What are the rewards if loss is no longer there?

How about the way your clothes fit, or the tone of your body, or increased energy, or increased life span, or improved sex life, or being a good role model...really, I could go on and on. The scale is such a small portion of the reward!

I've been thinking about this for a while now! I've been obese since I was 10yo. Well, IDK if I was obese at 10, but you get the picture. All my life, losing weight has always been something I've strived for. Now, here I am 20-30lb's from my goal...right around the corner, and I'm like what am I going to do when I get there? I read an interesting post on sparkpeople, where they talk about maintenance phase, and what it's like once you're not getting those compliments anymore, and what things change, once you hit that stage. Just know that things will be different, and there will probably be some adjustments in thinking that will need to be made. Personally, I think I will make a list of my lovely, healthy tips. Like not eating out of boredom, and the whole mindless eating thing, and keeping the more unhealthy foods out of my reach, while keeping the healthy fruits and veggies easy to reach for, and well within reach. One thing I know I will continue, is my Zumba. I don't think I'll ever get bored of it, and now that I'm an instructor, I also have that responsibility to my class to be there for them. I hope it never dies off. If it does, I'll have to find something similar, atleast. If I ever did start to gain the weight back, though, atleast I'll know what to do next time.

I've been maintaining for over year, and love how I feel and look.

That's what keeps me motivated.

That's great!!! Congratulations! :happy: Any tips for us that are about to be hitting the "maintenance phase?"

I think if the absolute single motivation one has is the actual "loss" (or seeing a smaller # on the scale regularly), they are in some trouble. I think most have other motivations, even if they don't realize it yet.

I've been stuck for awhile..and for me..now...it comes down to stress relief... I just feel great when I am done...My body will drop when its ready..and I'm not going to stress about it.. or damn it..I will have to exercise more to relieve that stress!! :blushing: :blushing:

I do think that, in the past, when I solely motivated by the numbers on the scale it was much easier to give up when I wasn't seeing results. This time (which has been the last 3 years) I've been trying to focus more on non-weight related goals......running a 5K all the way up to running a half marathon. Heck, when I first started trying to get healthy my goal was just to quit making excuses and show up for every scheduled workout. It felt great at the end of the month when I realized I had kept a promise to myself. Small incremental non-weight related goals have kept me motivated on this journey even when the scale isn't moving in the direction I would like

Are the other rewards of becoming fit and healthy not enough to provide the force to move foward? Seems from a lot of posts I read that they are not enough.

They can be, depending on how you approach it. I think part of the challenge is that you're switching gears from losing weight and focusing on making additional progress. Some of it is a matter of approach. You could ask yourself this question "why am I here". If you're here to lose weight, once you're done losing or once you've stopped losing, your motivation goes away. BUT if your answer is that you're here to stay as healthy as you can (which will include losing weight in the process), it's easier to stay on.

Think of it as though you went to meet a friend somewhere, such as at the movies, and your friend is called away part of the way through. If you're just there to be with your friend, you're likely to leave. But if you're there to watch the movie and your friend's presence is an intentional, included bonus, you'll probably stay.

In my case, I was actually pretty healthy as far as my weight and general fitness go when cancer nearly killed me. I'm not here to lose weight, I'm here to help my body continue to stay as fit as I can manage because that was the advantage I had that let me live past 25. So for me, it's easy to stay without losing weight because fitness is an ongoing process. But someone who is focused primarily or even solely on losing weight, a very specific process with an endpoint, it will be harder.

I'm not sure if you are asking about how do you continue to be motivated once you have lost the weight or how do you stay motivated once you seem to not lose any more -
So I guess I'll just answer as I see fit from my own experience....
I've been working out daily for over six years and there has been no outward proof to show of the effort I put in, I count calories and weigh my food.
And no results....
But I can say that when I go to doctors for physicals and get check ups and such, they are always amazed at how incredible my internal health is... My primary and neurologist both have stated that my stats are better than most people that take medication to lower the blood pressure and cholesterol and such....
So I know that as much as I hate that my body image is not reflecting the effort I am putting into it - There is a positive effect that I can not regret.
And I'm setting a good example for people around me
It helps me manage my stress.
Keeps things exciting - there are always new workouts to try
So even if I have off days - I just keep going and know that I'm doing what is best for me