How have you been able to succeed in maintaining your long term, weight loss/fit body goal?

nsalley99

Most people start out with this plan of how they’ll get to where they’ve always wanted to be/look like/feel like/ etc. But, how do you plan on keeping that success? How do you plan on making sure that it isn’t a fleeting moment?

Rachelwin65

I am a couple months into this and was so afraid of failure I was almost afraid to start. But after thinking about the alternative (barely being able to move, never able to keep up with my husband and sons, terrible time walking, etc.) I decided to plunge ahead. I spent a lot of time in the first few weeks making a plan on how to maintain a healthy weight.

1. I have a predisposition to be overweight. It runs in my family, just like diabetes or any other chronic condition. I realized that I needed to consider my lifestyle a sort of 'treatment' for my condition. In other words, if I had a chronic illness, I would be willing to take care of it every day. My body requires the same willingness.

2. I have a set of rules: Walk every day. (I have only missed 2 days in the last 2 months, LOL.) Track my food. Buy groceries so I have healthy options. Be grateful for the body God gave me. Check in with a nutritionist once a month to weigh in and stay accountable.

I knew that in the beginning, it would be easy to stick to all this, so I tried to put things in place for when it got hard. (The nutritionist, for example.)

I also pray for a change in my mindset. I truly believe that I need healing around the whole issue of food and weight.

Hope this helps! And I really hope that in a few years, I will look back on this and smile because I have been able to maintain a healthy weight!

funchords

nsalley99 wrote: »

Most people start out with this plan of how they’ll get to where they’ve always wanted to be/look like/feel like/ etc. But, how do you plan on keeping that success? How do you plan on making sure that it isn’t a fleeting moment?

One thing I did was join TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly). This is a decades-old North American non-profit organization dedicated to helping people lose weight and keep it off. It provides me with a physical (non-cyberspace) weekly meeting. I weigh in (always handled appropriately and confidentially). I often receive a program that is useful to the topic of weight loss or weight maintenance or exercise. I've made some local friends and even received some recognition. It's one of the few places on the planet where you can be known as a consistent loser and be proud of it. It's a bit like Weight Watchers without the profit motive or the product endorsements.

Another program like it is called Overeaters Anonymous. I'm not a member there. It's another in-person weekly meeting of people struggling with weight and food. 12-step program format. No weigh-ins here. OA is in many countries, worldwide.

TOPS is at http://www.tops.org/ and OA is at http://www.oa.org/ and both websites will help you find local meetings. They're both excellent.

It's harder to quit when you belong to a group pulling together.

AquaticQuests

1. I still log to give me an idea of how many calories I'm eating. But if I don't log for some days or a week, it's no big deal!
2. I still weigh occasionally just to keep track and if I'm moving out of maintenance range, it reminds me not to revert to the old ways!
3. My main priority now is hitting new fitness goals, and that obviously helps on the weight management/ maintenance side too! Keeps me motivated, and gets me stronger!

Joined MFP mid August 2013, lost 33 lbs by Dec/ Jan wearing clothes I'd not worn in over ten years, and I've been in maintenance (weight wise) since then!

Friends were shocked when the weight came off, but they probably more surprised that it has not come back!

It's a lifestyle change, and not a temporary diet!