I am asked many questions about my weight loss experience. One question that is repeated a lot is this:
Yes, I know you lost a lot of weight, but did you ever gain weight since you’ve hit your goal weight?
It’s a very legitimate question because as we all know – statistics show that about 95% of people who lose weight will regain their “lost” weight within one to two years. That’s sobering.
The answer to the question is two fold: Yes, I did gain weight – but only during pregnancies. So, no – I haven’t gained weight during these maintenance years aside from pregnancy. Of course I had to lose pregnancy weight four times but that’s another post.
I may be weird in this regard, but I found the maintenance part of weight loss much easier than the actual losing weight process. I know a lot of people feel the opposite, and I can certainly understand that – but for me maintenance has been relatively pain-free.
In thinking about why I feel that way I’ve come up with a couple of reasons:
- I really hated being obese. I hated all the emotions, the struggles, and the embarrassments that came my way as my weight ballooned.
- I was obese for a long time. Not a lifetime, but long enough to really live and experience the obese life.
- I lost weight using real life food and reasonable exercise.
- I changed my relationship to food from 95% emotional to about 15% emotional. (The emotions surrounding food are still there, but under control.)
Those four things helped me maintain my weight without having a regain. It’s been really important to me that I stay at a weight where I feel comfortable, so I do work hard at it – even today. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that I do weigh myself every single day, and if the scale goes up above the 3 – 5 pound range I float within, then I immediately take action.
I see a lot of people who lose weight and then promptly begin to regain their weight. I always feel sorry for those folks, because I know how it made me feel when I did the same thing. I remember being embarrassed when I saw the look of “Oh, she got fatter,” on someone’s face. It was terrible. I didn’t want to experience those embarrassed feelings anymore, and thankfully I haven’t. My years of maintenance haven’t been pain free, but they have been weight gain free!
Question: Do you think the weight loss part is easier or the weight maintenance part? Diane
I found the losing the easiest part and the maintaining harder…but managing OK, not how I would like to…its been 2 years for me now.
I have stopped weighing myself all together…well stopped when I started the Clean Eating diet as I found I was becoming obsessed with that number and my day would be decided on according to what I weighed that day…
Will go back to weighing in once a month or so…but not there yet, enjoying the freedom of not worrying about a number but keep training and eating well.
Marcelle´s last fabulous musings ..Thoughts for Feb
If I rely on past experiences, losing has been much easier than maintaining. I think that has much to do with how little support there has been out there for those who’ve reached their goal weights. Even the “programs” seemed to lose interest in you once goal was reached and you were just left hanging out there to figure it out for yourself. I am so thankful that seems to have changed and I think this time, thanks to lots of available resources, maintenance will stick!
Sharon´s last fabulous musings ..Slow Road To Normal
This is such a relevant post, Diane. Most of us who are currently trying to lose weight have, in the past, lost and regained (perhaps more than once). You have come such a long way that I know maintenance is part of your life. I am trying to make this time the last time for me too…
Jane´s last fabulous musings ..Self Realization – I Dont Want to be an Ignored Distraction
I have a 2 lb UP leeway and take action at that 2 lb mark. So I very much understand your thought process. I too have been losing or maintaining this whole time (my pregnancies were already done). I am in my 6th year of this process, so while not as many years as you, I do feel experienced talking about how to maintain successfully. And I think it is very important we write/have maintenance blogs.
Vickie´s last fabulous musings ..Fat men in beards- and yes- this includes Santa
Maintenance! I lost weight by eating smarter and exercising, then continued that to maintain. I do not agree that losing is easier. The most common reason people regain is that instead of continuing the improved lifestyle changes they return to their former patterns. What’s up with that?
As a yo-yo dieter I can definitively say that for me, maintaining is much harder!
Karen´s last fabulous musings ..Doctor- Doctor- Give me the News
If I look at my past history of losing weight and then regaining it, I’d have to say that maintaining has been the harder piece of the puzzle for me. This time I’m determined not to give up, not during the losing portion and not during the maintenance portion either.
Desert Agave´s last fabulous musings ..Mental Challenges
I think maintaining is harder. I think often maintaining is harder because we make too many changes/restrictions when we lose as we want to lose weight fast. I think it’s relatively easy to eat the right foods and the right amounts, give up all treats, exercise a lot, and refrain from eating at social situations while you are losing. But then “real life” sets in and everything that comes with it. Unless you learned while you lost how to deal with the real life challenges without food, I think maintenance can be hard.
I finally tackled the emotional issues a few years ago and now maintenance is a lot easier.
Andrea@WellnessNotes´s last fabulous musings ..Pomelos and Massaged Kale With a Korean Twist
As you know most people regain the weight they lose because they never change their habits. Anyone can lose weight on a strict diet, but you can only eat cardboard for so long before you gradually return to your old habits. The key to maintaining weight loss is to gradually change your eating and exercise habits for the better. If you make small changes here and there over time they add up to a healthy lifestyle change.
