2 years of maintenance - 130+ pounds lost
ShannonMpls
Posts: 1,936 Member
Two years ago yesterday, I woke up and stepped on the scale and saw it. After 15 months of work (and, yes, fun), I was at my goal weight. I had lost more than 130 pounds. It was a big day. I shared this before and after collage back then:
Interestingly, last night on Facebook I saw a post by Go Kaleo that said, of startling before/after transformation photos,
But what happens after the after? Where are these people 5 years later? Have they maintained (or even improved upon) their results? Or have they returned to their old habits because the measures they took to achieve their 'after' shot were too extreme to sustain?
So I'm going to tell you what has happened in my after the after: nothing, really.
I still follow the same routine I did while losing.
I still eat generally the same as I did while losing, except with a few more calories.
I still step on the scale now and then.
And I still, sometimes to my complete shock, maintain my weight loss.
I've read studies that suggest that only around 20% of people who have lost more than 10% of their body weight will keep it off for a year. Depressing, huh? But MFP is full of people who've kept it off for one, two, five + years.
I'm still a success story in the making, because maintaining for life is my goal, far beyond just losing the weight in the first place. Maybe I'm onto something, maybe I'm just lucky, but in case you're interested - here are a few things I've learned between September 23, 2012 - goal weight day! - and today.
It's not will power that sustains; it's habits
I can't tell you how often someone says, "I need your willpower!"
The thing is, I don't have that much willpower. I am a mere human. Sometimes, despite my best efforts, I need to eat a brownie. Or I have a stressful day at work and spy the cookie butter in my cupboard and succumb to its cookie goodness. I can't tell you how many times I've been "good" all day only to come home and deviate from my plan and eat more than I need.
Willpower is a finite resource, my friends.
But habits - now those have staying power. While losing weight, I made a number of new habits that stuck:
- I log my food 5-6 days a week.
- I pre-log and pre-pack my food every workday without exception, and I rarely deviate from the plan.
- Exercise is not something I force myself to do. It's something that is a regular part of my day and things feel off without it.
- I walk or bike instead of driving whenever possible.
- I drink more water.
- I make decisions all the time about what indulgence is worth it, and what is not.
- When I have a fun weekend or vacation with a lot of eating, I get right back to my regular routine when it ends, no exceptions.
- Logging onto MFP every day is a habit. I haven't missed a single day since day one. I'll be at 1200 consecutive log-ins in a couple days. Even if I don't log my food, that daily sign-in is a reminder that my sights that I chose to change my path in June of 2011 and I'm still heading in the right direction.
So don't count on willpower, guys. That puddle dries up. Instead, form new habits NOW, while losing, that you can sustain for the rest of your life.
Lose weight the way you'd like to maintain
A frustrating thing people would say to me when I was losing was "how is the diet going?" or "how much bread can you eat on your diet?" or "ooh your diet is working so well!" and diet diet diet.
It was really hard for people to understand that I didn't go on a diet. The most simple way for me to explain it now is that I instead started to eat and live like a healthier person. I didn't want to be a person who ate an entire bag of chex mix at her desk, mindlessly, all day. I didn't want to be a person who got a 450 calorie muffin on the drive to work just because. I didn't want to be a person who couldn't run a mile, who worried about when she wouldn't fit in an airline seat anymore, who couldn't keep up with my kid.
So I stopped being that person.
My advice to you is to start living like the person you want to be and let the rest fall into place.
In other words, don't do anything to lose weight that you don't want to do forever. I'm not here to cast judgment on low carb, low fat, Paleo, etc - fine. If it works for you, that's fantastic.
But you don't need to go on a macronutrient-banning fad diet in order to lose weight. I'm living proof. The way I ate and exercised was so sustainable that I wasn't excited to "go off my diet" once I reached goal weight. There was nothing to go off of, and the weight loss phase was not miserable. I ate plenty, moved the right amount, and felt so amazing I didn't want to go back to my old ways. All I did was eat a little more to erase my deficit.
And that's it. The transition to maintenance was seamless. And frankly, I found it pretty easy.
It's okay to like food.
I see it here a lot. The idea that only weak people need a "cheat" day and that food is fuel and nothing more and that we need to break our emotional connection to it in order to lose weight.
Pardon me, but that's bull$hit.
I love food. As I posted on the forms recently, food is social. Preparing it is a hobby, an experiment, a delight for many. Serving food we prepare to those we care for is an act of love as old as humankind. And most of all, food tastes good. I derive a good deal of joy from a beautifully-prepared meal. Food comforts me, reminds me of places I've been and people I've shared a meal with. Food is nostalgia and community. I've been in some of the poorest villages in the world, and what did they offer me when I arrived? Food. We didn't share a language, but we communicated through smiles as we ate together.
I love a beautiful meal. I also love donuts.
