2 years of maintenance - 130+ pounds lost

cmteach4 wrote: »

@ShannonMpls I absolutely loved his when I read it last year and again now. I was wondering if you could give us another update, please? I reached goal but have 10 lbs. back on so impatient mastered maintenance obviously! Would love someone me more inspiration from you! Thanks so much!

Hi! I just read this NOW since I don't come to the forums often!

But yes, here is an update.

I maintained my 130 pound weight loss absolutely easily and flawlessly for the first three years. It was NBD, I wondered at times how it could be so easy.

But in 2015-2016, things got a little tricky. My career heated up and I changed jobs. That meant that getting to the gym during the workday became tricky. I stilled logged food 4-5 days a week and worked out 2-3 days a week, but that wasn't enough.

Confession: I've definitely gained some weight. I don't weigh myself these days, but I'd guess 15-20 pounds on my 5'11" body - enough to make my jeans tight. I've also lost some of the muscle definition I like.

Maybe you'll see this as failure, but I don't. This is my takeaway:

As I said in the original post in this thread, habits are what sustain us. When your habits fade, you can't expect your results to remain.

Exercise is still key. Sure, it's 80-90% diet, but when my workouts are on point, so is my nutrition. When I'm exercising, I want to take care of my body. It finally dawned on me last week that I couldn't just do the same things and expect different results. Lunchtime gym sessions aren't working for me right now and I can't change that reality. So now I've started working out at home in the morning (using Beachbody on Demand) and so far, so good. That light switch that flipped down has been turned back on, like magic.

We all stumble. What matters is whether you stay on the ground or you get back up. Here's the thing: I've done the fitness thing before, lost some weight, gained it allllllllll back, because I went back to my old habits. That did not (will not) happen this time. Even when things were not on point, I still worked out 2-3 times a week. I still walked liked crazy. I could still run a solid 30-40 minutes. I still logged food more days than not. There's no wagon to fall off of. You guys, my log-in streak here is 2,141.

I gained some weight? Eh, it's just a blip. I'm not thrilled, but I have a whole long list of reasons I won't weigh 300 pounds again, and the main one is simple: Life is more fun when you are fit enough to enjoy it. I don't want to go back to avoiding the camera, worrying about fitting in a plane seat, not being able to run a 5k, being unwilling to try new things, shopping only at Lane Bryant, spending every day feeling mildly depressed. Those things are no longer compatible with my life.

So, I'm toning up my habits. My body will follow. No crazy diet, no freaking out. Just a return to what got me to a healthy weight in the first place.

Maintenance means maintaining a new lifestyle. The goal is to live a better life. Sometimes life is complicated and we need to adjust our lifestyle to fit it. I took a little longer to make that adjustment than I wish I had, but my eyes are straight ahead, armed with renewed dedication.

Am I still a success story? You freaking bet I am. You will see a 5-year maintenance post from me in September.

In the meantime, here is me at the Grand Canyon last month, We spent a week hiking in Arizona and having a wonderful time - a trip the me-of-2011 could never have done.



Life is good.