Help switching mindset.

First, congrats on the loss! Amazing
Most people transition by adding 100 calories each week until they maintain. Before you had a mindset of 'I need to get to 130' or 'I need to lose these last few pounds. Now it needs to be a mindset of 'I need to stay in the 130 range'.

I think it helps to keep setting goals and working towards those. I still have weight loss goals, but they're at the very bottom of my (long!) list.

Congrats on your loss!!

Massive, massive kudos to you!

I agree with the suggestion to add in 100 calories for a week, then add in another 100 the following, and see how things go. Maybe you'd feel more comfortable upping by 200, sticking with it for 2-3 weeks, then upping again for 2-3 weeks to see where that takes you. Kind of depends on what your current deficit is right now.

Keep in mind that your weight WILL fluctuate. Give yourself a range that you're comfortable with, remember that water weight is a mean, mean thing, and enjoy being able to eat more!

~Lyssa

The_Wallflower wrote: »

So I've lost 225lbs and I'm now at goal. Below goal actually. I went from 355lbs to 130lbs. I've had a tummy tuck and an arm lift.

My question is. How do I switch my mind to maintenance instead of loss!?! I've "dieted" my entire life so it's hard. I don't want to get out of hand or comfortable and start putting weight back on. How do I do this??

CONGRATS!

The important thing which helped me switch my focus is to have new goals that's more fitness oriented rather than weight / nsv oriented. ie. run a 5K, build muscles, etc.

Continuing to have specific goals will help you to stay focus & motivated and eventually your focus will just organically shift from losing to maintaining.

Good luck!

Amazing! I cannot imagine how it must have felt to started with such a long way to go; the motivation and dedication you had to have had is, as someone else said, humbling.

Even though I am notionally in maintenance, I am often quietly thinking, "well, if I lost three more that would make it 75 lbs lost...". I am finding that it takes a good bit of time to overcome the weight loss mindset, especially if you have been as spectacularly successful as you have. I think all you can really do is enjoy the new you, enjoy eating all the foods, but be mindful that this is where you want to be. If you can lose all that weight, you must know exactly what you are doing. Find something else to succeed at and replace the high you get from weekly weight loss success! It might be another diet or fitness goal, or it might be completely removed from that. You can pretty much do anything- you obviously always could.

Congrats on your loss!! I have been wondering the same thing!

Just like everyone else has said, you've done an amazing job. Something very few people have done successfully, first of all take some time to let that sink in. You are part of an elite group of people and should be extremely proud of what you've accomplished.

And you're exactly right in realizing that you're about to enter a new phase of your life that's going to require a different mindset, different goals, and different challenges. My weight loss was nowhere near as dramatic as yours, I lost 45 pounds over 6-8 months and have maintained for a year and a half.

Maintenance was pretty easy for me, I'd gotten used to eating less. For a while it was actually hard to stop the loss so I think you're smart to be thinking ahead about it. I went too low for my personal tastes and am now trying to put weight ON (in the form of muscle) and will tell you that gaining is harder than losing or maintaining.

Others have already suggested changing goals to more fitness related ones and I agree. I found starting a progressive load weightlifting program was fantastic for filling out loose skin with muscle. And keep tracking but start learning how to watch and manage your macros to maximize your nutrition.

Think of it this way, you had an old beat up car in the barn that barely ran, was rusty and full of dents. You've gotten the rust removed, the dents pulled and repaired. Now you just need to give it a new paint job and fine tune the engine!

Congratulations!!!

congrats on the loss...

i will say that this is a common issue and i think it has a lot to do with people being overly obsessed with some arbitrary number on the scale actually being the goal...when I talk to people about wellness and being healthy and fit, i try to get them to develop other goals and i try to put the focus on overall health and wellness and doing the things that healthy and fit people do with weight management simply being a nice bi-product of that.

the problem with making weight the ultimate goal is that eventually you don't really have anything to work towards...you get to the finish line and like you're saying, "now what?" conversely, when your goals are simply geared towards health and wellness and doing the things that healthy and fit people do...well, you can always improve...you can always improve your nutrition...you can always improve your fitness, etc...there isn't really a finish line there.

for most, including myself, establishing fitness goals is a big part it. i didn't really start participating in events and really establishing fitness goals until after i had lost my weight and realized basically what you're realizing now...and asking myself, "now what."