This love of food made me delay losing weight for too long. I didn't want to replace the oil in a cake with applesauce, and I wanted to cook with butter. I wanted to try new recipes and new restaurants and drink craft beer. I didn't see how I could lose weight without giving up something I enjoyed so much.
Then I noticed that my healthy-weight friends...well, they liked food. And they drank good beer. And they cooked and traveled and ate out.
It turns out that you can lose weight and still love food. You just have to learn how much of that good food you can eat to reach your goals.
If anything, my love of food has only increased as I became healthier. I no longer waste my time on food that isn't fantastic. Bad french fries? I won't eat another one. Supermarket donut? No thanks. Boxed mix cake? Eh.
I deserve the good stuff
"I, for one, would much rather swoon over a few thin slices of prime beefsteak, or one small serving of chocolate mousse, or a sliver of foie gras than indulge to the full on such nonentities as fat-free gelatin puddings...."
- Julia Child
Exercise is key.
And its power has little to do with burning calories.
Nothing has changed my relationship with my body and food the way exercise has.
I've learned what I'm capable of, I've become confident, and I respect my body in a way I never did before. I've learned how amazing a hard run feels, and how equally great a leisurely walk is. I've learned that I can lift very heavy things and hold my own next to athletes in a group fitness class. I crave the stress relief, the meditation, the music, the me-time of exercise. I've learned to embrace Minnesota winters with cross-country skiing and I've discovered countless hiking trails and expansive views I never would have seen before.
Fitness has brought me happiness and adventure. It helps me keep my head on straight. I feel out of sorts without it.
Find something you like, and do it.
You are already good enough.
I am going to make this point as short and sweet as I can:
I don't care what you weigh. You are - right now - worthy of love.
If you are overweight or obese, I know what that feels like. I know what it's like to avoid your reflection in the mirror, to hide behind others in photos, to feel judgment every time you walk out the door. I know how easy it is to turn those feelings inward and learn to hate yourself.
And I also know that self-hate will not get you to the point of health and self-love.
So, if you're not already there, start to exercise self-love now. This was hard for me at the beginning because I felt so ashamed of my size. But as I lost weight, I worked on accepting my body *as it was*. I worked on recognizing what it had done and was capable of doing. I didn't put off happiness until I reached my goal weight; instead I realized that I deserved happiness now.
In the end, reaching my goal weight meant itself was pretty meaningless. What mattered, what was utterly life-changing, was the metamorphosis I experienced inside.
So work on it now. Learn to love yourself now. It's magical, I promise.
And that's it for now. Who knows that the next year will bring - illness, stress, etc could arrive at any moment and set me back. But I've weathered those storms in the past and I know that armed with habits, my MFP friends, and a strong desire to continue to live the life I'm currently living, I will manage.
So, see you in a year?
A few more pictures!
Another before/after:
These jeans defo don't fit anymore:
Summer used to be for lazing around. Now it is for adventures:
I get to run races with this dapper guy; how lucky am I?
you guys, I really like donuts.
[Edited by MFP Staff]
Interestingly, last night on Facebook I saw a post by Go Kaleo that said, of startling before/after transformation photos,
But what happens after the after? Where are these people 5 years later? Have they maintained (or even improved upon) their results? Or have they returned to their old habits because the measures they took to achieve their 'after' shot were too extreme to sustain?
So I'm going to tell you what has happened in my after the after: nothing, really.
I still follow the same routine I did while losing.
I still eat generally the same as I did while losing, except with a few more calories.
I still step on the scale now and then.
And I still, sometimes to my complete shock, maintain my weight loss.
I've read studies that suggest that only around 20% of people who have lost more than 10% of their body weight will keep it off for a year. Depressing, huh? But MFP is full of people who've kept it off for one, two, five + years.
I'm still a success story in the making, because maintaining for life is my goal, far beyond just losing the weight in the first place. Maybe I'm onto something, maybe I'm just lucky, but in case you're interested - here are a few things I've learned between September 23, 2012 - goal weight day! - and today.
It's not will power that sustains; it's habits
I can't tell you how often someone says, "I need your willpower!"
The thing is, I don't have that much willpower. I am a mere human. Sometimes, despite my best efforts, I need to eat a brownie. Or I have a stressful day at work and spy the cookie butter in my cupboard and succumb to its cookie goodness. I can't tell you how many times I've been "good" all day only to come home and deviate from my plan and eat more than I need.
Willpower is a finite resource, my friends.
But habits - now those have staying power. While losing weight, I made a number of new habits that stuck:
- I log my food 5-6 days a week.
- I pre-log and pre-pack my food every workday without exception, and I rarely deviate from the plan.
- Exercise is not something I force myself to do. It's something that is a regular part of my day and things feel off without it.
- I walk or bike instead of driving whenever possible.
- I drink more water.
- I make decisions all the time about what indulgence is worth it, and what is not.
