Hello ladies and gents,

Would anyone who's maintained long term ( I'm thinking 2 years or more ) be kind enough to share with me how you kept from regaining it all plus 10 more? I'm sure very few of you succeeded the first time you tried, so what made it stick this time?

I'm contemplating yet another go at the weight loss thing, but I'm having very serious doubts as to whether it'll do more good than harm. The last time I got serious, I really thought I had this thing figured out. I dropped 70 lbs. through sensible portions and exercise. I stalled for a year, but that was OK because at least I wasn't gaining. Then, as it has always seems to happen since I was 12 and started dieting, I lost control. 5 became 10, and so on until I gained it all back plus 10.

I really don't think my self-esteem can take another failure. I don't want to spend the rest of my life consumed with something that I'm starting to believe is unattainable. But at 255 lbs, I'm putting my health in serious jeopardy. I can barely walk 50 ft or climb a flight of stairs without catching my breath.

I can't just do nothing, can I?

I hear you loud and clear.

This has happened to me several times. I think/hope this time I've got it licked...attributing that to new outlook that these measures are not 'short term temporary' to reach a goal but instead a long term management issue of a chronic condition called obesity.

I now look at myself as though I am a celiac, an alcoholic, or someone with serious allergies. This perspective eliminates the 'optional' approach and forces me to contend with the reality that I need to manage a new way of being.

I am doing a low carb/moderate protein approach this time around. The results are nothing less than fabulous. And the support community here is second to none.

I live in a 2 story house. It came to the point where I thought I was going to have to sell and move into a one level because I couldn't manage the stairs anymore.

On a recent trip to Rome (have been there a few times), I was surprised at what a difference the 100 pound weightloss made in my capacity to scale steep stairs, hike high hills and the like. I was there a year ago at 287 pounds. The difference i encountered in ease of mobility this time around was inexpressably 5 star wonderful!!!

rooting for you and me, too and everyone here,
Annik

I still keep a food + exercise journal.
And I weigh myself daily.

This way I'm aware of the ups and downs that happen week by week with birthday cake, celebrations, parties. But by not avoiding the scales and keeping track of everything, I'm able to adjust my calories and activity level, and have maintained for more than two years now.

Thanks to you both.

AnniK,

I needed to hear that being healthy isn't optional. It wasn't until I figured out that I could never smoke another cigarette that I could give up smoking. We always want that " free pass " to go back to old ways, don't we?

NCchickie,

Thinking back on it, it was when I stopped weighing daily that I let myself go. Sweatpants are very forgiving. My scale is not. I guess I need to get over the desire to stop calorie counting, too. I tried the intuitive eating thing, and well, it worked about as well as intuitive drinking might work for an alcoholic.

Excellent advice!

As other people have said before me, maintaining is like dieting on a short leash. Give yourself a red line and if you get up to that red line, go right back to counting calories or whatever it was you did to lose weight. You know how to lose weight.

For me, making myself and my health a priority is mandatory. I was staring at age 50 and 261 lbs. when I decided that I'd had enough. I made a commitment to losing--it took four years, but I made it and now have lost even more than planned. Today (it's my birthday!) I'm 61, weigh what I did in my mid-20s, and have more muscle than in my 20s. Do I lose control every now and again? You bet. But not the way I used to, and I get back on the wagon quickly. I've lost track at how many weight loss attempts I'd made prior to my last success. You can't stop trying.

yep. well said!

Happy Birthday!! You've given yourself a wonderful gift.

And thank you for the encouragement.

Accepting that it was a part-time job. The mandatory daily exercise, the food researching, purchasing and preparation. Also understanding that there's no end date for it.

Honestly having a somewhat obsessive compulsive personality seems to help, because then you're absolutely impelled to follow a structure.

I'm sticking my nose where I have no business because I'm nowhere near maintaining, but I second the scale thing. I need to be on that thing every single day (with the knowledge of what causes fluctuations), because if I'm not I can easily tell myself that I'm doing fine.

I weigh myself every day and exercise a lot.

I'm also in my twenties, so there's a fair margin for error and a lot of forgiveness.

Hi All,

I bumped this old thread so I could say thank you to the folks in this thread and this forum as a whole. You gave me hope when I felt about as beat down as I ever have. I'm sitting in my office with the door shut fighting tears when I think about what it did for me to hear " You can do this ! " when I didn't think I could.

One year and almost 80 lbs later, I feel like anything is possible. I can't begin to tell you what a difference your support has made and continues to make.

Good going, Struedel, and congratulations!!!!
That's the thing with maintenance, it's not a 'diet and then back to *normal* life.' It's always keeping the body's needs in focus, and realizing that for most previously fat people there will be things that they should just never have again. It means changing your 'normal.' I know that sounds drastic, but it eases the decision making options considerably. I have to be gluten free, so I know what this is like.
I'm so glad you are making it happen!

Liana

Oh well done, Streudel! That's so good to hear. You're encouraging me!

LOL!

F.