"No One Teaches You What It's Like to Be on Maintenance"

My Broker has snet out some details but with the economy that way it is...oh well, I am starting to resign myself to the fact that I am stuck here for a good while yet. Thats exactly how I feel, I need to be out of here and starting the next chapter of my life but this is tying me down. To be honest, the hours, worry and stress of doing it all alone gets me down alot of the time. Ok..pity party over..lol xx
Yorkie xx

I agree with you totally Joanne, sometimes the loss phase is almost addictive in its intensity. But at nearly 3 yrs out I can still lose weight if I am careful with Carbs for a few days, really doesnt need me to be uber strict either. However, I did go through a period where i thought my weight loss was completely done, scale didnt budge consistently downwards for months, bouncing up and down the scale, head games etc. Then at about 2 yrs out, it started up again.Not sure if it was more activity or eating differently but i went on to lose another 10lbs and now unless I stress eats carby crap, I can eat alot of nice stuff and my protein and stil maintain within a normal range. So maybe you are not done losing at all, its just a resting phase for your body that might last many months!! Either way I think you have done a great job and you fabulous in those size 8 pants!!

Yorkie x

Thank you for this post.  I love it!

BTW- You look super!!!

I know what you are saying. I stopped losing weight at 10 months out. I really missed the fun of getting on the scale once a week and seeing a loss. Now I go up and down by 6 pounds depending on my fluid retention. So I am usually disappointed that I don't see my all time low. In fact I readjusted my ticker up by a couple of pounds.  I am still just within the normal BMI and, for my age and height, I am in the 25% percentile. I would like to take off another eight pounds during my WLwindow, but it looks doubtful after three months of no changes. So I, too, should be thrilled but instead I see all the sags and bags and fat still holding on around my waist.
It was fun to see people at Thanksgiving that I hadn't seen me in ages and get those gushing compliments, but in my mind I kept saying, Yes but there are still all these flaws.

You are looking fabulous. Nothing makes me feel better than going clothes shopping and fitting into something that I thought couldn't possible fit me.

Spot on Joanne...you describe it so well. I think my body ha**** the brakes in the dramatic weight loss phase. Whether I go beyond my goal is up to my body and I expected as much. Bounce back, getting to your body's low, increasing carbs to maintain is discussed but the emotional side of maintenance and/or slowing down your weight loss isn't. For the past month, I liken it to that feeling of being all dressed up and no where to go....it has that sort of let down feel to it.

Joanne,
Thanks for putting this on here.  I hadn't thought about what it will be like when my weight will no longer be an issue.  I've been fighting this battle so long that I don't have a clue what it will be like to just be me.

I'm thinking that it might be a bit like how I'm feeling right now when I look at the fact that my 3rd son will be graduating high school in 1 1/2 years.  I'm already feeling like my job as full time Mom is almost done, but I know my sons are no where near ready to move me into the Grandma phase.  What will be my daily focus?  I always knew I wanted to be a Mom, but nobody told me what life would/will be like after they fly the nest.

I guess I will deal with both they way I have almost always dealt with everything else in life.  I'm going to look at it as an adventure, learn what lessons I'm suppose to from it, and just kick back and enjoy the journey to what is next.

Hope you don't mind my thinking out loud.  It really is going to be tough to figure out when we hit out body's happy place, I guess that's why the doctors don't really give a specific number. 

Your transformation has been amazing!  I love looking at how different each of us look from where we started.

Charrie

 I'm right there with you.  I've lost 5 pounds in the past three months.  My scale teases me up 1 down 2 up 2, but today I was 133.  Is that good?  Hell yeah!  Would i like to be 12-something, just because when I was 10, I weighed 125 but other people (my aunt) insisted I was fat.  I just want to see if I'm fat at 125.  

I'm not carb watching, BUT I am working out.  I've increased my weight training and am going for more muscle definition.  Its been working so far.  I'm a work in progress.  BUT I have to get it through my thick skull that if I'm a size 4 at 133, then really, what difference would a size 2 make?  None.  Absolutely none.

Good luck.. take care of yourself.  And yeah, when the compliments stop, its like, "Hey, don't I still look GREAT!?" Trick is, you just have to compliment yourself!

First of all, you look FABULOUS.

I get your point, and I can see where this line of thinking (the letdown of the rollercoaster phase being over, people not commenting any more, the weight loss levelling out) can get you kind of depressed. 

I am the kind of person who doesn't like to monitor things.  I hate counting anything....carbs....calories....days til Christmas...anything.  I hate stuff I have to "keep my eye on."  I am not a control type person and I like flying by the seat of my pants often.

I've lost over a hundred pounds.  I haven't regained anything.  I go up and down a few pounds every month but stay within about a 5 lb range. I try to eat complex carbs.  I try not to overdo sugar.  But basically I eat what I want.  THIS is my idea of heaven....to NOT have to obsess over every thing I put in my mouth.  This is why I LOVE my DS.

I am a size 14.  I don't know what being a size 8 or 6 would be like.  At my thinnest as an adult I was a 12-14.  Now...I *might* be a 12 or even a 10 really, but my pants are 14s because I have a whopping hernia that is getting repaired next month, along with a tummy tuck.  I don't know what size I will wind up being.  All I know is that I am HAPPY as I can be with my loss and if I never lost another pound I'd be thrilled. 

I'm sure if I were controlled I could lose more weight....I'm sure if I exercised more I could also lose a few more pounds.  But frankly, I don't give a rat's ass about that.  I exercise a few times a week, a rather gentle aerobic walking program.    But I am not a super controlled person, I'm not happy when I try to be.  And I'm certainly not going to become an exercise freak.

Don't get me wrong...if the weight starts to creep back up, I WILL do some modifying.  But until that happens I am just fine. 

I think we need to assess what makes us happy.  For me, I don't need to be stick thin.  And I am very happy.    I have the odd mind game here and there. 

It's so hard to lose the tapes in our heads.  I guess I won't worry about regain at all if I stay stable over the next few years.   It *IS* a concern, but I'm not obsessing over it. 

I cant imagine being a size 8! you look great! its true that nothing has really prepared me to deal with the issue that my weight and eating dont occupy my thoughts. nor to deal with the fact that people would really notice that i have lost over 100 pounds, i really did not expect the comments good and bad, i mourned the loss of the old me and now i have to get used to the new me too???i guess we can only rely on fellow wls patients willing to share and give good and useful advice and this board to keep us informed and on top of our game. See you at the next dinner!!!!

First of all...YOU look fabulous!

Maintenace definitely doesn't have that flow of adrenaline like you have going on while in the losing phase. But, for me it's not been too bad. In fact, it's a sense of freedom not to wake up and immediately think I have to step on the scale. I might go 3 days without weighing but I always weigh at least once a week. I have set a 5 pound range for myself. When I get to the top of that range, I know I have to cut back a bit on the carbs. Like Nikki, once I do that the couple extra pounds fall right off.
 
For what seems like the first time in my adult life, my weight is not the focus of my life. I feel like I live like a normal person. One who knows what my body needs. What makes me feel the best and I try to put those things in my body. Sure, I have treats and I never feel deprived but food no longer has a hold on me. I thank my DS for that everyday! For now I am just really enjoying the freedom that I have in my new body and the joy that I have just feeling like an ordinary Joe!