I lost a little more than 20 pounds doing South Beach. I stopped dieting in January, and have been just trying not to eat too much, and especially of the calorie rich foods. Just sensible eating.

The good news is that I haven't gained back any weight.

The bad news is that I haven't lost any weight.

I'm staying pretty consistently between 152 and 154, haven't seen anything over 155 since.

Now, do I want to go back on South Beach and lose the last 10 or not? I haven't decided. I'm pretty content being this size but I do have more tummy than I would like.

Congratulations on losing 20 pounds!

Only you know if you want to lose more. What you're doing right now is maintenance, and that's sometimes the hardest part of the new "lifestyle."

If you decide you want to weigh less, you know at least one way to go about it. So, all is well! Enjoy whatever you decide!

Jay

redlight~I am in the same boat as you. I lost 30 or so pounds last year and have been maintaining at about 140-142 since Christmas. I keep wondering if I should "go on a diet" to lose the last 8-10 pounds. I haven't really "dieted" since early 2006 when I started losing weight. Since then, I switched strategies to healthy eating and watching my calories. But I often wonder if it would be good for me to "do a diet" like at least phase 1 of some diet like South Beach or Fat Smash or whatever--maybe it will be just what I need to get rid of these last few pounds (mine isn't so much in my belly as in my upper thighs and butt!).

Good luck to you. I look forward to seeing what your decision is. Perhaps I'll join you (but I'm going out of town this afternoon and won't be able to check back in her until the late weekend or Monday).

I say go for the last 10 pounds. Can't hurt, none! And 10 less pounds is like... well.... 10 less pounds!

I'm also in the same boat. I can't decide if I should be happy at 150 which was my original goal or go for 140 which would look a little better. To maintain at 150, I feel like I have to think that I want to lose more meaning I'm eating the same as if I want to lose. Then I have a big meal at a party and know why I'm not losing. But my latest theory is that if you always want to lose a little, it will help you maintain at least where you are becuase you are focused and motivated.

Mona

Thanks for the responses. One thing that I'm worried about if whether I could maintain at the lower weight or whether I would be setting myself up to fail. I've done pretty well maintaining here for the last few months.

I've found in the past that your body hits a set point weight and it likes to stay there. And when you get your body used to a new (lower) set point weight, your body then becomes accustomed to THAT new weight. This really has proven itself to be true for me. In other words, I'll eat approximately the same amount to maintain 128 as I ate to maintain my weight in the 160's. So I say go for it if you can. Maybe make it a REALLY slow going goal so that you lose about 1/2 pound per week. That is practically like maintenance in that your deficit will only need to be 1750 calories per week, which you could achieve just by exercise.

I'm also not sure whether I should lower my goal weight. I maintained at 142/143 for a year and a half before I gained 12 pounds this past winter. This seems to be a comfortable weight for me. At the same time, I wouldn't object to losing a little more fat off my thighs and arms. The trouble is that the only time in my adult life that I dropped below 140 (I think my lowest was about 136--this was years ago when I was about 22 and the weight loss happened kinda by accident), I wound up gaining nearly 50 pounds in a short period of time and found myself at my highest weight ever (185). This coincided with starting graduate school and meeting my partner, but I have it in my head that if I get down to 140 or 135, I will suddenly lose control of my weight and become really fat again. Also, I don't want to drop below a size 6 in clothing--I don't want to have to replace any more clothes after spending the last 2 years building a gorgeous wardrobe in 6's and mediums. But, again, I think I would look *really* slim at 135, instead of just slim.

So I'm not sure what I should do. My tentative plan is to continue to eat between 1800 and 2000 calories a day (which is what I've pretty much been doing for the last 3 months as I've lost those 12 pounds), stick with my exercise regimen and just see what happens without setting myself a new goal. Or maybe I will set a new goal... I'm just not sure!