- When I have a fun weekend or vacation with a lot of eating, I get right back to my regular routine when it ends, no exceptions.
- Logging onto MFP every day is a habit. I haven't missed a single day since day one. I'll be at 1200 consecutive log-ins in a couple days. Even if I don't log my food, that daily sign-in is a reminder that my sights that I chose to change my path in June of 2011 and I'm still heading in the right direction.
So don't count on willpower, guys. That puddle dries up. Instead, form new habits NOW, while losing, that you can sustain for the rest of your life.
Lose weight the way you'd like to maintain
A frustrating thing people would say to me when I was losing was "how is the diet going?" or "how much bread can you eat on your diet?" or "ooh your diet is working so well!" and diet diet diet.
It was really hard for people to understand that I didn't go on a diet. The most simple way for me to explain it now is that I instead started to eat and live like a healthier person. I didn't want to be a person who ate an entire bag of chex mix at her desk, mindlessly, all day. I didn't want to be a person who got a 450 calorie muffin on the drive to work just because. I didn't want to be a person who couldn't run a mile, who worried about when she wouldn't fit in an airline seat anymore, who couldn't keep up with my kid.
So I stopped being that person.
My advice to you is to start living like the person you want to be and let the rest fall into place.
In other words, don't do anything to lose weight that you don't want to do forever. I'm not here to cast judgment on low carb, low fat, Paleo, etc - fine. If it works for you, that's fantastic.
But you don't need to go on a macronutrient-banning fad diet in order to lose weight. I'm living proof. The way I ate and exercised was so sustainable that I wasn't excited to "go off my diet" once I reached goal weight. There was nothing to go off of, and the weight loss phase was not miserable. I ate plenty, moved the right amount, and felt so amazing I didn't want to go back to my old ways. All I did was eat a little more to erase my deficit.
And that's it. The transition to maintenance was seamless. And frankly, I found it pretty easy.
It's okay to like food.
I see it here a lot. The idea that only weak people need a "cheat" day and that food is fuel and nothing more and that we need to break our emotional connection to it in order to lose weight.
Pardon me, but that's bull$hit.
I love food. As I posted on the forms recently, food is social. Preparing it is a hobby, an experiment, a delight for many. Serving food we prepare to those we care for is an act of love as old as humankind. And most of all, food tastes good. I derive a good deal of joy from a beautifully-prepared meal. Food comforts me, reminds me of places I've been and people I've shared a meal with. Food is nostalgia and community. I've been in some of the poorest villages in the world, and what did they offer me when I arrived? Food. We didn't share a language, but we communicated through smiles as we ate together.
I love a beautiful meal. I also love donuts.
This love of food made me delay losing weight for too long. I didn't want to replace the oil in a cake with applesauce, and I wanted to cook with butter. I wanted to try new recipes and new restaurants and drink craft beer. I didn't see how I could lose weight without giving up something I enjoyed so much.
Then I noticed that my healthy-weight friends...well, they liked food. And they drank good beer. And they cooked and traveled and ate out.
It turns out that you can lose weight and still love food. You just have to learn how much of that good food you can eat to reach your goals.
If anything, my love of food has only increased as I became healthier. I no longer waste my time on food that isn't fantastic. Bad french fries? I won't eat another one. Supermarket donut? No thanks. Boxed mix cake? Eh.
I deserve the good stuff
"I, for one, would much rather swoon over a few thin slices of prime beefsteak, or one small serving of chocolate mousse, or a sliver of foie gras than indulge to the full on such nonentities as fat-free gelatin puddings...."
- Julia Child
Exercise is key.
And its power has little to do with burning calories.
Nothing has changed my relationship with my body and food the way exercise has.
I've learned what I'm capable of, I've become confident, and I respect my body in a way I never did before. I've learned how amazing a hard run feels, and how equally great a leisurely walk is. I've learned that I can lift very heavy things and hold my own next to athletes in a group fitness class. I crave the stress relief, the meditation, the music, the me-time of exercise. I've learned to embrace Minnesota winters with cross-country skiing and I've discovered countless hiking trails and expansive views I never would have seen before.
Fitness has brought me happiness and adventure. It helps me keep my head on straight. I feel out of sorts without it.
Find something you like, and do it.
You are already good enough.
I am going to make this point as short and sweet as I can:
I don't care what you weigh. You are - right now - worthy of love.
If you are overweight or obese, I know what that feels like. I know what it's like to avoid your reflection in the mirror, to hide behind others in photos, to feel judgment every time you walk out the door. I know how easy it is to turn those feelings inward and learn to hate yourself.
And I also know that self-hate will not get you to the point of health and self-love.
So, if you're not already there, start to exercise self-love now. This was hard for me at the beginning because I felt so ashamed of my size. But as I lost weight, I worked on accepting my body *as it was*. I worked on recognizing what it had done and was capable of doing. I didn't put off happiness until I reached my goal weight; instead I realized that I deserved happiness now.
