And then I gained some back...

JeanneTops

Officially I entered "last 10 pounds" territory today. I pretty much know how to do it - eat those exercise calories :-)

My question is a bit different. I've read lots of people's stories here about how they lost weight and then gained some back. I'd really like to lose these last 10 pounds only ONCE! So, if you reached goal and then gained some back, my question is for you.

Why do you think you gained some of the weight back? What do you think you could have done differently? Is there anything I can do NOW to be sure I DON'T gain these last 10 pounds back after I've lost them?

Thanks.

Puggled

I suffer from weight fluctuation badly hence I've come on here in an attempt to track my habits. On the whole I can identify them as when I loose the weight I then don't feel the need to continuously eat healthy or exercise. The key I'm hoping this time around is finding what food I like that can keep me on target and exercise that's enjoyable. The exercise bit is the important part. As soon as I stop exercising I balloon up straight away. A couple of years ago I kept my ideal weight perfectly fine by keeping a rough mental note of when I went off the rails diet wise and balancing it up with extra exercise within a week or so. I even planned ahead. Going out for drinks on Friday night I'll go for a bike ride on Thursday evening. Sadly, I started to believe exercise may be wasn't as important as I've started to realise and then it was the viscous cycle (pardon the pun) of not getting back into that routine.

This time I'm looking at alternative types of exercise and things I can do with other people because it's easier to be enthusiastic when you it's sociable to.

Stay positive and if you need someone to help you then by all means give me a shout.

JeanneTops

That's a good point. It doesn't help to eat the exercise calories if I'm not actually doing the exercise :-)

I've been thinking about maintenance all along. I agree that one factor is thinking - "It's ok, I don't need to lose weight any more." And that "ok" is not exercising or increasing the portion size or having that second helping. Pretty quick, it's "Yikes, I need to lose these 10 pounds AGAIN" And it's just too hard mentally to do the second time around.

melsinct

My plan is to not slack on logging what I eat in my food diary. I know the minute I am no longer aware of my day to day activities is when I will do the backwards slide. I figure once I get to maintenance, as long as I keep logging and meeting my calorie goals for maintaining my weight, the pounds should stay off. Easier said than done, I am sure!