[kaplods]

I also think it's important to remember that not only can you change your goal, you can change it again and again. Also, it's important to have short term as well as long term goals, so you DO experience the feeling of success and progress.

If you've hit a stubborn plateau, and think that, at least for right now, exercising more or eating less isn't realistic for you, or just is outside of your "comfort zone," there's nothing wrong with practicing maintenance for a while. Changing your short term goal from losing weight to maintaining your current weight (even if it's not all that close to where you ultimately want to me), changes your focus and your definition of success, and can give you a little boost in confidence to keep going.

It's not exactly a "break" from dieting, but I think it still gives you a little more "breathing room," to decide what additional changes, if any, you are willing to make to take it further, instead of getting so fed up that you quit all together and regain all of the weight and then some.

I really wish I had learned that a LONG time ago.

[smisen]

I've been trying to shift my thinking from considering success to be a number on a scale to really changing the way I think about and deal with food. I want to eat healthfully both to maintain weight loss and be healthier in general. I want to not feel guilty about indulging in rich foods on occasion. I want to exercise because I like the way it feels, not to meet a requisite number of minutes each week. I think that's going to define success more for me.