Remaining motivated

Hang in there! For me, maintaining is even less motivating. Keeping up good habits is critical because the excitement of consistently losing is over, and now what? Maybe start thinking about new goals for the new you!

Wow, great job: You look wonderful (and I'll bet you feel great, too)!

At some point, IME, it was hard to tell whether I was on the off-ramp of weight loss, vs. the on-ramp of weight maintenance . . . and I feel like it really doesn't matter much, to me. For me - and I'm not saying it would be true for you - I can't see myself as being motivated to manage my weight for the rest of my life, so I kind of needed to turn it over to some steady, manageable habits that accomplish what's needed to stay in a healthy range.

I'm in year 5+ of maintenance now, and just turned 65. I didn't lose the impressive amount you did, though (only a bit over 50 pounds). I've been in a healthy weight range since, but there have been some minor ups and downs within that range. For example, over the past year (roughly), I figure I've averaged a calorie deficit around 100-150 calories daily, because I decided in late 2019 that I'd let my weight creep up further than I prefer, but I didn't want to go through some kind of annoying, sacrifice-y thing to lose those pounds. Making my weight slowly creep down again seemed like a good solution, and it's been pretty painless.

Sooner or later, we may motivate ourselves gradually all the way to goal weight . . . then the "stay there" goal is the challenge.

Hang in there, you'll get to goal, eventually if not quickly. The less motivation it takes, the better, IMO: Good set-up for long-term maintenance! 😉 Best wishes!

Has life changed for you since your weight loss? Are you more energetic? Have any health markers improved? Has your confidence increased?

Fantastic job btw. I’m proud of you and we’ve never even met!