Doing Time on the Maintenance Track

Is there a blog out there on the subject of long-term maintenance for people who have lost a substantial amount of weight? Yes, there are a few! On another note, one study I read reported that the act of being accountable to a third party was key to maintaining weight loss. That sounds about right to me.

When I lost almost 100 pounds 11 years ago, I maintained the loss for a while by setting and resetting goals that I’d tick off one by one. Sometimes it was difficult coming up with goals that had a significant punch—one that I’d stick to. One of the things I did after I’d maintained for about three years, was join the non-profit organization, The National Weight Control Registry (www.nwcr.ws/). Being accountable to an annual (long) form I was asked to fill out was good, but an annual accounting to keep lost weight off is not enough for me. I need to have a constant source of goals: my off-exercise time exercise—to come up with a target that’s sexy and attainable. And believe me, it’s tough to conceive of these for ten years and counting.

As I’ve grown older, I’ve had joint problems, back and ankle issues and various muscle tears. I don’t even want to talk about hitting menopause! That’s ostensibly when I began having a real problem with maintenance. Exercise and my daily diet up until “the change” were no longer effective. No matter what happens, however, I will NEVER give up my quest to keep the lost weight off! It has been a wonderful challenge in the last decade and I have been at my happiest and most productive as well. I will simply not give up hope in my quest to remain lean and healthy for anything! Happy Monday!