Scared of stopping.

LittleMissVintage

I'm happy and losing weight but i'm constantly nervous about the future... How do I not gain back all this weight? Will I have to workout everyday for the rest of my life? Do I still have to count calories? Is it true that most people gain the weight back. I need reassurance or answers. Please help I'm closing in on my goal.

Dlibo1013

i worry about the same thing. I guess we have to accept the lifestyle change

LizWolter

Yea, I too have often wondered about the same thing. I honestly think if we truely want to maintain we will have to workout and continue counting calories--only good thing is, in maintenence it will be easier to include that brownie in our daily allowence.

momma3sweetgirls

I worry about the same things. Yes, you will gain the weight back if you don't watch what you eat. You may not necessarily need to count calories for the rest of your life, but you will have to make wise food choices. As for exercise, it's good for you even if you aren't looking to lose weight so keep it up. It really is a total lifestyle change if you want to keep it off. Good luck!

LittleMissVintage

Thanks guys. Glad to see I'm not the only one a little worried. I rediscovered a love of swimming so I guess I will keep active through that. Hopefully I don't go overboard on the dessert.

miseducation1327

Unfortunately I think for the majority of the population we have to see this as a lifestyle change and not as a diet. Yes, you will have to work at it for the rest of your life. Will you have to count calories and exercise and obsess on a daily basis, probably not. Once you've got the tools and you know what works for you, you can be a little more relaxed about it. If you find yourself slipping, you have this as a tool to fall back on to get yourself back on track. Just realize it will be the best "lifestyle change" you've ever made! Here's to lifelong success!

carreen

You don't have to work out everyday, but you do need to at least 3 days a week. And you will still need to record calories, etc. but the awesome thing is you will get so many more when you are just maintaining. I lost 47 pounds 5 years ago, but then my husband was in an accident, so while I was nursing him back to health I quit doing anything for myself....quit counting calories, quit working out, and within a year I had it all back on. So you absolutely do need to continue what you're doing....just not as instense, because you won't be "dieting," but you'll continue you new healthier lifestyle forever.

picturesing

I am twice your age and therefore "entitled" to advise you! LOL
I have struggled with my weight since my 20's....emotional eating and there were tons of emotional events in my 20's and 30's. IF you could learn the life lesson NOW your future will be so much better.
Eating is a fact of life - but it's your choice as to what and how you eat. If you can wrap your head around "this is my life journey" you won't have to be nervous about the future. If you have a tendancy to overeat, binge, fast food, or emotional eating....then YES you will have to be mindful for the rest of your life! :huh:
BUT the rewards of following a plan will be dramatic reduced chance of Diabetes, Hyperlipidemia, Heart and vascular disease. Also less weight = less stress on your joints and spine which translates to reduced chance of arthritis and spinal disc degeneration. :sick:
I have most of the issues I just listed and am working hard to get it all undercontrol - so I start my day with a handful of meds - supplements and prescritons......YUCK! Every pound I loose is a pound less stressing my joints, my spine and my heart. I know I'm it for the long run....ie....the rest of my life - Oh how I wish I could have learned this lesson at your age!
Sorry,,,,I've kinda gone on and on.....but you asked the question and you needed the answer from someone who's already lived your potential future......Change it for you!!!!! :flowerforyou:

DawnHeffernan

Try to see it is not so much as ending your diet, but as positively changing your lifestyle, so you are embracing the fact that you need to exercise and eat sensibly inorder to stay healthy. It is absolutely true that if you revert to your old ways the weight will pile back on, Do you really feel deprived or are you proud at what you have accomplished ? Do you feel healthier, have more energy etc. the way you ate before wasn't OK and just because you loose the weight doesn't mean it suddenly becomes OK. The point is you won't be stopping anything you will be continuing to eat well, make good choices and exercise..you don't suddenly stop cos you reach a target weight...you give yourself a pat on the back and make sure that if the weight starts to creep on (more than say 7lbs) you take action. The life sentence is staying fat and feeding your body crap sugar and fat (which the hard wired brain loves), the liberation is realising you don't have to be a slave to those urges.

