do your DL (at a cost, of course). You can call and make an appointment and ask to be sure. Just tell them your concerns.

Those last few pounds are the hardest, I thought I would never lose the lat ten but I kept on trying and one day I couldn't believe my eyes, I was at goal.You can be at goal, too, do not give up.You have made a huge accomplishment now and you can go the rest of the way.

I've also been maintaining for the past 4 months, and decided last week that I need to step it up if I really want to lose the rest. So I joined a gym because it has been way too cold out here to exercise outside. Also, I have back and hip issues that keep me from doing a lot of different types of exercising. This way I can up my exercise and hopefully jump start the loss.

I would say if you are happy where you are, why not try maintaining for a bit and then in a few months get back on to trying to lose if you still want to try to lose more?

Blue! Alison is right, once you've lost anything, you're maintaining that loss!

Thanks guys! You are right, I have already been maintaining much of my loss for a long time. I might just take it easy now and see how I feel about it later. For now, I am happy!

Blue!

As I read your entry, I felt such kinship. I, too, feel like I watch everything I eat and am constantly praying (and working on) not gaining weight. I've heard that it gets easier, but I have finally come to the realization that I will keep track of what I eat and my weight for the rest of my life. I have NO INTENTION of letting my weight get out of hand again. I like what the new me looks like and I intend to keep her around! I, too, have people telling me not to lose more weight. I don't plan on losing more, but if it happens, I'll take it. I'm no longer actively seeking to lose weight unless I put some on that needs to come off. I'm not the tiny little thing, but I'm much better than I've been for over two decades, so I'm pretty happy. I know I can't be the size of a teenager and I'm significantly below the big 200, so I'm pleased. I no longer am ashamed to tell people what I weigh or what I weighed when I started. There are so many ways I've grown. How about you?

Hey there! to maintenance

160 is only 5 pounds overweight for your height according to the BMI scale, which does not factor in things like muscle vs. fat and bone density. I have personally found that a maintenance-like approach is best for losing those last 5-10 pounds, anyway. Like Allison said, plenty of people who post here are not quite at goal yet, so you should definitely join us.

If you keep up your healthy habits, I am sure you will not gain weight again. CONGRATS on losing 96 pounds - that is a HUGE accomplishment - you practically lost a whole person (yes, a skinny person, but still)!

PS: diabetics unite. I've found that diabetes can definitely make weight loss more difficult because of the measures you sometimes have to take to keep your blood sugar within a normal range. I really hate when my blood sugar gets low because then I end up eating large amounts of sugary stuff (which is also calorically dense) just to get it back up and make the feeling go away. Losing weight with diabetes isn't impossible (obviously) BUT we definitely have to work a little harder.

Hi, your message struck a chord with me as I have had many of the same thoughts, and also, I have lost weight because of diabetes concerns. I made my goal weight in 5/2007 but have kept on losing to my current level just doing the same things I was doing while "dieting" - like you, I knew the changes would be permanent and I did not intend to do anything different for the rest of my life. For me, the weight loss since 5/07 has been very gradual; also, I have stepped up my exercise as I got more proficient (I think of my first trip on the elliptical about 1 year ago and how I almost fell off, gasping and beet red in the face, after 10 minutes).

This has made me see that this weight loss thing can be unpredictable and the new you takes a lot of getting used to. I have a lot of confusion about myself right now - it's hard to adjust to such a different appearance, even how people treat me differently. The driver's license situation has occurred to me too, when people have not believed it was me. (I point out that I have the same hairdo. Oddly enough, people then say, oh yes, I see it now, it's you.)

I try to look at this as a recognition of my hard work and perseverence, and remind myself I have done something that not many people can do. I have gradually lost a lot of the worry that I will gain it all back because I remind myself that I am not the same person I was when I started out. There is just no comparison. And as each day goes by and I do what I need to do to stay healthy, it has seemed to get easier. More routine. I also learned that other people's expectations reflect their own situations, and not to take everything to heart that others say. I try really hard to stay on my own path and gradually I'm adjusting. It's not just the weight loss, it's the change in me as a person as well, maybe that is what you are feeling?

I'm very wordy here. Thanks for giving me the chance to reflect on this, it's helped me! and I want to say that you have so much to be proud of.

goalsuccess, I know what you mean. I never intend to gain that weight again. I've changed so much and gone too far to ever go there again. It's so weird, I feel like I relate to women a lot differently than I used to. I share my weight willingly. I am shocked to learn that women I always thought of as thin actually are bigger than I am now. I am in that club of women with a few pounds to lose. They talk to me more about it. They ask me advice. It's weird. But personally, I don't feel that same relationship to bad food and I really feel so much better, can do so much more. I think what I am trying to do now is just to love my body, with flabby skin and all because ultimately this was about health and quality of life.

Thanks NightengaleShane, that's what I am trying to do is keep my healthy habits. I didn't change my diet, I changed my way of eating. I can't imagine life without my veggies now

Pink Geranium, I know exactly what you mean. I know I am the same person inside, but yet so much has changed that sometimes I feel the inside of me has transformed as well, but it could be just that people perceive me differently. And I feel everyone in general takes me more seriously. I don't know, hard to explain.

I have been considering changing at least some of my exercise. I am considering (finances to be taken into account) getting a personal trainer to show me different things I could do, because mostly I've walked my way to the weight loss. So this might be a change coming up if not in the next couple of months certainly in this year. We'll see.

Thanks everyone

I think posting in here can be good luck sometimes, after all that, i've just lost in the past 2 weeks and now I am at 100 pounds lost and only 2 away from BMI! I feel like I am already at goal now though, but more than that, I know I can and will hit BMI! I say that now though lol, wait till I hit another stall!

100 pounds lost!!!

Congratulations, Blue!! That's awesome!

You bet that posting here is good luck!!

Thanks Meg!

And you know what now? It's goal, today 2/11/08. This wasn't my goal originally, it was the goal I set when I got under 200. I think I am happy now and hope I don't lose too much more. The thing is I guess I am truly just maintaining now but there's nothing to change. I am not on a diet, this is a way of life that I adopted and there's nothing I am going to change about my food or exercise. Not exactly true, I do hope to change the way I do exercise at some point to build up some more muscle especially in my arms.