Hi Maintainers! I joined 3fc in 2007 while googling 'free weight loss forum' because I would have joined ww online but I was too cheap.. and mobility issues made the computer my great equalizer back then because of multiple sclerosis. I've since gone into remissions and seen full mobiilty recovery

I've been telling myself I wouldnt maintain until I got into the 100's. I've been within the same five pounds since August 2008 because I choose to be. I want to know without a doubt that I can maintain this forever. No matter my life changes, disease flare ups or medication changes.

So here I am. I'm still in the 200's. I might get out of them this year, I might not. I'm a maintainer even though I'm not at my goal. And that's okay. Nice to meet you 3fc has changed my life!!

Val

Yay, Val! It's wonderful to see you here! Congratulations on your amazing weight loss and welcome to the wonderful world of maintenance. How fantastic that so many health benefits have resulted from your loss!

C'mon and join us on our weekly chat threads. We can't wait to get to know you better!

fore sure.. and thanks for inviting me in the first place Meg

This is just INCREDIBLE! Absolutely AMAZING! Talk about a life transforming weight loss. You are the epitomie of what losing weight for one's health and quality of life is all about. And I commend you. Congratulations!!!

Looking forward to getting to know you better.

on your accomplishments!!

thanks ladies. and yeah robin the weight loss had really reduced stress on my body/made managing the disease easier.

not to mention totally changed my outlook on life(or maybe the disease changed my outlook and everything else just fell into place).

anyways i'm a lurker by nature but i'll try to post once in awhile! i'm a professional communications specialist by day.. by the time i get home to post here my brain power is pretty low.

Hi - Glory87 told me about this forum and invited me to join. I'm just a few pounds away from my goal or maybe I'm already there. I'm never sure when enough is enough.

In January of 2004 I weighed 250 pounds and wore a size 22. That number shocked me so much and I had to ask myself if I was going to stop gaining before I became one of those people that has to be hauled around with a crane. I started to lose weight with a reasonable diet and exercise and by spring of 2005 I was down to 135 pounds and a size 8. I did it in a healthy way for the first 105 but I was so impatient to lose the last 10 that I starved myself until I ended up in the hospital. Everyone said that I looked terrible and emaciated and insisted that I gain at least 5 pounds back so I did. Over the next 4 years I got out of the habit of weighing myself because all of my clothes fit and I was still eating a very healthy diet for the most part. I'd blow it during the holidays but always figured that a few pounds were no big deal and they would melt off over the next few months. Well, they don't, and each year I picked up 4 or 5 pounds. It doesn't sound like much but when I went to the doctor in June I realized that I had gained 20 pounds in less than 4 years. I started back on a 1500 calorie a day plan and now I'm back to 140. I think that I have about 5 more pounds to go but I'm really not sure. I got stuck on a plateau and did 1200 calories for a week or so to get things moving again but now I'm back to 1500.

I do very well at losing weight but not so well at maintaining it, I guess. Sometimes I feel like I don't want to finish losing because then I have to figure out how to stay there. So, maybe I'm here a bit early but I have a lot to learn from successful maintainers.

Thanks for referring me, Glory. I'm off to look around : )

Hey Karyn, so glad you found the place. Thanks for sharing your story - figuring out mainenance (and it's still a little bit of a work in progress for me) was a huge step for me. I had never thought once about what I would after I lost weight, I just wanted to lose weight!

Hi there and welcome to both of you! Glad you are here!

Valpal -That is great that your weight loss made such a change in your MS!

Karyn -I've only been maintaining for six months, and I sometimes don't know when enough is enough either. I'm still finding my way around the maintenance game too.

Thanks for the welcome. Glory, your pictures are wonderful. I hated having my picture taken when I was heavy but I think that I have one somewhere that I can scan in. I never saved clothes once they got too big for me because I didn't want to be able to eat my way back into them so I don't have any of those great before and after pictures showing how big my tent dresses used to be.

I get confused about calories and body weight, Shannon. I'm not exactly sure what size my frame is and what is a realistic weight for it. My doctor says that anything under 150 is fine but I think that 135-140 is more reasonable. When I look at calorie charts that say I should be eating almost 2000 calories a day it seems like way too much to me. I don't know, but I guess I'll find out over the next few months.

Hey Karyn,

Many of the folks here find they can't maintain on what doctors say they should be able to maintain on. Sorry, I don't have time to post longer (about to head out to a business dinner!). I know that Meg posted some really interesting stuff on the calorie needs of the formerly obese. I can try to hunt down those links for you!

I did finally get rid of my big pants/big skirt! It was kinda neat to do the "pull skirt to the side" picture I definitely wanted to get rid of my "big clothes!"

The link Meg posted is here.

And I have found this to be true for me. I maintain on about 1400 calories. But, I am 50+ and have a sedentary job. I exercise daily, but moderately.

Thanks so much for that link, Counting Down. It's nice to have my personal experience validated. Over those 3 or 4 years when I gained the 20 pounds back I was sure that I was eating about the right number of recommended calories but it's too much for me to maintain on. I kept thinking that my frame must be smaller than I think because if I eat over 1800 calories a day I'm going to gain weight and some of those calculators recommend over 2100. It's a nice fantasy that I could eat that much, but I can't. I'm pretty active for someone that's almost 50 but even with working out and getting lots of exercise working around my property I'll never be able to do it.