I think it’s high time to high-five, fistbump, hug, give some recognition to, wink at, show some love to, appreciate and congratulate the ones who have managed not only to reach their goal weight but even more impressively, managed to maintain their goal weight!!!
Maintenance is not as easy as pie! Maintenance ain’t no walk in the park! Maintenance ain’t no picnic! Maintenance is not a piece of cake!
Well sometimes it does involve these things, but the point is: it’s not easy! It’s hard! It’s difficult! The struggle is real!
And then on top of that we maintainers don’t get the added boost of basking in the glory of anyone noticing how hard it is to stay (within a range of) a given goal weight. No “congrats, you’ve stayed the same!” No “wow, your weight hasn’t deviated significantly in the direction you don’t want it to!” No “awesome, you still fit in your clothes!” No “amazing +/- !!!”
There are no “maintenance challenges” to join because there’s no excitement in that since it would be slower than watching snails race, in the summer, when they aren’t even moving (let’s face it, maintenance is not exciting at all)
MFP doesn’t give us auto-generated posts when we enter the same weight every week at our weigh-ins. Could we get an enthusiastic autopost saying “(mfp username) has maintained +/- their goal weight for ...... days!” That would be nice once in awhile.
Since we get no recognition for maintaining, this thread is for us to reach out and spread the love to our under-appreciated, unsung heroes,
who most of us MFPers are ultimately striving to be... the maintainers for working so hard just to stay the same!
RunsWithBees
Member Posts: 1,473 Member
Member Posts: 1,473 Member
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I was going through my fall and winter clothes this weekend and thought to myself how awesome it is to be able to fit into the same clothes from last year (although some things are a little more roomy). I was so used to the opposite happening.
In my offline life people either have only known me only after weight loss and others are so used to seeing me the way I look now and they forget how heavy I used to be.
Even my own hubby saw some old pics of me and forgot. lol He said he didn't see all that weight on me back then. It is nice to hear him say things how he admires my dedication. For example me getting up early to get a workout in everyday or working out while we are on vacation.
My doctor is so proud of me how I changed my life around with no gimmicks etc. and most importantly have kept it off.
On the flip side of things there are some others that might not say it, but I know they are shocked that I've lost so much and kept it off and a small number haven't said a word.
So many different experiences I've had, but one thing I learned is that I need to be my own cheerleader.
After trying on those clothes this weekend I gave a pat on my own back and said Rainbow, you are doing so amazing and I'm proud of you. Keep it up! And I treated myself to some new neon pink running shoes.
Keep up the great work maintainers!
Y’all are my life line. My only source of experienced losers (I mean that with love). The wise ones.
I think that short of returning to prehistoric hunter-gatherer days, I’ll always have to watch my weight
I recognize the enormous effort you are putting into maintaining and you’re awesome to have made it this far!
I think even though we are fully committed to take on the challenges of maintenance on our own, it’s always good to know there are others that understand the struggles first hand
I like how sometimes you can indeed tell that they are impressed with the fact that you’ve maintained for X amount of time simply by the look on their faces, but they just don’t know what to say
You have a spectacularly inspiring profile pic! And your hard work is paying off every day that you maintain, amazing dedication!
You are right about the clothes! It’s a wonderful feeling knowing you can still fit into the goal weight outfits! I use certain clothes to keep tabs on my maintenance too, for example if things start to fit snug then I know I gotta dust off the old food scale and watch the portions a little closer.
It isn’t always easy, there are many ups and downs but you seem like you are doing a great job on your maintenance motivation! I’m cheering you on as well!
It’s so important to recognise the positives when there isn’t the tangible success of seeing the numbers on the scale drop any more. For me it’s seeing how much fitter I am and how exercise is integral to my life now. And recognising how nice it is to wake up and think “what do I want to wear today?” Rather than “what can I wear that will fit ok/ hide the fat”!
I now get told that I don't look as good because I'm too slim! I hate when that happens because in my opinion I've never felt or looked better! - only recently my brother in law who I only see a few times a year told me I looked better when I was curvier! that really pee'd me off
Get yourself a goal that isn't related to weight
So maybe let’s celebrate maintaining through the switch from summer to autumn and focus on keeping it up in the weeks to come.
I just turned 60. I love to run and walk and do other exercises. Winter will find me on my elliptical.
Thanks, @monkeefan1974 for this thread!
Holly 💩; you're awesome! Not only a five year maintainer but you've managed to post emojis on the MFP Forums!!!
Congratulations on the five years and on your birthday!
I'd love to be like you when I grow up...
oh wait a second, I'm older... but a good couple of years short of your maintenance mark!!!😉