In the end, reaching my goal weight meant itself was pretty meaningless. What mattered, what was utterly life-changing, was the metamorphosis I experienced inside.
So work on it now. Learn to love yourself now. It's magical, I promise.
And that's it for now. Who knows that the next year will bring - illness, stress, etc could arrive at any moment and set me back. But I've weathered those storms in the past and I know that armed with habits, my MFP friends, and a strong desire to continue to live the life I'm currently living, I will manage.
So, see you in a year?
A few more pictures!
Another before/after:
These jeans defo don't fit anymore:
Summer used to be for lazing around. Now it is for adventures:
I get to run races with this dapper guy; how lucky am I?
you guys, I really like donuts.
[Edited by MFP Staff]
425
Replies
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Great insights!0
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Impressive in both losing it and the maintenance. Thanks for sharing!0
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Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!!!1
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inspirational.0
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So well said!! I have found many of these things as well. I have maintained my weight loss almost as long as you, but not quite yet.
Congratulations and thanks for sharing your wisdom!0 -
As always, I love and hang on to every word you write. You are the best role model ever. Xxooo2
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I love this - great message, and every word of it true! Three cheers for you and I'm going to save this for later to share with others on a similar journey. Thank you thank you thank you!0
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Absolute perfection. I am SO VERY PROUD OF YOU! Well done!0
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Amazing story! Thank you for sharing and inspiring others with your journey! And congrats on your success! 0
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Can I be your MFP friend? Your post is absolutely amazing.0
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Well done! I am so very Proud of your effort. So much inspiration on this site!2
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Love this! I'm a Minnesota girl too. Winter can be tricky but you have to find something outside that you love doing - even better if you can find friends to do it with I swear it is the only way to survive these long winters! Thanks for sharing! 0
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Thank you so much for sharing! Very inspirational.0
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Thank you very much for such a thoughtful, well written post. Congratulations on your wonderful new healthy lifstyle. You are inspiring.0
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I absolutely loved reading every word of this. If I can adopt 1/10 of your attitude, then I know I will be successful. Fantastic job, and thank you for sharing your wisdom!:flowerforyou:0
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LOVE. THIS. So inspired by this and happy for you!0
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You really summed that all up nicely! Thanks for sharing! I have a hard time putting what I'm learning in to words for others, but I can say that you 100% nailed it for me!0
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This is by far the best thing I've read on MFP yet. Thank you, thank you for sharing and congrats on keeping the weight off.0
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WOW! Just wow! Thank you so much for sharing. I read every word and loved it. I really needed to hear all of it. You were always beautiful, even when heavy. How wonderful if we could all feel beautiful no matter where we are in our journey. I feel so inspired by your achievement. Fantastic!!3
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You look amazing I could cry!! Amazing job!1
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Fantastic post, and I love your outlook. You win for motivator of my day today. :flowerforyou:
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Words of wisdom. How can everyone who is struggling understand this? Well, your point of view here is a great communication of what recovering from the road blocks is like. I understand losing/maintaining is an ongoing process for life, but with the changing of the point of view, success can be everyone's story, for life!0
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Brilliant post! Very inspirational!
I wanted to underline that part of it because it reminds me so much of how I quit smoking, almost 40 years ago, after a 10-year 2-pack-a-day habit. I woke up one morning and said to myself, "I refuse to think of myself as a smoker. From now on, I'm a non-smoker." It totally worked. No effort or conflict. It just took a change in thinking.The most simple way for me to explain it now is that I instead started to eat and live like a healthier person. I didn't want to be a person who ate an entire bag of chex mix at her desk, mindlessly, all day. I didn't want to be a person who got a 450 calorie muffin on the drive to work just because. I didn't want to be a person who couldn't run a mile, who worried about when she wouldn't fit in an airline seat anymore, who couldn't keep up with my kid.
So I stopped being that person.
I've found overeating more difficult to tame. Smoking was much easier! It's partly because smoking is all or nothing, whereas overeating can happen very gradually. "Oh, just one scoop of ice cream won't hurt" turns into three or four scoops.
That's one reason why logging calories against a goal is so very helpful. It turns it into an all or nothing game. Either I met my goal or I didn't. No excuses. No increments.3 -
Great post. Thank you for sharing! You are an inspiration.1
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The best article I have read on MFP. Congrats to you I completely agree with your article.0
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Congrats!!! You look Awesome!!!1
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You are awesome and truly a wonderful inspiration!
Thank you for taking the time to post. I love your writing style.
A 1200 day streak is awesome!!!0 -
What a fantastic post! Thank you for writing it, and congratulations on your continued success. :flowerforyou:0
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Congrats and thanks for sharing!1
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amazing. awesome. inspirational!! thank you so much for sharing.5
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