Maintaining is Harder than Losing.

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  • brit49
    brit49 Posts: 461 Member
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    Everyone is different, for me that statement is so true. This time around I have made some changes I eat more protein, and less sugar, added sugar:)
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    Don't hate me, but neither was hard for me... once I knew what I was doing.

    The only time I struggled to lose weight, I wasn't doing it right. I was starving myself and felt hungry, miserable and deprived. That's not to say I didn't work hard to lose weight, but it wasn't hard work, if that makes sense. I enjoyed the foods I ate and (most of) the exercises I did. I wasn't thinking, "Gah... I can't wait until this weight is GONE and I can start living normal again!" because it always felt normal and sustainable.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    I think I might agree. For me, exercise plays a bigger role in weight loss than diet as I have eaten healthy for the past 30 years or so. Fitting regular exercise into my schedule is hard. It means giving up time and time is my most precious commodity. Whenever I've gained weight it's because I stopped exercising regularly. But I've never just stopped completely, it's a slow creep. I'll skip a day here and there, then that will become the norm, then skip more and so on, until I realize I'm only exercising one or two days a month and I've packed on 20 - 30 lbs. Then I get back on track. But it is easier to stay focused on exercise when you are losing, than when you are already thin.
  • bellinachuchina
    bellinachuchina Posts: 498 Member
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    I think some people diet to lose, with the intention of getting to a goal weight and then being "done", but not taking into consideration that you can't go back to your previous lifestyle, and you can't stop doing the things that got you to your goal in the first place. These are often the people who gain weight back. I have accepted that I'm probably never going to be eating pizza once a week again, or downing a pint of Haagen Daaz because "its my time of month and I'm craving it". I won't be able to stop weighing myself regularly, or slipping back into denial about how I treat my body.

    It should be about making a lifestyle change and becoming a person who takes care of themself. If we all take that approach, maintenance shouldn't be that hard. There will always be challenges and difficult times of the year (holidays, Halloween candy, summer barbeques). We just need to accept that we aren't able to over-indulge just because we got to our goal weight.


    I have maintained only by following my newly acquired lifestyle, which proves you can maintain after losing a significant amount of weight in a reasonable amount of time.

    I've gotten over the temptation at family events, birthdays, etc. Those challenges are not what makes maintenance hard. It's the "What do i do now?" problem. I lost an entire person...what can top that? haha.

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