XP: When the Scale Stops Moving, Forever. Pyschological/emotional difference n losing vs...

Interesting topic.  I used to wonder what my goal would be, and if I would get there.  My surgeon refused to set a goal, he just said anything over 75% excess weight lost was successful.  I wanted to get below 150, which would put me in the normal BMI category.  I just kept doing what I had been doing, eating a fairly consistent diet of protein first and good veggies and grains, and exercising.  At 131, I just stopped losing, at two years out.  I really, really wanted to get to the 120's once in my life, at 5'5'", but, nope, 131 is the lowest I've been.  It has been a consistent effort to keep my weight  at the 132-135 range for over a year now.  So I guess that is where the mental "high" comes from. Maintaining is hard, it is easy to slack off this far out, and I am thrilled each day to see the scale stay in my range.  I am not of the mind set to go to extremes to make my weight go lower.  This is the long haul.  I don't eat like on a "diet".  This is how I'll eat for the rest of my life.  I know I couldn't maintain what it would take to go lower, and then if I did lose weight, the emotional toil it would be to see the scale go back up.  I trust my body seems to know where it wants to end up.  I've just been lucky, I guess.  But, I do understand the high from seeing the scale perpetually go down.  Just trade it off for the high you'll get at seeing it stay the same for days, weeks, months, at a time. Debra M.