Every time I eat something I feel I should not have eaten or have not excercised (have not been running since Saturday ) I`m anxious that I might regain the weight.

Last night, once again, I decided that I need to make a more conscious effort to make sure that the things whose ommittance helped me to trim down are not sneaking back into my life.

My husband has bought scones every morning this week and asked why they did not get eaten. I said that they should be for the weekend or maybe twice a week, and he understood. But it`s other things as well. Snacking, larger lunches, carbs at dinner (never much), not excercising. Christmas sweeties.

I feel that my belly has become larger and rounder again, just as it used to be. Not so very long ago I was amazed about how flat it was. It seems like the novelty factor of being slim is wearing off.

I`ve lost and regained weight so often. More than now, less than now. This time, it`s meant to be for good.

Although I`m not in a great hurry to lose any more just now, I`m determined not to let it creep back. I can relax a bit, for sure. But my weight is 62kg exactly, and when it`s more, I need to do something about it right away.

This morning, it was 62.2kg. (This is about 2kg less than I felt…)

That's the hardest part of maintenance for me - having to watch what I eat all the time for the rest of my life. I have gone off the rails on occasion (this week coincidentally being the latest time) just because I'm so bored and frustrated with counting calories, not being able to eat everything I want to eat, etc. etc.

I know I've gained at least 4 "real" lbs in the last month. A lot of my "skinny" clothes don't fit any more. I don't seem to have the energy or motivation to carry on any more.

Part of that is due to daylight savings time. I now wake up at around 3:30 a.m. (sleep disorder that's been an ongoing struggle for about 10 years) and I eat at night to try to stay awake and get some kind of energy to do stuff like laundry, cooking dinner, etc.

I wish I had an answer for you. There are other people on this forum (Meg and Glory come to mind) who are able to maintain day after day. They are very encouraging to the rest of us.

You have taken a couple of good first steps in identifying that the novelty of being slim seems to have worn off and explaining your desire to eat healthily your husband.

I hope you find your motivation again to stay slim and healthy. Good Luck!

Dagmar

Hi Stella!

I can understand your anxiety over gaining the weight back, since it's something that's happened to most of us. The months after I reached goal were the hardest for me because I didn't have a clue how to maintain, even though I was very good at losing. Just like you, I was panicked that one bad decision would mean that I was going to gain all the weight back overnight.

One bad choice won't make us gain back all our weight -- it takes a lot of bad choices. However, for some of us, it's really easy for one bad choice to lead to another and another. It's a slippery slope of bad choices that once we start down, it's very hard to stop! Kind of like a row of dominos; knock one down and it starts a chain reaction that takes out a whole row. So kudos to you for getting a handle on things now, before they get out of control.

I think the kind of conscious awareness of your choices that you describe is the key. And not letting the bad choices sneak back in. At this time of year, we need to be extra vigilant because, boy, can they sneak in!

A lot of us do what you're talking about -- draw a line in the sand at a certain weight, like your 62 kg -- and make sure it stays there by constant monitoring and good choices. So long as you have a plan for what to do when you see the number go up, you'll be fine (so long as it's NOT "start to watch what I eat tomorrow"!)

When the novelty factor of being slim wears off and the compliments dry up -- that's when the hard work of maintaining starts. So stick with us and we'll all get through this together!!

Hi Dagmar! You snuck in while I was typing.

I have sleep problems too and know how it affects our eating choices and weight maintenance. I make really terrible choices when I'm tired and hungry because I just don't care. So I hope you can get things sorted out.

Angel, I think the difference between being a morning person and having a sleep disorder is not the time you wake up, but the time you go to bed. Going to bed at 8 and waking up at 4 you are still getting 8 hours of sleep. I don't know about Dagmar's particular situation but usually if someone has a sleep disorder resulting in waking up at 3:30 they are not sleeping for 8 hours before waking up, but probably only for 3 or 4 hours, which is harder on your body. If would be like if you went to bed at your usual time of 8, but woke up at midnight and could not fall asleep again.

Stella, you said: You've hit the maintenance nail on the head. Most of us monitor our weight (whether with a scale or by clothes fit), and if it starts to creep up, we have to buckle down and get rid of it again. This doesn't mean that a single mistake will make you gain ALL the weight back. The phrase that I've heard tossed around is that maintenance is all about "not letting a lapse become a relapse."

I love the honesty in this forum, where people can express their doubts about maintenance. Just reading this sentence: "One bad choice won't make us gain back all our weight -- it takes a lot of bad choices" helps me so much. Not because it gives me license to make bad choices--I know I'll be making bad choices from time to time, I'm human after all--but because it gives me the rationale to make the next choice be a good one. The good choice days add up too, and they are not negated by the bad choices until you let the bad choices truly take over.

Forestroad, you've got it!

Very true!

My goal was a lot lower (ticker) but I enjoy being my cw and have decided to stay there for the time being - maybe lose some more before summer, but definitely not another 8kg.

Now that I feel comfortable I have relaxed some of my rules, but I need to remain conscious that this must not mean going back to what I was before. I think that`s it - in a nutshell.

Many things have become second nature to me now, others I enjoy to relax. So far, even when I was thinking I hve gained, I have only gained some 200g or so. Nothing, really. It`s in my head, but it`s good that it`s in my head as it keeps me mindful of it.

Stella