Yes, I can relate! I have lost and regained weight several times over the years. I've found that I regain the weight when I stop self-monitoring. If I start reverting back to the old habits -- mindlessly eating too much of the wrong things, not exercising regularly, and avoiding the scale -- then it definitely comes back on.

But, I've been maintaining now for about 8 months and the difference this time is that I keep right on doing all of the things that I did when I was losing: keep a food diary, count all of the calories, exercise faithfully and weigh myself regularly to see how I'm doing. I do pretty much all of the same things that I did when in the weight loss phase, just have a few more calories to "play" with, that's all. If I see the scale creeping up, then I adjust my intake and exercise until it goes back down. I can NEVER go back to the way I ate before, because it was simply way more calories than my body needed for fuel. I have to be intentional about my eating and exercise program, now and forever.

Maintenance is challenging, in many ways just as challenging as the weight loss phase. Someone has a "sig" that says something like: Being fat is hard, losing weight is hard, maintenance is hard - pick your hard. I love that! Maintenance may be hard too, but at least you reap all of the benefits of the weight loss including improved health and mobility and being able to wear cute clothes. It it certainly worth it!

Moonring,

Count me in the "I've lost it and gained it all back" club. Twice. Once 99 pounds, once 80+.

Looking back what I see is that my idea was that I lose the weight and then I could eat "normally" which meant eat the way I always did. Bad idea! The truth is that the way I always ate was sufficient to support 250+ pounds, and everytime I went back to it, the weight came back too.

I think the difference for me now is that I know that this way of eating must be permanent. If I go back, so does the weight. I'm trying hard to focus on eating well and healthily. For me that includes some french fries and desserts, with the goal of not eating once I am full, and no mindless eating.

It's been about four months. I'm losing, not as fast as I would like, but without feeling deprived...and in fact my tastes are changing.

You can do this...one day at a time...and know that the changes have to be forever! (And with these changes forever can be longer than without them!)

The reality is that most people who lose a significant amount of weight fail to maintain their loss.

So, it is very good that you are thinking about this now. 3FC is the first place I had ever heard of "maintaining" for a weight loss. Lots of places focus on the loss, but maintaining is overlooked--which is a bummer. We spend many months losing, but the rest of our lives will be maintaining---if we are in that minority who can.

Maintaining may be hard, but hard is NOT impossible. You can do it. I can do it. I have learned that it takes vigilance and commitment. I know it can be done, cause of the maintainers on 3FC. The fact you are thinking about this now means you are ahead of the game.

When I decided to lose the weight, it was after realizing (finally) that I didn't have to be fat if I didn't want to be. That it was all within my power, my control. So, I now use the same strategy for keeping it off. I don't have to regain the weight and be fat, if I don't want to be. It is all up to me.

I never, ever want to go back to that unhappy, miserable, underproductive person that I was at 287 lbs. I will do everything in my power to avoid going back. But nevertheless, I do have the fear that I can gain it back. Thing is, I use that very fear to keep me on my toes and super duper vigilant. I control this. I decide if I'm going to gain the weight back or not. It's my choice. And I choose NOT to.

I totally understand. I am a bit worried about keeping the weight off (once I make it to my target weight) as well. Maybe that's partially why I just adjusted my target weight to a lower value - it is easier to lose it but I am not sure how easy it is to maintain. I am kidding - I did adjust my target weight because I still have way too much fat that has to go.

But, like Meg said, the fear of regaining is a good thing because it will keep us on our toes. And remember, we did not change our diets and ways of life just in order to lose - we made a complete lifestyle change and healthy eating and activity are to remain deeply embedded in our daily routines.

And I also agree with Midwife - I don't have any experience with any other weight loss forums (I found 3FC by total accident - I was actually looking for some info when I started exercising on my treadmill and developed a bit of pain) but I have never heard maintenance mentioned anywhere else either. It's always about weight loss, weight loss and more weight loss, but maintenance is just as important, if not more important, than weight loss itself.
Thank God for 3FC!!!

Glad I read all the posts before I replied 'cause that's exactly what I was going to say

My weight has bounced around so much during my dieting *career* that I used to keep a closet full of such a variety of sizes I could have opened my own second hand store I haven't reached goal yet, and sometimes I get really frustrated that the loosing part has slowed to such a crawl, but the fear of gaining back even a few pounds keeps me totally OP, even on vacation or on really stressful days. This fear is a completely new experience for me so I'm thinking that using it as a tool to help keep me vigilant might just be what makes this time different.

I would say that, as long as it doesn't pull you into a place where you start cutting your nutrition short or falling into any unhealthy habits, it's a perfectly normal and maybe even positive feeling.

Moonring (what a COOL name!) ....

