Without a doubt I am finding maintaining harder. Doable mind you, but definitely more difficult. If for nothing else, it's just because of the length of time. The losing portion of your journey has an end in sight, but the maintaing portion - that goes on forever. I've made peace with that fact and am okay with it, but nevertheless, its a LONG journey.

Although the thrill of seeing my weight and clothing size plummet is gone, and the endless stream of "you're melting", "what happened to the other 1/2 of you", etc. is gone, the absolute thrill of STAYING the same (small) size is still there and oh so wonderful. The absolute thrill of walking around light, fit and trim is also still there - and that feeling can't be beat. And the knowledge that I have done/am doing all that I can on my part to ensure a healthy existience makes the work and length of maintenance all worth it.

And like Amanda says, thank goodness we've got a great Maintainer's Forum here. Looking forward to seeing you there.

Robin wrote my post.

It took me 50 weeks to lose the weight, but it's now been 328 weeks of keeping it off and there is no end in sight. I'll be doing this for the rest of my life (if I want to keep the weight off!) Like Robin said, the scale never moves, the compliments have long since dried up, and almost everyone assumes that maintenance is easy and effortless. Which is completely and totally wrong!

To me, maintenance is like running on a treadmill. You have to run hard and fast just to stay in one place. One slip, one lapse in concentration and -- splat! You're thrown off, back into the wall. The same with weight loss maintenance. You have to work hard just to stay in one place and really, hardly anyone (except here!) understands that what we do to maintain is really no different than what we did to lose the weight. It takes at least as much focus, dedication, and self-discipline to keep the weight off as it did to lose it in the first place. But as everyone has said -- it's totally worth it!

Consider this ... far more people are successful at weight loss than those who are successful at weight loss maintenance. Most of us have lost a LOT of weight in our lives -- me? Hundreds of pounds! But how many of us have kept the weight off? A much smaller number, sad to say. Maintenance IS harder than losing and it's a shame that the whole topic is ignored by almost everyone, experts and media alike. That's why I'm so very grateful for our Maintainers forum!

Ditto -- I think maintaining is harder because it is a "forever" mindset. One thing I'm finding about maintaining, is that it STILL is a cycle of yo-yo dieting with ups/downs, just with much smaller weight swings. I'm SO not perfect in my maintenance eating, I have my slip-ups and off-plan days/weeks where the scale starts to creep up. I'm back in my "diet mode" right now to compensate for a week of total pig-out eating on a business trip in Brazil. I gained 5 lbs and still have 3 to take back off. The reason I've been able to keep the weight off this time is because I'm self-monitoring better and correcting sooner. But the vigilance IS worth it to stay thinner and healthier!!

I just wanted to add-- it doesn't have to be this way for everyone. This makes it sound like you're constantly in danger of being "struck fat" once you get to maintenance. I don't believe that's true.

I subscribe to the middle path, not the path of constant battle and vigilance. Yes, you'll have to pay attention to what you eat forever--no more mindless eating, no more eating-as-entertainment or eating-as-medication. However, if you have been through weight loss and made a true life change, you now KNOW how to eat. You know what you can have on a daily, weekly, monthly basis. You know what you have to do to drop that 2 pounds that crept up during vacation. You get it about lean protein, lots of vegetables, easy on the oil, limited carbs, and physical activity. You also know what half a cup of rice looks like, and so on! And, you have enough experience to know that some foods can't be kept in the house, and so you don't keep them.

And if you're smart, you've kept some of those photos that show you at your high weight, in case you begin to think you can eat anything, everything, all the time, or you don't really need to get your exercise today.

In other words, you can be on automatic pilot instead of being on constant vigilance.

I'm still testing my theory, as is anyone once they get to maintenance.

Jay

Yes, I agree Jay. The knowledge is most definitely there. We *know* what we've got to do. We've figured out the gory details. The good habits are in place - but geez, you've still got to put those habits into play - day after day after day.

So yes, it's DOES come automatically, but not without constant vigilance, at least for me anyway. I do believe if I let my guard down, stop being vigilant, I will gain it back. Certainly not in a day or a week, but that weight sure does creep on FAST and before you know it.......

*I* will always, always have to be aware of that fact. Always.

Maintenance. It takes longer and as someone lamented, gone are the days of the constant encouragement and compliments.

Also, I think there is something to be said about Meg's treadmill statement. I also think there is something to be said about fear. I am terrified of gaining the weight back and if it's fear that gets my butt to the gym and helps me make the right decisions food-wise, well, so be it.

Well I am on the down hill slid I hope of losing but from the sounds of things this is only a small battle the big one is yet to come.

