Question for those of you that are 2 or more years out.

This might or might not be right for you, but for me, it was a God send.  He wants most of his patients to get to the lower end of the BMI because of the eventual creep up.  He told me to expect about 10% or 10 lbs. and to plan accordingly.  I didn't totally believe him, as it was easy to lose at that time, not so much now.  This isn't true for everybody, not everybody has a bounce back, but many do have it.  He wanted me to plan for it and lose accordingly.

 Yep, it happened to me!!!!  But, I feel I did it to myself due to slacking on the exercise and eating soo much more and grazing on the bad stuff way too much!!

What is so different 2 years out (I was 2 years on April 15th) is how much harder it is to drop the weight.  It's not impossible, it's just takes more time and effort.  Before it was so much easier.

My lowest was 117.8 and then I put 5 even up to 8 pounds on.   3 of those pounds came off easy but these 4 or 5 pounds have been a bear!!!!! ( that's why I haven't posted on the daily weigh in.....I've been soo frustrated.  I'm doing so much better with the exercise (it's back in my routine for now, yay!!!!) but the eating (grazing on crackers, pretzels, pretzel m&m's) has been a lot harder for me to get a handle on.  I start the day off great and by late afternoon the grazing starts and doesn't stop till bed time around 11:30pm.
Now, I am just saying NO to the grazing and drinking hot tea at night time.  I'm doing a lot better and this mornings scale said 119.6!!!!!  

 This is a daily battle for me ( trying to get to a range of 115 to 118) but I'm not giving up!!!!
I love my seaweed!!!!
Try not to be too hard on yourself. Only YOU know about the 2 to 3 pounds on the scale, everyone else thinks you look the same! (which is perfect!!!!!)

Add dancing as your exercise (you will love it!) and then you can move onto other things at your own pace.  Exercise is sooo much better doing it at a much smaller size.  You may end up loving it!  It's a natural high and can be fun,too!

Good Luck :)   You'll be just fine!

This is what I am talking about, it seems like all of a sudden it is much harder to lose the pounds, they are not just melting off of me like they did in the past.  It is a daily battle now.  I totally relate to every word you posted.  I too am just about perfect in the AM and struggle later in the day, and today was the first day I really didn't want to post my weight on the daily weight post.  But my thinking was that if I don't post when I feel in trouble then what is the point in posting at all.  I feel like I am still learning how to do this maintenance dance.  Still a work in progress even though everybody else thinks I look great. I just know how quickly that could all change.

I wonder if there's a difference between us that still do lots of protein shakes and those who don't.  I think they curb my temptations to eat crap.  They keep me very satisfied.  Just a thought.

Laura

This thread makes me rethink my goal weight. Surgeon thinks I won't get below 150 and I believed him, because, what the heck do I know? and to be honest, I have no recollection of when I ever weighed 150 so it sounded good to me.

But I am short. 5'2" on a good day...so to be "normal" I should really be aiming for 130 at the max (24.6 BMI). 120lbs puts me at 22BMI. I can't honestly wrap my head around being that small, esp. without plastics.

But today, I'm 165 so I'm within a couple months of 150. and if I'm going to have issues after year 2 of maintaining that, I should really aim lower, huh?

 I'm 5' 2" also!  My goal was 125 and I got down to 117.8.  I'm a little over 2 years out and had a bounce back of 5 to 8 pounds.  This morning I was 119.6

I am really fighting hard to get back down to 118 (and hopefully 2 pounds lighter than that, we'll see!)

My point here is at 5'2" DO NOT settle at 150!!! Your goal, for sure, especially while you are in the losing phase should be 130 or LESS!!!  You can do this! You have an awesome tool that can make this a reality for you!!!  ROCK IT!!!!! and it will Happen!

Good Luck! :)

But I am short. 5'2" on a good day...so to be "normal" I should really be aiming for 130 at the max (24.6 BMI). 120lbs puts me at 22BMI. I can't honestly wrap my head around being that small, esp. without plastics.

Allow me to chime in here.  It looks like you and I are about the same height.  My family doctor initially told me 160lbs, then said I was probably finished when I reached 140.  I am now 125.  Trust me, at our height (or lack of same) the 120's are just fine.  Don't freak if your weight continues to go down after 150.  I figure it gives us a little bounce back room!  And I NEVER would have thought I'd ever weigh 125 and wear a size 4!

Okay, so I am jumping in here. I have been bouncing around way more than most people for my whole journey. I am talking up and down 10 lbs.. It has never concerned me because it is my normal.

Anyway, the point of me posting is please don't go into exercise expecting the couple pounds to melt off. Since I hired a trainer and started exercising I have gained weight. Not retained water weight or anyting like that. Gained it. But... My clothes still fit the same, and my trainer says thatnthe weight is good.. And I am not worried about it, but just wanted to put it out there.

You know that for your health, not these couple of pounds, you should be exercising anyway...I am an exercise hater too.. But I just found something I could tolerate and made it a part of my daily routine. You can do it too!

Fawn, just wondering about your 10 pound fluctuations...do you notice when you're on the up side if your clothes fit differently?  i would think that if I drifted up that much that my pants wouldn't button.

Laura

Nope, they still fit... I have never understood it, but stopped trying a long time ago. I *feel* different in my clothes when I am bloated during my TOM-don't feel as attractive at all, but everything still buttons and zippers just the same.