Wow---I would consider 2 1/2 years longterm maintenance. I just hope I can make it there as you have.

What you've articulated here is my greatest fear: Losing that "gung-ho" feeling. My personality is such that I tend to get really excited about something, stay that way for a bit, and then my excitement fizzles out. I am hoping and praying that that doesn't happen this time around. But I'm telling myself that if it does, I will still hang in there and keep doing what I'm doing (or try something else that will keep the weight off).

Another challenge I've always faced is comparing myself with other "normal" eaters, getting discouraged and/or resentful that I am not like them, and then trying to be like them & regaining the weight. At least now I accept that my eating is not normal & never will be. I think I will always have to be uber-conscious of what I put in my mouth, and I've learned to accept that.

BTW, I agree w/ Glory: Go out and buy a new outfit! You deserve it!

loribell I think the new outfit idea is a good one! We need to do whatever motivates us to continue with the day-to-day that maintenance becomes.

I tend to buy myself "experiences" now as, at age 54, I've got enough stuff. I try things that I never would have when I was heavier. The latest is indoor rock climbing with my cousin and niece (a birthday gift for her).

Dagmar

The best thing I've read to date on long-term maintenance challenges and success: http://justmaintaining.com/ If you have the time, treat it like a book and read every "chapter." Even many of the replies to posts are interesting.

For myself, I've only been maintaining for a year. So far, I agree with JayEll's description that it's "yo-yo dieting on a short leash" - whether it's gaining 2-3 pounds and then losing it again, or ncuneo's weekday/weekend calorie cycling, it is basically impossible to stay at the exact same number of calories and body weight week in, month out. And I bet our ancestors, evolutionarily, didn't do that either; harvest months, or times when the caribou/deer/mammoth were in migration were much higher in calories than the "lean months" in between. Surely we were biologically designed to "yo-yo" and there's nothing shameful or wrong about it. I say that a long-term maintenance plan that accepts the reality of ups and downs, and creates pro-active accommodations for what to do, is a better solution than entering into panic mode every time you can't fit into your "fat jeans."

My successful strategies so far: (1) having a red-line weight that automatically triggers a different eating plan until weight heads back down; (2) nurturing food aversions (I hate chips, fatty and greasy foods, highly processed package foods); makes it easy to say no to many things; (3) never getting too hungry, by eating veggies (and to a lesser extent, fruit) as between-meal snacks; (4) strategic avoidance; of restaurants that have no acceptable food options; of the buffet line at a party (stay on the other side of the room, or other room if there is one); of the table where co-workers put the treat of the day; (5) experimenting with new (healthy) foods, new recipes and new exercises (pilates, kettlebells, resistance bands, etc).

Good luck and best wishes for maintaining at your desired weight.

You are right! Glory, I just read your post to my husband and he says YES too!

Thanks so much for these suggestions, Andrea! How often do you weigh yourself? During the entire time I was in losing mode, I didn't weigh myself because I wanted to focus on changing my behaviors rather than some number on the scale. I loved the freedom that gave me, and it seemed to make the weight loss process SO much easier. However, I realized a couple of months ago that I would need to weigh myself to determine how many maintenance calories I could eat. (I've continued to lose even though I've been eating more than 2000 calories a day. I'm 135, but I don't want to go any lower than that as my face tends to look gaunt, and frankly, I can fit into size 6's at 140 anyway; my original goal was 145). So, I've been weighing myself every 2 weeks or so lately. That feels like more than enough for me, but I'm just curious about what others do.

I agree with this. I weigh and measure myself just to keep myself honest, but I don't live or die by the numbers. IMO it's normal for our weight and bodyfat percentage to fluctuate a little.

Yikes! I won't be buying that book - it sounds way too negative! (I know this stuff is true, but I still don't want to read it.)

My strategies are:

* remembering that I'm not, not ever will be, "normal". Eating and exercising like a "normal" person is not an option.
* organising my life around diet/exercise, instead of fitting diet/exercise around my life. I know this sounds depressing but it's true.
* keeping it interesting by trying new recipes and workouts
* just slogging away and taking it one day at a time.

