Very enlightening thread. I've been almost dreading getting to goal, because I know how to lose weight and I definitely know how to gain weight, but I don't know how to (and am afraid I can't) maintain a certain weight.

I hope it is true that fear is a good thing, because I have plenty of that!

Wow...i didnt realize that so many of us are struggling with this issue...and here I was thinking that I was weird!

Glory and I were talking about this on another thread.

The strong desire is the most important thing, if you ask me.

But I also rely on plain old habit...

This is all so natural to me now. It's just what I do and who I am. I know what to eat and what not to eat. I know how to plan and prepare. I know how to shop. I've got a GREAT repertoire of recipes to make that I thoroughly enjoy and look forward to. I've got great strategies and tips to keep me eating well. I use self talk when need be. Then there's the scale , the journaling. I know how to navigate a myriad of situations. In other words, I'm armed with an incredible tool box.

I like my plan. I like what I'm eating. I like what it produces. I want to stay on my plan (usually). It's not *all that* difficult to stick with.

But again, you have to keep that desire strong. Because as automatic as it is to me, as much as I love the foods I'm eating, it wouldn't be *all that* hard to revert back to my old ways. Kinda, sorta. But not really. I am NEVER going back. Never, ever, ever - which goes back once again to the *desire* equation of this whole thing.

I want to thank everyone who posted on this thread. I am definitely obsessed with food and that obsession rears its ugly head too often. I am just getting off of a week of eating extremely poorly. I had two months of eating poorly around Easter. And when I say eating poorly, I mean eating like I was at 325 pounds; eating like I don't care if I hit 325 pounds again! That is really really scary to me. The bright spot is that I have been able to reign it in, but it scares me to death that I may not reign it in one of these times.

I am still learning my body and learning things I just cannot eat because they send me into these phases. But I am still trying to determine the solution. I don't want to cut an entire food group out of my diet, but they really seem to cause negative reactions for me.

Anywho, thanks a lot everybody, especially the OP for putting this out there.

I have no problem with the concept of cutting whole food groups from my diet. There are some foods that just are NOT good for me, and those foods tend to have little redeeming nutritional value. For example, my health will certainly not suffer if I never eat another Cheeto or Dorito again. So I'm just not going to eat them any more. EVER. With the myriad of other foods out there, I don't feel like I'm "limiting" my life in any way.

Would it be nice if I were the kind of person who could eat 15 Cheetos without it leading to a bunch of other poor choices which then leads backsliding and binging and weight gain and shame and the eating of more Cheetos? Sure, I guess. But I don't think I am that kind of person. Like an alcoholic, it is much better for both my physical and mental health if I just don't eat Cheetos, period. I'm ok with that.

On the way down into maintenance and for the first year of maintenance I was downright petrified. I felt a little insane about just how petrified I was. (like you and many others in this thread)
Completing that first year was super empowering. At this point, 27months, that fear is returning because I recognize some very bad old habits are returning also. So fear is a good thing and it is helping me tow the maintenance line a bit straighter that I have been.

Thanks for starting this thread. I wish I had checked in like this when I entered maintenance, pretty much unable to feel proud because I was terrified of once again, gaining it all back...plus! Today I am at my goal weight. Sure, I'd like to be some pounds lower but I am, at 27 months maintenance at goal weight :)