Wow, Meg I'm in awe of your post and of you... I am having a difficult time coming up with the right words to express how your post has affected me, and on how ALL your posts always hit home with me...
You've come a very, very long way in the last year from your first anniversary...
CONGRATS!!!
Have a fantastic day!!
P.S.: When you gonna start that book.... That post would be a great intro!
I'm sorta new to this board -- new to posting, anyway -- and I've read several of your posts in the last few days. I've lost a lot myself, after a lifetime of serious weight problems, and I'm still working on the downward part. Still, I love what you have to say, because I finally, finally got it myself when I started my most recent weight loss journey. That it's about making changes for LIFE. That the way I eat, the way I handle food situations, the way I approach exercise, has to be exactly the same after goal as before goal.
Thanks for all your contributions, and for continuing to let us know how it looks "from the other side." You rock!
oh meg... this is just fabulous. i'm going to print it out and put it on my bulletin board, and, with your permission, distribute it at our next support group meeting.
IMO: this is a MUST READ and MUST UNDERSTAND message. and it can't be hammered into our heads hard enough and often enough.
thank you thank you thank you thank you for all you do around here...
You did it all yourself chickie - besides I gotta thank YOU for getting into the operating room - it was because of your loose skin post, remember two years ago?
Maintenance DOES get easier - for me, it's just life now. Just a thought - something that REALLY helps is finding another 'hobby' rather than food. Preferably something that gets you out of the kitchen... For me, that's horses (after doing bicycling and Rollerblading and taking different classes at the Rec). Even on days I'm not riding, I can easily spend HOURS at the stable, just playing with Dakota, bathing and grooming him, cleaning tack, etc. Horses might not be your 'thing' but I do recommend finding SOMETHING you love to do - to replace the overemphasis so many of us have on eating and food.
Funny - this past weekend I was watching the Dom DeLuise movie "Fatso" on Cinemax...haven't seen that in YEARS...remember how fixated he was on eating and food? Jim and I both LOL'd during the bit with the Chubby Checkers - where they came to stop Dom from eating, got in an hilarious, almost obscene conversation about different foods:
Did you ever suck the jelly out of a jelly doughnut and then fill it with chocolate swirl ice cream?
...while drinking their hot water, which became hot water with lemon, then they demanded honey (Dom to brother: "GET THE HONEY, JUNIOR!") and ended up tearing the doors off the kitchen cabients and going nuts in the kitchen...
Once again, I digress...as usual. I'm a nut.
I agree with Jiff - Meg's post above is a MUST READ.
And Jack - I bet that Meg has very nice tiny feet!
So many of our experiences have mirrored each other's that I feel I'm reading about myself when you write. (Contrary to rumors currently circulating, we are not the same person )
I agree so much with your two points that maintenance doesn't look any different from losing and that it's actually harder. Last year when you wrote your first anniversary post, there was a hoopla about the word maintenance. The person who objected to it thought it meant acceptance, although she'd never managed it in her own journey. I think maintenance is the most lauditory word in terms of weight loss: it doesn't imply settling for anything but your best.
I hope Karen is right that it gets easier- 2 1/2 years for me, and it's still tough. Luckily for me, the gym became both my hobby and my vocation. If I could maintain my weight without the gym, would I? No way! I'd have to give up the body for just a number on the scale, give up the excitement of each new challenge on the gym floor. For me, this is my way of living.
Congratulations Meg! It is great for me to come here and read about someone who is maintaining and not in the 95% who lose and then regain! I too hope to be in the elusive 5% that maintain there weightloss so I will take any advice offered!
"You're the meaning in our life...You're the inspiration...You give meaning to our lives...You're the inspiration...No one needs you more than we need.....YOUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!"
Today Is My Second Anniversary!
For me, that's horses (after doing bicycling and Rollerblading and taking different classes at the Rec). Even on days I'm not riding, I can easily spend HOURS at the stable, just playing with Dakota, bathing and grooming him, cleaning tack, etc. Horses might not be your 'thing' but I do recommend finding SOMETHING you love to do - to replace the overemphasis so many of us have on eating and food. 
)
