Maintenance is the hardest thing!!

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  • meeka472
    meeka472 Posts: 283 Member
    The good thing about maintenance is that you utilize the same skill and discipline you used to lose the weight. Something that I've found works for me is by setting personal fitness goals. Be it a certain number of pull ups I want to be able to do our how many calories I want to burn in the week and going after that goal. I also have a goal of having as healthy a diet as possible so I have fun trying low trans fat healthy meals as well.
  • bwcrouch
    bwcrouch Posts: 105 Member
    Bump - Hopefully I will need this in just 6 months (or less)
  • SASSYnCHICago
    SASSYnCHICago Posts: 98 Member
    Maintaining hasn't been too difficult for me - likely because I've completely changed my mindset. I still log all of my food, still exercise, and still look for ways to reduce calories while still feeling full. The only thing that's changed is that my daily calorie goal has increased from 'losing' to 'maintaining'.

    Get advice! it really is mind over matter :)
  • SASSYnCHICago
    SASSYnCHICago Posts: 98 Member
    Now that I fit clothes well, and feel good I want to eat, eat, eat! what's up with that?? Encouragment needed.

    Some good advice already given. I agree with maintaining your daily journal. It's way too easy to conveniently "forget" where you're at. I've been concerned about gaining weight back once I'm at my goal weight. One of the things I'm making sure of is that my weight loss isn't being done by doing things I can't (won't) continue in the long term. For instance, exercise. I notice a lot of people going from couch potato to workout freak in order to lose weight. It's unrealistic for me to think that I'm going to be able to sustain being a workout freak, so I've made my exercise routine rather mild and sustainable. If I decide to do more, I will do it once I'm already at goal weight. Also, try changing exercise to match the season. If there's snow on the ground, get some snow shoes and try walking around parks in them. Bike in the summer. Lift weights while stuck indoors. Sign up for different fitness classes or yoga. This way, the routine doesn't get overly monotonous.

    Great advice - keeping your exercise to a your ablility and interest are very important. I do a huge varity of things: kickbox, swim, bicycling and weight lift and know after dropping the pounds even run! never thought that would be able to do that. I will defintly keep up the exercising seeing I love the way I feel.
  • SASSYnCHICago
    SASSYnCHICago Posts: 98 Member
    Maintaining for over a year now. Losing weight is a physical and mental challenge. Maintaining is almost pure mental. You already know how to eat right. You already have a good exercise regimen. You KNOW how to do the physical part.

    For me, the hardest part of maintenance is staying motivated. It's a lot easier to keep yourself going when you're seeing regular changes on the scale or how clothes fit.

    So you have to set new goals. New kinds of goals. Currently, I want to be able to run up one beast of a hill in my neighborhood that I currently can only run 1/3 of the way without stopping to walk. I want to set a new PR in my 10k in a little over a week. I want to get rid of the last traces of cellulite on my thighs and I want more muscle definition in my calves and shoulders. I want to be able to bench press my body weight... and I'm only at half my body weight now.

    Sometimes I still think, "WTF am I doing this for?!" I was mostly able to maintain a normal body weight by eating whatever I want and not exercising, so it seems really kind of stupid to bust my *kitten* to maintain now. But I still do it.

    Love your motivation and future goals - Let's be friends :)

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