Ange82much - Beginners Maintenance Diary

Target: Less than 53kg
Current: 50.8kg


Well, it's been a bit longer between updates this time, but the story continues.
Christmas was great. I indulged, but not sillily over Christmas week in UK, then had a week in Bali in which I indulged semi-sillily, then I had 8-days wilderness trekking and all I could eat was what i'd taken with me so that was fine, I wasn't hungry but covered up to 30km a day with 15kg backpack so the output was probably more than the input, and after all of that I stood on the scales and was...… the same.....! Which tbh I was delighted with.

So then I decided that although my weight was good, I wanted to get back to a good nutritious diet after campfood and Christmas nonsense, and did that for a couple of weeks (my weight stayed the same), and then I went wonky for a couple of weeks and felt more urges to eat crap, but resisted on the whole (my weight stayed the same), and then the last couple of weeks I've been happily diligent again. Guess what? My weight's still the same!

I know I can't complain and it's kind of great, but on the other hand it's not teaching me much. Basically whatever I do, my weight's fairly stable at the moment. I know I still have to work at it though because it generally goes up a kilo or so every weekend, then I knuckle down and bring it back the following week, but I guess the overall weekly calories are similar every week despite the daily fluctuations, and hey presto, here I stay.

I also know I've been saying for 6 months at least now that i'm still learning how to do maintenance, and I still feel completely like that - that I don't really know what I can 'get away with' if anything.

I'm still doing the gym thing every day pretty much and still really enjoying it and i'm getting fitter, but other than that I haven't noticed any tangible difference that it's making (not that I care because I enjoy it, but I would've expected the bathroom scales to be trending to a lower fat content, or i'd expect to be looking more muscly. I think I have more energy and I leap out of bed with enthusiasm - on the other hand it is summer and nice and light in a morning, so that makes it easier).

So that's it really. All is good at the mo. Maybe the real work starts when the novelty wears off and I come to accept that the new me is the normal me. I'll just have to wait and see.

Even after so long i'm still surprised how I look when I walk past a mirror or see photos, and even after so long i'm still conscious of having lost the weight and it's on my mind a lot (which is good!). And my message to anyone reading is that getting the weight off is so so so so so worth it x 1 million % - it's just constantly rewarding all day every day - do it!
 
Target: Less than 53kg
Current: 51.4kg


Checking in again after another 2 month gap.

Luckily I still don't have much to say and everything is still pretty much the same as the last post. I've had work trips away since then, and periods when I've not eaten brilliantly, but then found that I've wanted to come back to the 'new normal' quickly, and return to lots of veggies and cut out the processed/sugar/salt rubbish. I'm also still gymming.

So it's all same-same when i look at the big picture, but day to day there are always micro-variations. I'm always thinking if I've had a couple of 'good days' then I should see it on the scales, and am congratulating myself for how disciplined I am. Then if I've had an indulgent weekend I think i'll never get back to being healthy ever in my life again and i'm so un-fit and blodgy (just made up that word). So it's the old duck on water scenario - from the outside everything is smooth sailing, but under the surface there's a bit of paddling and general thrashing about going on.

It makes me kind of surprised that there aren't more maintenance posters around the internet. What does everyone else do once they've lost the weight? Are they naturally mentally untroubled and sail off in to the sunset without any need for strategies to stay here? Surely not everyone puts it straight back on again and disappears only to re-appear as a 'dieter' soon afterwards? Or do most people simply not 'finish' in the first place, and are constantly in a mindset of losing-mode? It's mysterious!
 
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