so do you think the real work begins at maintaing??? I ask because I am trying to sort myself out so I don't think once I get to target its done end of weight problem....
I am changing who I am or going back to who I was before I have fat...... but my brain needs more convincing.... I know it takes work I am just trying to find an acceptance for the fact I will be at sw for the rest of my life....
sound like I am talking rubbish just struggling to get my point across... sorry
Getting to target is definitely not the end of your weight problem. Most of us who got fat have to accept that we over-ate to get into that position and will have to be careful for the rest of our lives. You can never go back to how you used to eat - you'll just get fat again.
So yes - it's SW for life . . . or put the weight back on again.
I wouldn't say that the real work begins once you start maintaining . . . and it isn't hard as such, but . . .
To be successful at getting to target you have to have been very focussed and committed to losing weight.
So what can be hard once you get to target is to actually stop dieting.
You have to work out how much extra food you can eat to maintain a steady weight and not lose or gain too much.
And that can be tricky !!! Took me a few weeks to work it out.
I went shooting up when I got to my first target, got back to it and then lowered my target, got there and then continued to lose (I obviously wasn't eating quite enough) and was about to lower target again when I though STOP. This is where I want to be.
You do have to change your mindset and get your head into a slightly different place when you do reach target. And accept that you'll have to eat sensibly and watch your weight for the rest of your life. And yes - that can be a a bit depressing and daunting at first, but it's actually not that bad. I've been in maintenance mode now for 18 months and to be honest I do feel so much healthier and fitter that I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything.
The thing is not to panic too much about a small gain - that's life. Normally skinny people do this - they go up and down by a few pounds depending on time of the month, how much they ate the day before, how much exercise they took etc etc. That's why SW gives you 3 lb either way as a "target range". But because we've been focussed on NOT gaining, and conditioned to think of this as bad, it can be pretty hard not to stress about it.
If you have a gain, you just need to have a week being a bit stricter and get rid of it straight away. The knack is not to let the small gains mount up into a big one. Too many people do and then find themselves 7, then 10, then 14 lbs or more over target. I know 2 very succesful ladies on here who both lost over 6 stones but both then gained 2 stones in a matter of weeks of getting to target. Both had what they thought of as valid excuses for their gains - but excuses they were. The simple fact of the matter was they ate too much. They are both now struggling to lose the weight again.
Once I actually stopped going down and reached my 5 stone target last August, I've managed to stay within range ever since then. Apart from 3 separate weeks when I went a bit over so had a stricter week and got back in range immediately. I even actually dipped under range for a few weeks as I said and thought about lowering target again but that would have been silly. It was just a few lbs too far.
I'm a bit worried at the mo as I've had 4 consecutive gains in a row - the first time ever that I've done this since I started on my (very long) journey in September 2006. OK, they were all only little ones but as I was already 2½ lbs over target this has pushed me to 4½ lbs over. OK that's technically only 1½ lbs outside target range but I need to sort it out now before it becomes 7, then 10 etc . . .
Everyone on this thread will tell you that I keep saying:
GETTING YOUR HEAD ROUND LOSING WEIGHT ISN'T PART OF THE BATTLE - IT'S THE WHOLE BATTLE.
Getting your head around maintaining is definitely tricky, but anyone can maintain if they want to.
Sorry that turned into a bit of an essay and a rant. Don't want to sound too evangelical but, unless you have a real medical problem that is stopping you from losing weight then . . .
You just have to keep telling yourself that you CAN lose the weight, and you CAN maintain.
Good luck chica - you can do this.
I'm definitely going to keep going but it is quite disheartening.
