Hi, I am new to this maintenance group!

I really wasn't sure what my goal should be. The doctor and dietitian said 130-135. I had 120 in my head because it was a nice round number. When I got to 130 I felt fantastic but wanted to inch my way down some more to see how I looked and felt and maybe on the way down I would be able to decide what my sweet spot is. Well, I think I am very close at 125.9 lbs. If I drift down a pound or two while figuring out maintenance then that should be fine. I really don't know what to add or when to add it in terms of food plan. I do have an appt with the dr and dietitian on Thursday so I plan to discuss it with them. Any pointers you can give are greatly appreciated. I would not have made it this far without the support of my OH friends. This group has been more support to me than anything else in this journey. My heartfelt thanks to everyone. We did this in 7 months!

Hello Mimij, congratulations on making your weight loss goal!  Now comes maintenance, which is where the real mental game is played :-)

I don't really have a lot of advise for you, except to say that most of the rules of weight loss still apply.  So, protein still comes first, you still don't drink while you eat, you still need to exercise, track your food, track your weight, yada, yada, yada.  What you can do differently is add some calories back in.  I added about a hundred calories per week back to my 600-calorie weight loss diet, until I hit about 1200 cals per day.  I stayed there for a while, then started to add a few more calories in (also very slowly) so now I eat between 1100-1500 cals per day.  My carbs are under 80, protein over 100, and I stopped counting fats.  Depending on your height, build and current calorie level, my numbers will likely not work for you (I'm 5'1" with very tiny bones - who'd have thunk!), but I thought I'd write them out here, just to give you some idea of how I progressed through maintenance.

Oh, one thing I did that really helped me was to go back through the threads in the maintenance board and read everything that was posted from the beginning.  It takes time but it gave me a really good education on the pitfalls of maintenance.

Good luck with your journey!  I hope to see you around the maintenance board in the days to come.

Fiona

Hi, and welcome to maintenance.

I would suggest reading back in this thread to see how others have handled maintenance.  I was not very systematic with my transition to maintenance, so would not make any recommendations other that to continue eating what you did in weight loss.  Many people find they experience a bounce back of 5 to 10 pounds so be aware of that.  

God luck.  This is just another phase.

welcome. you can learn a lot here. just add a bit of healthy stuff at a time like almonds and such. you won'tbe able to add a big amount at a time. and you many drop a little low before evening out and rebounding. listen to dietician.  ain't it great to be slim??!!   diane

Welcome!

Welcome !!!