Playing the Maintenance Game

Losing weight is hard work--there's no question about that. But I have found that maintaining one's weight loss can be even harder. Let's face it: the odds are against us. Most people who lose weight on a diet typically gain it back (along with a few extra pounds) before long. The yo-yo dieting cycle works against us by making it even more difficult to lose and easier to gain next time around. Therefore, while we may take that weight off and feel like the king of the mountain, it's all too easy to slip down the slope and be at the bottom again. It's like winning the lottery and then figuring out what to do with all that money so you don't find yourself broke again!

Awhile back, I had posted about battling 2-3 unwanted pounds that were keeping me from my fighting weight (my vanity weight, as I call it). I thought I was doing everything I could to take those few pounds off: frequent intense cardio sessions, lots of fruits and veggies, avoiding sweets. But they were stubborn. I'm proud to say that as of TODAY, those pounds are gone, and I had to relearn a weight-loss lesson to make them go away.

You see, when I first started to lose 25 lbs. a couple of years ago, my initial principle of success was simply this: eat less. I took the amount of food I normally ate and shaved off about a third of it. No second helpings. No eating until I was stuffed--instead, I ate until I was satiated (yes, there's a difference). I reasoned (correctly) that if I ate smaller portions of the foods I normally ate, I'd be eating fewer calories and dropping weight. And it worked, for awhile, until I discovered the fruit/veggie/water/fiber connection and it all really started coming together for me. But more recently, that initial principle had gotten a bit lost in the shuffle for me.

So a couple of weeks ago, when I began to reexamine my approach, I realized that I was being "good" all day only to blow it by sneaking in extra bites and too-large portions at dinner. I had that "what can I get away with eating?" mentality, instead of the "what does my body need me to eat?" mentality. I needed to go back to basics. I did so, and voila--the weight is gone. And so continues the maintenance game.

Staying mindful of what we do is so important. A fitness instructor whose classes I adore spoke yesterday about "mindful exercise"--really concentrating on working a particular muscle group in order to get better results with less time commitment. Similarly, we need to be mindful of what and how and how much we are eating in order to maintain our fitness success. I keep relearning the lesson. I'll admit when I've stumbled, but I'm not above bragging a bit when I get back on my feet again.

Whether you've got 5 lbs. to lose or 50, don't let a stubborn scale throw you off track; use it to figure out what you can do differently. And if you've already reached your goal weight and are playing the maintenance game, congratulate yourself, and then reevaluate your strategy in order to keep it off. To your continued success!