I have yo-yoed at least 6 times in my adult life. I'm 45 now; it seems that I've been dieting forever. My 1st attempt to lose weight was so easy it stunned me! - I was 26 then, & all I did was walk four miles every other day & have a salad for dinner - I didn't change any other habits! I lost 21 pounds in a little over 3 months. I went from 136 to 115 & I kept it off for about 3 years...

... then one day I noticed my pants were a bit too *snug*.

My 2nd attempt at weight loss was going from 134 to 126.

My 3rd attempt was going from 142 to 130.

4th attempt... 152 to 138.

5th attempt.... 178 to 138

Now here I am in my 6th attempt to lose the weight (182 to 135 is my goal) & somehow LEARN to keep it off FOR GOOD this time!

Easy? No way. And seems twice as hard the older I get.

But the fact is, I will NEVER give up. I just can't. I feel so much better when I am thinner! - I have more energy! I have nicer clothes! I can paint my toenails & breathe at the same time!

I always worry about gaining the weight back, because I always have. But I will never give up; NEVER SAY DIE(t)! Someday I will get that maintaining thing down to a science. Someday...

Ha, ha, ha! I just realised the other day while painting my toenails that I could breathe while doing so.

I am with all of you, I am on my fourth attempt to lose the weight after gaining it back and then some. My closet has three sizes in it and right now I am in the largest and it is getting tight so I have no where else to go but down.
I started a food diary that does seem to help me but my biggest weakness is nto so much the food (well carbs) it is a combination of too much food, wine and no exercise and as I am over the hill an on the downhill slide losing weight is even harder (or so they say)...with the support here I am sure we can do it

don't mean to dissapoint you but atkins is not a very good idea if you are planning to keep the weight off.

giving up fries, breads, cereals..to lose weight and live a miserable life? doesn't sound so good to me.

in the end it's going to come down to calories in vs. calories out. any extra macronutrient that your body doesnt need is going to be stored as fat. you can go on any crazy diet out there but if you are eating more calories than what your body needs..you are going to put on fat.
extra carbs OR protein OR fat = fat

so if you want to keep the weight off, i advice you to eat a balanced diet with protein-carbs-fat and slowly lose the weight.

why? 1. you will learn to eat healthier, not completely starve yourself from an entire macronutrient. 2. when you are done dieting, all you have to do is continue eating similar foods except you get to eat little more now since you are not trying to create that deficit.

I don't do Atkins, but nonetheless, I've given up LOTS of things. LOTS, including fries, fast food, soda & juice. Bread, pasta, rice, white potatoes, all added sugar, etc.. - 99.9% of the time and 100% initially.

And yes, I've lost weight. And lots of it. And I gotta tell you - my life is not miserable. Just the opposite in fact. Prior to giving up those foods my life WAS miserable. Now that I am a healthy weight, well, it's a pure joy. My quality of life has increased tremendously. TREMENDOUSLY.

Some people, ummm, that would be me, simply can't have those foods in their lives AND be a healthy weight.

We've all got to find out what works for ourselves.

For more information on Atkins, see the 3FC Atkins forum:

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=226

This is a program where you really do have to read the book before you know what the program consists of. Lots of misconceptions exist about what Atkins is and what it isn't. People do have trouble with any lower-carb program if they are used to eating lots of carbohydrate, but I don't think any of those programs forbid eating healthy carbohydrates forever.

Jay

Atkins maintenance mode can be a very healthy mix of complex carbs (as the individual's body will tolerate), protein, and fat. My mother is a long-term maintainer on Atkins and she is far from miserable and is very successful at maintaining a healthy body weight.

Perhaps you aren't familiar with anything but the induction phase of Atkins?

Thank you all for your comments and support. I am definitely going to be discussing this with my doctor. I figure that if the weight does start coming back I can start counting calories and increase my exercise.

My grandmother was overweight 10 years ago. Since she was nearing her fifties it was getting harder for her to lose weight. She took all her weight off (about 80 lbs) in 4 months following a very strict ketosis diet from her doctor. It's very similar to Atkins. In fact, I have all the paper work and thought about trying it. But on that diet the only meats you can have is chicken and turkey. It's a LOT more limited then Atkins.

Anyway, my point is that she has kept the weight off for 10 years after that diet. Now she just counts calories.

I know it's possible to keep this weight off; nevertheless, I still am human with fears.

I wish I could agree with this... in fact, there was a time that I did believe it, but apparently, as science delves deeper & deeper into weight loss, this is proving to be a not-quite-so-true theory.

There's something to be said for people like myself, who can lower calorie-intake drastically and STILL not lose a single pound.

And we all know that a 400 calorie donut is way different than a 400 calorie lean chicken & broccoli meal with a dessert of Jello Sugar-free Pudding!

I believe the reason there's so many diets out there is because there are so many different people... what works for one may not work for someone else, what blows it for one may not blow it for another, etc.

We can learn so much from each other... from things we read, from our own successes & failures... We all just need to take our individuality into account & go from there.