Darvis Simms´s last fabulous musings ..Do Your Cardiovascular Exercise In Your Target Heart Zone
I love how you listed the reasons why you succeeded and I’m going to bookmark this post to refer back to.
I’m still far away from maintenance, but losing sure is hard!
I’m one of those people who promptly regained all of the weight they’d lost, so maintenance was kind of a boogieman for me. But on the second time around I’m winning at it and enjoying it
I realise that I completely dropped the ball the first time because I didn’t understand what maintenance would mean & I had lost the weight by restricting too much. I stopped standing on the scale; I went back to eating whatever I liked; I went into denial about the fact that I was regaining. I’m not really surprised I bounced so hard now.
Cilla´s last fabulous musings ..THIRD
Interesting!
During my journey to lose 100 pounds I had some ups and downs but they were like –lose 3 pounds, next week up 5 or something. I blame hormones.
Once I reached goal weight I was there for about a year. Then I started taking Celexa and even though I still ate the same, counted my calories, and worked out 5 days a week intensely I gained 15 pounds in 10 months. It was sooo frustrating! I knew it was the mediciation.
I stopped the medication and immediately lost 3 pounds. I continued to lose weight and I’ve lost it all and kept it off.
Loved this Diane & we are so similar in this regard. I found maintenance easier as well even though I did struggle a bit because I did lose it the wrong way at first & was not eating right for years before I started eating right. Thru all that, I still kept it off within say 5-8 pounds due to as you wrote above, not learnng it right the first time.
Like you, I weigh every day & that 3-5 pounds is my thing too, especially since I am so short. I also hated being fat – I was not obese but in my head, I thought I was…
Emotional is such a big thing too! That is the mind game we have to oevrcome…
Jody – Fit at 53´s last fabulous musings ..A Story of Yes I Can
Having had to maintain for oars of this journey already, I found maintenance to be easier than losing. The approach I take to weight loss lends itself to maintenance more naturally than some others, I just make less restrictions than with losing
Taryl´s last fabulous musings ..Dropping a quick note!
I always love how you put things. A book should be in order for you. You’ve got inspiration down flat. I’m still struggling with losing weight, and I get angry that I let myself get to this point in the first place. So, for me, maintenance will be a pleasure!
BlessedMama´s last fabulous musings ..Beginners Soy Enchiladas
I think losing is harder than maintaining. Then again, I’m still working on losing.
Leah´s last fabulous musings ..Weigh In Motivation Question
I feel silly as an outsider, but I’m still not sure what “maintenance” is. If you target your calorie intake to be, for example, a 130lb person, then you eat like that from day one, and eventually you will BE a 130lb person. Maintenance from day one. I know it’s not that easy — simple yes, but not easy. It’s like telling someone who had insomnia that all they have to do to be cured is fall asleep.
But still … it feels like losing isn’t really the goal. Eating “normally” is the goal, and the losing just happens until you bottom out at what your body wants to weigh at that intake level.
Great thoughts!! For me maintenance is so much harder than the losing.
During weight loss I had the excitement of weighing and seeing the scale go down and down, seeing dress sizes go down, having everyone cheer my name “you look great!” and I was so determined nothing deterred me.
Maintenance is not so stable. The scale has gone up some due to eating more than 1200 calories a day and serious workouts. No size change and no WOOHOO for you.
Its just me now, I do get excited seeing the body change now that I am heavy lifting its awesome! Feeling empowered with strength I have a zeal back and I am so happy for that.
Sorry for being so long, its hard all the way around and either way I am sticking to my guns and will never go back!
Sheri´s last fabulous musings ..Music or No Music
I’m still in the losing mode- but sometimes I feel like I’m just maintaining.
But I think if we are losing weight in a way that we could sustain forever- the maintenance part won’t be that hard when we get there. But I’ll find out someday! 
Alissa´s last fabulous musings ..Where My Veggies At
Maintenance is far easier! Like you I also never yo-yoed. And probably have stayed at the same weight for the reasons you listed. Six years later this is just life.
Since I’m one who has lost and then regained, I should say that maintaining is harder, but really I never did maintenance. I was either on a diet or I wasn’t. I hope that I’m learning to maintain as a I lose so that it will be easier when I get to goal.
Siobhan´s last fabulous musings ..the things you learn …
Maintenance is easier! Losing weight – the actual exercising every day and being intensely mindful of what I eat – sucks! I hate it so much that I know when I finally lose it, that I will never gain it back just because the process of actively losing weight is a pain in the ass
I will probably do what you’re doing – watch the scale and stay within 5 lbs of my goal weight. Or maybe start new goals, like toning up, etc. I have a ways to go… I can’t wait to get there!!
Need to Get Me Back´s last fabulous musings ..January – 79lbs lost
I’ll let you know when I get to the maintenance part. That is always where I messed up in the past but I think I have a better handle on things this time. I’m hoping when I get there that maintenance will be easier since losing is such a bitch.