tluttrell

Sounds like that little "devil on your shoulder" is trying to sabatoge your success. Don't let it happen! No negative self-talk. Yes, you will have to be mindful of your eating and active to maintain, but you can do it.

eveunderground

I've been maintaining for 10 yrs. I have a 5 lb range I try to stay within. As soon as I see my weight fall out of that range I get a little more strict on myself. Eating healthy becomes more of a habit after doing it for years and years but even so it's easy to put weight on if you don't monitor yourself regularly (especially around holidays, vacations, etc). You do need to figure out how much to eat and how often to exercise to maintain your weight and then try to stick to that forever. It is a lifestyle change, and it is forever...but it is worth it.

jojoworks

all great responses! I agree with the sentiment that how I eat now is how I need to continue even when I've reached my goal and I'm on a maintenance calorie level I will continue to record what I eat, continue to eat healthy and continue to monitor my weight. So, I don't at this time regard what I'm doing as temporary or only to be tolerated until I hit some special weight. I love what I eat now and look forward to a lifetime of good dietary and nutritional hygiene.

good luck and happy eating!!!

Samiwhereareyou

a few year ago I lost all the weight I wanted and couldnt keep it off. I was on this tea cup diet every 2 hours you eat anything you want so long as it fits in a tea cup and it worked i bought lots of pretty dresses and threw away all my Fat clothes. but it came back as soon as i started eating again.

This time around i am doing it right not just to lose weight but to be healthy. so it is possible to gain it back in fact i think it is common but i feel like when you are there and you got there through eating right and working out its not going to be hard to keep it up. Ive been doing this for a month so far and Im starting to enjoy working out.

kbanzhaf

I agree with most everyone here.....In order to be truly successful, this is a LIFEstyle change, not a DIEt.

I was overweight most of my life (since about age 7), but just thought it was my genes (at least that was my excuse). Five years ago, at my annual physical), my doctor discovered that my blood sugar was high (not awful, but high). I had been on cholesterol medicine for about 6 years at that point, and I asked about stopping that due to my legs aching all the time. He said no, but I did it anyway. I had to go back to have my blood sugar checked two months later. Blood sugar still high, cholesterol through the roof. In the interim, my sister was diagnosed with adult-onset diabetes (which runs in my family) and was put on two different prescriptions. My doctor said he thought losing "some" weight would help with the blood sugar, so he sent me to a dietician who basically gave me three rules: 1. Watch portion size (I did buy a kitchen scale), 2. Write down everything you eat (KEY), and 3. Keep your "carb" intake to 15 or less a day (in reading labels, 15 grams of carbohydrate = 1 "carb").

Well, I thought she was a quack, so to speak, and that "that" would never work......foolish me. Five years and 60 pounds later, I not only lost the weight, I've kept it off. Initially, I lost 72 pounds and then I gained 22, and now I've lost 12 again. I do not take any cholesterol medicine or medication for diabetes. I am less concerned about getting back to my current weight as keeping active, keeping a watch on what I eat, and feeling good about myself.

Do I watch EVERY calorie? No, especially if I have something special going on.....and this weekend is a prime example. Baby shower for a niece this afternoon, bridal/couples shower for my nephew and his fiance tonight, it's my birthday, my sister-in-law's birthday tomorrow, making 400+ "cake balls" for another niece's graduation reception tomorrow, etc.....so I know I won't have as much time to exercise this weekend, and I won't deny myself the delicious food I know will be all around. What it DOES mean, is that on Monday, I'll get back on the treadmill/walk outside, I'll have a salad for lunch, I'll eat a healthy breakfast, and I'll feel good about myself irregardless of what the scale may say

So remember.....when you LOSE weight, you GAIN your life back.
Kaye

LittleMissVintage

Thanks so much! All your responses made me feel like you all care. Today I even overcame my fear of eating choclate bars. I let myself have a reward for all my hard work and I don't feel guilty. I still have faith in myself that I won't gain it all back from a single dessert. I can't belive I was living in fear of food. I'm hoping all my negitive self talk is over. Not even the three musketeers will beat me! (or maybe the sugar is making me hyper)