Those who have reached their goal

Ilovepeppers

How did you transition from trying to lose to trying to maintain? Was it hard? Was it anticlimatic? Gradual? What was life like without that weight loss goal?

Annie5859

I would like to know what people have to say about this too.

SMK715

Same here. I definitely don't want to monitor everthing I eat and drink and live my life this way til I die!

Ilovepeppers

Maybe I should have posted in success stories, huh? Lol!

The_Saint

See, this is a tough question. I'm so critical of myself it never really went to maintain.

I went from loss to gain, (on purpose). I did a ketogenic diet last year and lost a lot of muscle. I then made a shift from loss to gain, and now I'm on the loss side of things (this time I'm doing it the right way, having learned from past mistakes). But I have to tell you, choosing to gain weight was THE toughest decisions I have ever made....

Edited to add the following-
I intend on maintaining if I can ever be happy with how I look. But I'm 90% certain it will never happen.

chevy88grl

When I finally hit 150lbs, I basically just kept eating the way that I had been eating - just to see what happened. From Sept 2010 to May 2011, I stayed right around 150lbs (had a little gain during Jan-March due to pain killers I was on). I have to say that the initial goal reaching excitement wore off quicker than I thought it would - I guess because I felt like I knew what I was doing and had it under control?

I was incredibly proud of myself when I made it through all the temptations of the holiday season and held steady at 150lbs. I was proud of myself for being able to hold at 150lbs during the months I dealt with not one, not two but three different issues that kept me out of the gym for weeks on end. I learned that I could do it and was super proud of that.

Then I had a few days in a row where I went over my calories and saw my weight drop 4lbs. Now, I feel like I'm back at point A - trying to decide what my goal weight should be, what can I maintain for the rest of my life without too much work, etc.

I think 145lbs is my new goal. I am 1lb away from it. But, I'm struggling with that 1lb. So, maybe I can just be happy fluctuating between 145-150lbs. I don't know yet. I just know that whatever I decide HAS to be comfortable for me. Has to be easy to do. I don't want to struggle to maintain.

NeuroticVirgo

LOL I just asked a similar question!

agarjogger

I'm not far off from my goal, and have wondered if I'm going to persist with all this counting and measuring when I do reach it.
For me, the answer is I don't really have to. I've been counting and portioning and tracking now for so long that I don't even have to think about it. I know exactly how much I have eaten that day, at any given time. I doubt many of us will be able to totally unlearn the unconscious preoccupation with calorie counting.
As for me, this website has been good to me, and I don't consider logging calories much of a hassle. My lifestyle has changed far more than my caloric intake has. I can't see myself ever going back to the old way. If you prefer the old lifestyle, then that's probably where you'll return to.