How to Manage Maintenance Mode!

If I am completely honest, I was terrified of the maintenance stage of weight loss.  We all know people who have lost weight- but how many of us know people who have lost weight and then successfully kept the weight off?  The thought that I could have spent 16 months losing 120 lbs only to gain it all back was extremely scary! Even though I was pretty confident that I had successfully changed my lifestyle and eating habits,  I had become very accustomed to the strictness of my diet regime and the thought of making the changes necessary to switc from weight-loss to maintenance mode was a little nerve-wracking. (who would have ever thought that increasing my calorie intake would be scary?!?)  Here are three of the challenges that I faced during that transition mode:

No longer using the scale as a guideline:  While I was in weight loss mode, the goal of my weekly weigh in was to see the number on the scale go down.   This may sound crazy, but even when the number is going down only tenths of a lb, the number is still going down and so it gives you something tangible to work towards.   However, in maintenance phase, I am really only using the scale to make sure that the number does not start creeping higher- which is a completely different thing.  Even though I knew I was no longer supposed to be losing weight, for the first few weeks (and sometimes even still!) it is hard to look at the same number on the scale and not feel like you are doing something wrong.  To combat this feeling, I give myself a 10 lb range.  As long as the number is between 145 and 155 every Tuesday morning, then I allow myself to relax and keep doing what I am doing without stressing out about it knowing that I have already promised myself that if the number ever creeps back above 155, I will start kicking it back into high gear immediately.

Balance:  There is a really fine line between being a “food Nazi” as Lexy once affectionately called me and starting down the slippery slope of resorting to all of your old habits which led you to being overweight in the first place.  I am certainly not perfect at this, but there are a couple of things that I try to remember  now that I am in maintenance mode:

1. It is important to enjoy life and the people in your life- and if that means that you have to eat at a restaurant where you food choices are limited or that you decide to have an extra piece of dark chocolate one night, it is not the end of the world
2. If I am going to splurge or indulge, I want it to be a conscious choice- not an emotional choice or a choice based on peer pressure- and I want to use those calories on indulgences that I actually want or enjoy- so it is okay to say no to an extra piece of pizza because I would rather have a cheese coney
3. Remembering to stick with all of the habits that made me successful in the first place- tracking calories, exercising, not bringing junk food into my house, etc.. . If I miss a day of tracking, I do not beat myself up about it, but I do know that I feel much more in control when I am on top of that. 

Realizing that your body may not be perfect:  This is a hard one! While I love having a size 4-6 body, there are definitely still areas of my body that I wish were different.  Some of these I can change (which is why I’m working out with my awesome trainer Lisa twice a week!) but when I look in the mirror I still have to face the fact that I still have extra skin and “jiggly areas” and that no matter how many miles I run I am still going to have wide thighs and hips.  It is hard to remember that the important thing is that my body is at a weight where it is healthy and strong and that even if I starved and pushed myself to unhealthy limits my body would not look like a swimsuit model!

So far, I have successfully stayed under the 150lb range for over 5 months!!!  While it has definitely been a transition, it has not been nearly as difficult as I thought it would be.  While I am sure that there will be more struggles and challenges ahead, I am confident that I am never going back to shopping at Lane Bryant again and I cannot wait to write a post when I have successfully maintained my weight loss for an entire year!