I am only about 30 pounds from goal and have lost over 135, but I am so tired and feeling totally unmotivated. I just want a break. No exercise, no watching what I eat. I don't want to regain but I do want to stop with constantly watching what I eat. I am just tired and want to stop.

I am in a conference room and there are granola bars here. I don't even like them much but I want one. I sound whiny but I just feel like stopping. I need some motivation or variety, or something. I am ready to throw in the towel.

Do you need to take a maintenance break?

Giving up all counting and vigilance will lead to weight gain, so it isn't a good idea. But a maintenance break might be refreshing for your body and your mind.

You've made amazing progress.

I've maintained for about 8 (9?) years now, with the exception of 2 pregnancies, and I have to admit, yes, it gets tiring. Exhausting, frustrating.

This is a fork in the road issue for many people as they approach the end of their goal.

For me, and for most maintainers (I'm sure there are exceptions), it is an unfortunate truth that there will never be an end to watching what we eat. There will no "not worrying" about these things. For some people, it will never be an issue in their lives. For us, it's a stark reality.

Many people choose to stop at this point and I'm afraid a lot of them tend to regain

I sort of view it like alcoholism for some of us... there's no forgetting the past.

But some do, and do fine. Perhaps they can offer better advice than me

You've done so well and made it so far, but I think Sacha's right. This is or has to be a permanent change or you're going to keep fighting it. What *I* would do is read a book that motivated you before, it doesn't necessarily have to be about weight loss or dieting or exercising, but something that motivates you to get healthy. Maybe join some kind of challenge, like a walkathon or 5K that you HAVE to get ready for. Get a new recipe book that fits with your WOE or maybe if you like some new exercise classes, clothes, or whatever floats your boat? Another thing is think back to how you felt, what you couldn't do physically or felt you couldn't before...remember how that made you feel and think about how STRONG you are now and how far you have come.

You can do this! It's hard to realize it is not always as fast as we like and we can't go back to eating how we ate that got us overweight, but you can find new challenges and hopefully that will keep you going. Also keep checking in here if you're not on a check in JOIN ONE. http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/weig...e-welcome.html is a good one. You can do this!!

Take a break from dieting and practice maintaining for a little while.

Maintaining is easier in some ways and harder in others.

Whatever you decide to do - take a break, keep going, or maintaining - PLEASE DON'T STOP!!!!!

Maintaining is not easy, either. If you want to maintain your loss you have to work at it. It is boring, it is tiresome, it is not fair BUT it is not as boring or as tiresome, or as unfair as regaining weight and having to start over again.

I think after a couple days totally off plan you'll miss eating right and exercising

I think maybe I do need a short maintenance break, if only to do something new. Just a week, where I will still not break down and give up, but instead add a couple hundred more calories per day and reduce exercise by 15-20 minutes per day, or exercise 1-2 days less for a very short time.

I have never mastered maintenance so maybe I should try it now. I was hoping to get closer to target before making changes, but I really need a mental break more than I ever have during this process.

I am just down right now, but I won't give up. I have a gift certificate for a healthy food company and I might try their 21-day challenge. I am going to switch up my exercise routine, going back to some basics of walking up a very steep hill in my neighborhood now that the weather will be cooling next week. I also have vacation plans for Chile in November and Peru (hiking part of the Inca Trail and seeing Macchiu Picchu) so I do need to continue to work on my health.

Hopefully a few days of a semi-break and a different routine will get me out of this funk. I have been back to eating healthy and exercising after a Memorial Day meltdown, so if I can just experience something positive maybe the positive attitude will return.

I'm going to tell you what i told my MIL when she said that weight control for the rest of one's life sounds exhausting. I said:

"You wouldn't consider paying taxes or brushing your teeth for the rest of your life exhausting - neither should watching what you eat be, it's just what you gotta do"

I agree with the others, take the maintenance break, see how you feel. Just DON'T GIVE UP!!

Have you read everything available about your trip? I would find reading about the Incas, the Inca trail and thinking about what it is going to be like very motivating. I can guarantee that you are going to be very glad you are physically fit when you start marching around Macchiru Picchu. I've never been there, but a friend shared pics of their trip. It looked pretty rigorous.

I agree that if we want to keep the weight off, there will never be an end to watching what we eat. It does get depressing, but so does being fat.

My first thought when reading this:

Was "And I want a million dollars and a pony "

I'm not trying to be flip, but in all seriousness, you're wishing for an option that isn't there. For the vast majority of folks who have lost significant weight, maintaining that weight loss means watching what you eat, forever. While I can and sometimes do mourn the fact that some people stay slim without doing so, no amount of wishing is going to make MY body maintain without watching what I eat. The fact is, I have two choices - I can watch what I eat and exercise, or I can regain. There is no other option, no matter how much I try to wish one into existence.

Maybe a maintenance break like the one you described, where you can be a bit less strict, will help. In my experience, actually mourning that "normal" food relationship can help too, simply in letting go of the pipe dream of maintenance without watching food intake.

I was really feeling low the other day about exercise. I keep reading all this stuff about the hours a day required for weight maintenance. I was on the "I hate exercise, and I want a pony AND a piece of cheese cake" kick. I am too old for TOM, but I felt like I was PMSing, and I was better the next day. Are your hormones messing with you?

This topic has come up before. It is not true that you need lots and lots of exercise to maintain. I and many others on this board have been maintaining our weight loss with only moderate exercise (jogging for 35 minutes 4 times per week in my case).

F.

I have not met a single adult who stays slim while eating the way most of us on this board used to eat. I've observed again and again that "naturally" thin people "naturally" watch what they eat. What seems so foreign to us is either intuitive or has become second-nature to them.

F.