Hi, I'm brand new to the boards, I discovered 3FC a few weeks ago....I wish I had found it when I first started trying to lose weight!

I'm thirty and have two kids and this spring got sick of still having all the baby fat from the pregnancies six years after the youngest was born, my size 14 pants were too tight and I was just ready for a change. I've worked really hard and lost 23 pounds, which amazes me every day; I really didn't think I'd be able to lose the weight! I have more of a goal size than a goal weight in mind. I'd really like to get down to a size eight and I'm getting quite close to that. I think somewhere around 130 will be the magic number, right now a size ten fits well (which I'm thrilled about....I haven't worn a size ten in seven years!).

I haven't really been following a plan, I just stopped drinking soda and processed foods and started eating lots of fruit, veggies, and whole grains. I write down what I eat every day but I don't really calorie count. I haven't been exercising like I should lately. I was really good about it when I started on this journey then I broke my foot in May. Even though it's healed I haven't gotten back in the swing of exercise. I do take my dog on 2 twenty minute walks every day. The kids start school next week and I'm a SAHM so I plan on devoting 1/2 an hour a day to my exercise bike and I'm looking at getting something like the Total Gym to get some strength training into my routine, and also possibly doing some yoga.

the problem is with my goal rapidly approaching I'm not really sure how to adjust my eating once I get to my goal size. I am terrified of gaining the weight back. I've only tried to lose weight one other time and I basically starved myself for five months, so when I decided to eat again I gained it all back. This time I've made real changes to my relationship with food so I'm hopeful I can keep the weight off. But I'm really confused as to how I should modify my eating once I get to goal. Should I just add a little at a time and see where it leads? Am I stressing about this too much?

Thanks for your help,
Tanya

Hi Tanya and welcome to the boards. I'm not a great one to post advice since I have only been at maintenance level for about 6 weeks. The only thing I can say is that I'm still eating and exercising (which I havent' done lately due to an injured ankle) the same as I was to lose weight. I do low-carb way of eating, so I tried to slowly increase my carbs by 5 grams a day for a couple weeks. When I saw that I was still losing , I increased a little more. I am currently down to 137 but it's because I've had a stomach illness. I am not trying to lose more weight, it just keeps coming off . I'm sure it will level out when I am well. I too have a huge fear of regaining and am very conscious of what I eat.

Hey Tanya, I've been maintaining for about 18 months now. For me, maintenance is exactly the same as losing weight. I do the same things. I still food journal, I still plan healthy meals, I still pack a healthy lunch/snacks for work everyday. I still count calories, I still limit the foods I consider nutritionally vacant (soda, fast food, booze, packaged baked goods, fried foods).

I did slowly increase calories to maintenance level over a period of a couple of months, I went up about 100 calories every 2-3 weeks. I made sure that the calories I added every day were nutritious and not junk (I didn't make up the 300 calorie difference in Hershey bars, just added more of the good foods I was already eating). In a way, this was easy for me since I was a calorie counter and it was easy to add in 100 calories a day. In a way, it was very difficult because I was terrified to gain weight back and eating more made me nervous.

It sounds like you lost weight sensibly, so trust yourself. That was tough for me, trusting myself to have built the good habits that would let me be successful.

Thanks for the welcome. Wow, I looked at both of your 'before and after' picture....incredible!

Thanks for the encouragement; it sounds like I'm on the right track as far as gradual increases once I get to goal. My weight loss seems to have suddenly accelerated; it took me four months to lose the first 10 pounds and now in the last 7 weeks I've lost 13 pounds. So it may sound strange but I don't want to lose too much weight, I just am afraid to mess with the formula that's been working for me and gain any weight back. I found it relatively easy to commit to better eating once I found the willpower, but the idea of maintaining the weight loss is daunting.

thanks for your help,
Tanya

Thanks tanya, I'm sure you will do great at maintaining. For me, it is just about staying totally conscious of my food intake and doing whatever I can to move whenever possible. Good luck and best wishes for you.