I know I'm not a maintainer, but I often come here for encouragement. Today, I felt more discouraged than ever after reading a thread. I'm having a tough enough time getting on track. I can't imagine ever being able to maintain weight loss if maintenance is harder than losing.

I was reading Meg's Sticky thread about Genes/Environment/Obesity/Maintaining and was wondering: does it matter how long you've been over weight? I was normal weight for most of my life. And, although I'm very heavy now, I've only been that way for a couple of years.

Is there any chance my metabolism might reset to normal since I was normal for so many years?

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but your metabolism resets itself when you alter your eating habits. **Atleast the way I understand** So, if you consume more calories but burn less your metabolism will slow down. You can reset or trick your metabolism into thinking you're burning what you're consuming but in order to keep it at a faster pace you have to make life changes. Unlike you I've never been a "normal" weight so making my metabolism speed up was difficult at first. Don't give up and don't be discouraged!! You can do it, I believe in you!

Beginme, if there is one thing that is true about weight loss and maintenance it is that it works differently for everyone. Scientific studies typically study populations and draw conclusions based on what happens in the majority of that population. That doesn't mean that the conclusion is true for EVERYONE in the population.

Your metabolism may be modified or it may not. The only way to find out is to lose that weight and give maintenance a shot. And even if it is modified, does that mean that you should forget about losing weight and just resign yourself to being obese and unhealthy? Of course not!

Maintenance is work, sometimes a lot of work, sometimes not so much, but I think every one of us here will agree that it is WORTH IT. (And personally, I think maintenance is easier than losing.)

Maintenace can be harder than losing but it also depends on you. Do you plan on making life choices OR going back to old habits? Do you plan on weighing in now and then when you hit goal weight or tossing out the scale when you are done? It's all up to you how well you maintain.

Don't be discouraged I guess is what I'm trying to say

Please don't be discouraged! (especially by one of my posts!!) I agree with Jessica/Paperclippy's post. The only "normal" for metabolism is what's normal for each of us as unique individuals.

When you reach your goal weight, you'll experiment and find out what calorie level and exercise works to maintain your weight loss and that will be what's normal for YOU. It doesn't matter how many calories other people maintain their weight on, it doesn't matter what they eat, and it doesn't matter what kind of exercise they do (or don't!) All that matters is what's right for you.

Frankly, I couldn't care less about other people and their metabolisms! I know what *I* need to do every day to keep the weight off and that's all that is relevant to me. Maybe I eat a little less and exercise a little more than someone who was never obese -- but so what? It is what it is.

It's wonderful that you're thinking about maintenance now but please try not to worry about your maintenance calorie needs quite yet. Your body is going to go through tremendous changes between now and then. It's certainly an adventure!

As for maintenance being harder than losing -- to me, maintenance is the same as losing. My life today today -- January 20, 2010 -- looks just about like January 20, 2002 so far as what I'm eating and the exercise that I'm doing (I went to the gym, did the elliptical and a back workout, and came home to egg whites and oatmeal ). I've been at this for almost nine years now and everything I do for maintenance is second nature and just about effortless at this point. Right now, the time while you're losing weight is when you're learning the skills and strategies that will let you keep the weight off for the rest of your life. Trust me, you're going to be a pro by the time you reach goal! So please don't be discouraged and don't worry about maintenance -- like Jessica said, you're going to love it here.

Meg always makes such sense. Great post.

Thanks, everyone!

Beginme: Meg and Jessica make perfect sense and offer very wise advice so please listen to them and don't be discouraged. I would just like to add that one thing that makes maintenance easier than losing (especially at first) is in maintenance you have a leaner, heathlier body as a reward that will keep you motivated to stay on track. It's so hard in the beginning of weight loss to stay on track, in my opinion, because yo are working so hard and aren't where you want to be so it's easy to just say chuck it. But trust me on this that you will love being slimmer again and anything you have to do to maintain it will be worth the trouble and sacrifice.

Pam

Hey!

