One last try

@deana_lance Doggone it. There's no such thing as the last try or the last picture show or the last Finish Line.

All movement counts. So forget about the sedentary childhood. Don't compare yourself to anyone else. Just start walking out your front door and come back when you feel it's time to turn around and head back for the barn. Keep increasing your distance as you tool along. Tiny steps for tiny feet.

Rebound weight gain with friends. A total cluster. I know all about that because there's absolutely nothing perfect about me. Experience is my best teacher. All of that dieting dogma only served to dig me into a much deeper hole with food. I rid myself of it. I threw all of my dieting books with corresponding dieting cookbooks right into the trash and I could not be happier about that. I won't buy another one of them with MFP as my witness.

What we do to lose the weight is what we must continue to do to maintain the weight.

If you'll read the MFP success stories, those who are still maintaining a large weight loss are diligent and focused, focused, focused. They use the scales. Sure, those are only one data point but they work. They may still measure and weigh their portions and weigh themselves daily or weekly but they've always got their eye on their overall fitness and goals.

Maintenance is where the rubber meets the road. It's a mistake to think we can fall right back into our old eating patterns and habits when all of the weight releasing is done. If we believe we can just coast on our laurels and fly by the seat of our pants because somehow we're now fixed, the weight will stack back on like a freight train.

After a few of those massive rationalizations the dawn comes to light. Experience becomes our best teacher.