For those of you maintaning how do you curb those binging impluses. Will I ever be able to eat several slices of pizza in one sitting? Have several glasses of wine with my meal? It just sounds so depressing

I'm definitely still prone to too much wine or mindless snacking, etc... However, my body is somewhat guarded against it so when it does happen, I feel the effects so much more prominently and the yucky feeling will stick with me, so it's certainly much less frequent. I also now have the willingness to recognize it, admit it, and deal with it. As long as I check myself often (call myself out when I haven't been to the gym in over a week or face the scale when I know I've been off plan), then I will maintain.

Sure. At least ... I think most people will. Some people and some foods are just never going to be "safe". Some people will have to make a commitment to not touching their "binge" foods in the same way an alcoholic makes a commitment to not touch alcohol.

I think for most of us, maintenance will include the ability to indulge once in a while. But I think "once in a while" is the key part there. You can't have 3 glasses of wine every time you drink wine. But maybe once a month you can. Then you compensate a little for the next couple of days. The thing is, that's what "normal" people do ... and we just have to learn to be normal.

I remember my mom - who was tall and slender - when she put her mind to it, she could eat a steak, loaded baked potato, veggies, and have dessert and really enjoy it. But the next couple of days, she'd eat really light and healthy to "make up" for her splurge.

That's the thing for all of us, I think, is learning to BALANCE our enjoyment of some things.

.

I hesitate to comment since I have only been maintaining a couple months, but - those of you that know me, know that I often post when I don't really know what I am talking about so - here goes.

I do think that vigilance is critical to success (I really think that I will have to weigh myself daily for the rest of my life). I do believe that maintenance does require a true life-style change, and that habits that have become second-nature, can be unlearned and backsliding will probably occur at some point down the road. One key that our maintainers seem to share is that they catch that slide quickly and they adjust their eating and activity to compensate.

But. I agree with much of what Jay said. I know what to do, and that I need to keep doing what now comes naturally.

I would never THINK of eating the way I used to eat - the thought is actually repulsive. Those foods don't hold any sway over me any more. Even pizza - which i LOVE, two pieces and I am done. And I much prefer a WW veggie pizza to what I used to eat. I now prefer quality over quantity when food is involved. And - usually - the higher quality food is actually more nutritious and has fewer calories.

I actually feel yucky if I don't eat plenty of veggies each day - where I went for months without a vegetable touching my lips before. I naturally choose fruits over pastries, WW over white, homemade yogurt over ice cream - because I prefer these foods.

I am probably naive, but I do not think that maintenance will be depressing or extremely difficult. I think it will be a challenge, but - as has been so well stated by others, having 3FC for support and knowledge going into the process, arms me with very powerful tools to be successful. I expect to be a maintainer for the rest of my life. I will actually be surprised if I am not.

Here's something to think about. I think there are two groups of people who can answer the question.

One group consists of those who have lost enough weight in the first place to consider themselves maintainers of some sort. In other words, they succeeded at losing, and are now dealing with maintaining. They definitely had success at the first.

The second group are those who are maintaining a weight loss of some sort, but are not where they want to be, weight-wise. In my view they ARE maintaining, but they may not feel they have been successful at the losing!

Oh it's not depressing at all. The way I ate before was enough to depress anyone though. I simply LOVE the foods I am eating now. I've found great healthy stuff to eat and I thoroughly enjoy it. In fact I love what I'm eating now way more then the stuff I was eating and eating and eating before.

Although I've certainly had my moments where I've eaten waaaay more then I should. And each and every time I've regretted it. That's not to say that I haven't enjoyed my *planned* splurges, that's a different story, because I have. And I will continue to do so. Cheesecake, ice cream, ravioli, alcoholic beverages, etc.

But when everyone around me is *pigging out* and I am in control , I am at my happiest. It feels great to me to be able to just say no. Being on plan is much, much more enjoyable to me then being off plan. Maintenance and healthy eating does come (mostly) automatic to me. It most certainly IS part of my make up now. It's just "what I do" and "who I am".

You may find that after you have lost the weight, you are no longer interested in eating several slices of pizza at one sitting. Or in drinking several glasses of wine.

Your idea of what constitutes a good time changes. It no longer centers around how much you can eat and drink.

Your taste in food changes. And you discover that pizza gives you heartburn, makes you feel sick...

That's why it's a lifestyle change! Say it again, lifestyle change!

Jay

Before I got started on this journey, I remember feeling sad (ahead of time) about all the great food I wouldn't be eating. Like Robin, I don't feel this way anymore! Though, I do practice moderation and haven't given up any food for good. I just don't eat the less healthy options frequently.

Last night, in fact, I had 4 slices of pizza! Well, it was a small frozen pesto pizza, and it could have been 2 slices, but hubby cut it into 4 small pieces! It was 450 calories, total, according to the box. So, I did have several slices, but it was very different than the type and size of pizza I ate all the time before -- and I loved it!

Ditto. Ditto. Ditto - to Jay and Heather's last post.

And to show just how marvelous and non-depressing it is to be maintaining, take a look at what I posted minutes ago on the maintainer's forum -

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/show...0&postcount=42