In some ways maintenance can be harder, but only if you think you don't have to watch what you eat anymore, or if you easily give in to temptation or your previous bad habits with food.

Don't worry yet about how it will be. Just work on your good food habits and weight loss, and cross that bridge when you come to it!

Jay

I've been maintaining for 2 months. I'm still not at goal--I'd like to lose another 10 pounds--but for now, I'm choosing to maintain. And I gotta say that it feels easier than losing to me, but maybe that's just because I'm not logging my food right now (and to be honest, I'm also not exercising, which isn't a strategy that I necessarily recommend to anyone!).

So because i'm not logging and I'm not going out and exercising, it feels easier. This doesn't mean that I have gone back to my old way of eating, though! I had a couple of scary weeks during December where the scale started to creep up; I'm attributing that to the sweets and junky stuff that I ate. So I stopped that nonsense right after Christmas and now I'm back down to 190 again, just by watching what I'm eating and making sure I don't eat junk.

another thought about maintenance is that while it's a big difference from the way most people eat and move when they are heavy/gaining weight, it's the way most thin people live their lives.

Sure, we all know that person who seemingly can eat whatever they want and be a sloth and never gain anything (although those people become increasingly rare as they age, and I know several who faced some pretty harsh realities after age 40!).

But for the most part, people who maintain a healthy weight tend to have healthier habits. It's just the way they live their lives. They are active on a regular basis. They eat enough to be full, and they have treats sometimes, but not lots of them all the time.

I know for me and perhaps lot of people here (well, not necessarily HERE, on the maintainers forum!), the idea of living the way we do right now as we're losing weight sometimes seems like a hard and permanent struggle. And I'm not going to pretend that an obese person's body isn't most likely going to want to gain back weight, more than the body of someone who has always been fit and slim.

But still, when I watch the people I know who are trim, they put in the same time working out and make the same considered choices about food that I plan to be making when I'm at my goal, and for the rest of my life.

I also would not worry about ruined or compromised metabolisms. I think people over use those terms waaaaay too much.

We're all individuals and we all need to figure out what works for each of us - and what doesn't. Which would be the case if we were never overweight or if we were. We do that through trial and error and experimentation. Rest assured you will figure out your "correct" balance of exercise/food and it most likely won't look like this ones or that ones.

As for maintenance being harder, well it IS longer. But by the time you get there, it will be automatic to you. You will have developed great tools and strategies to keep you on plan. You will have discovered healthy foods that you will enjoy eating. You will not mind passing up on the other stuff as your desires for them will greatly lessen and you won't want anything to ruin how wonderful you feel (& look!).

I can and do "maintenance" with my eyes closed so to speak. I'm on autopilot. It's just normal and routine for me to eat like this and not eat like that. These lifestyle is ingrained in me. I rely heavily on my habits and don't have to put much thought into it. Of course it still takes a conscientious effort on my part, but make no mistakes about it, this lifestyle is no burden. It's a joy to live this way and any effort put towards maintaining my weight loss is time very well spent. I'm being proactive about my weight, about my health, which feels good in and of itself. I'm trim, energetic, productive, happy and smiley. I'm full of self confidence, self respect and self discipline. All great things to possess!!

Howdy-
Beautiful thoughts. Thanks for the thread.

I think it's normal to have some of these concerns, but I would encourage you to consider how incredible it is that, after years of abuse of our bodies, that we CAN CHANGE our bodies by what we eat and how we move. Yes, there may be stretch marks, loose skin, maybe a changed metabolism compared to those who were never obese, but obesity is not permanent!!! It's such an amazing thing that we can grab hold of ourselves and change our futures---our health, longevity, energy, reduce depression, increase mobility. Our bodies are willing to work with us if we are willing to work with them. My body simply responds to my choices.....We have the power to change our stars, so to speak. That is far more powerful than any potential negative "what ifs"....knowledge is power, and the power belongs to each and every one of us. It's Dorothy's red slippers----we've had it all along.