I don't consider myself a long-time maintainer but like Lori, I too feel like the glow is wearing off. I've experienced the creep and am currently 1 lb over my redline. I know that doesn't seem like a big deal to many but I fear that I'm on a slippery slope down--or up rather. Slowly I've slid into the following:

-I'm not weighing daily because I don't like the number. This is probably the biggest problem right here as I am the queen of denial.

-I'm not walking as much as I usually do. And here's why--I HATE winter/cold weather. I've gotten into the habit (and it's probably not all bad) of riding the bus to and from work. It literally picks me up on the corner and drops me off in front of work--I'm spoiled I know. I've been riding because my son has Swim practice at HS and he can drive my car and I don't have to go out into the cold to pick him up--double spoiled! This wouldn't seem like such a big deal until one realizes that I used to park 5-10 minutes walking away from work--both ways. But I've come to really enjoy riding the bus. It's like forced relaxation and an opportunity to read without guilt. I'm not sure if I ever really want to go back to driving.

-Here's my biggest issue identified: portion control/creep. I'm just plain old eating too large of portions for dinner. Too much and seconds. I feel like I do so well throughout the day but when dinner rolls around I really enjoy the full feeling of eating too much. Not overstuffed but very full.

Now you may think with all of my challenges, I'm sunk. But I'm still doing many things right. I'm cooking alot, I continue to exercise very regularly, I drink loads of water and aim for lots of sleep. I'd like to think that I will always be a work in progress.

Bargoo, I'm sorry about your son. It's so painful to watch our kids make bad choices especially when we cannot fix it ourselves. Unfortunately, we sometimes have to wait patiently on the sidelines while they screw up. Hugs to you and your son!

Lori, I wish we lived closer to each other so we could shop together. I'm very frugal but I LOVE clothes shopping!

Losermom - here in Britain, where lots of people use buses, the advice is to get off the bus one stop early and walk the rest of the way. Is that any good for you?

Silverbirch, my head says yes I really should, but my body says brrrr--it's 8 degrees Fahrenheit with a stiff wind! I do wear a long (past my knees) down parka with a hood with gloves, hat and scarf. Also, I should really aim to wear more comfortable boots/shoes suitable for long walks...not such fussy cute ones.

LM - sorry, I forgot you were in Minnesota. But you used to park 5-10 minutes from work? I used to park at the far end of the supermarket car park until last winter when it was off limits due to piles of snow and ice. I forgot about this until this December (!) but have now put it back into operation plus parking much further away at work and home. We've had no snow yet though. How did I forget such an easy thing to do?

lin43- I weigh every day. During past "diets" (e.g. the ones you go on and then finish because you achieve goal weight), the begin of the end for me would always be stopping weigh-ins. The only time I don't weigh is when I'm on vacation (because there's no scale). I think it's perfectly fine to weigh yourself once a week, or even once every two weeks, as long as you (1) have a plan and (2) don't panic easily.

Whereas, I never get on the scale because day to day fluctuations blow my mind. I stick to how my pants fit. Tight pants? Time to get back on the weight loss train.

RedPanda, the book isn't negative. It's actually quite positive--it just points out that extreme efforts don't yield as much success as moderate ones.

IMO, people can see maintenance as a life sentence to hard labor, or as a joyful way to eat well and be happy. But to get to the latter point of view, changes are needed in attitudes and beliefs about what constitutes "eating well."

It may also mean a change in attitude about what constitutes "happy." Insisting on too low a maintenance weight because of some mental, blue-sky ideal can lead to frustration and stress, as can too heavy an exercise regimen.

Jay

I agree Jay. I became very frustrated and stressed wanting to get to a weight number that I pulled out of my *ss (that was my sophisticated way of picking my original goal weight).

One has to be open to and accepting of reasonable goals, yes? And this wanting to be happy all the time? I don't know where that idea originated but I believe a lot of human effort has been realized under duress. You Americans are celebrating MLK's birthday tomorrow. I don't think his major goal in life was to be happy every day.

I enjoy feeling good as much as the next person. But, for me, it can get to be like perpetually sunny warm weather - ultimately boring. I like a curve once in awhile - just not all the time or a bunch of things at once.

Dagmar