People like Jennifer Hudson, Jordin Sparks and Valerie Bertinelli did it. They not only lost a great deal of weight, but they also achieved the holy grail of lifestyle change. If you’ve ever struggled with weight loss, perhaps you stalled when it came to changing your lifestyle.
Lifestyle change is not what you think it is. It doesn’t mean that your diet is picture-perfect or that you never eat the “wrong” foods. It doesn’t mean you spend every available hour burning off excess calories or that you prefer a run over watching TV. It also doesn’t mean that you are free from future weight gain. No matter how you lose weight, you can always gain it back.
Just like I gained weight these past two months. Yes, the former fat girl gained weight. In just two months, I gained 12 pounds. This is double the average holiday weight gain! Rather embarrassing for someone who blogs about weight loss.
I wish I could tell you I didn’t realize what was happening, but I can’t. I could recognize the signs of weight gain, but was too busy moving into a new house, renting out my old house, job-searching, and working on Weightless to give my health the attention it needed.
Here’s what I did not do when I stepped on the scale and saw that larger number:
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I did not bust out screaming, “Why, why?”
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I did not cry my way through a pint of ice cream
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I did not blame anyone else
Many people will tell you the hardest part of losing weight is keeping it off. I’m not one of those people. There was only one time in all of my weight maintenance that I really struggled with regaining weight.
Six years ago, there was a family conflict that forced me to make one of the toughest decisions I have ever made. It was by far the most unhappy and stressful time of my entire life. I am content with my decision, but it resulted in a family rift that may never completely heal. During that time, I gained about 45 pounds.
The connection between then and now is my inner conflict. I am not unhappy, but I am struggling with some tough decisions about my career path. Whenever I am indecisive, I neglect my health.
Here is what you can do to make sure you do not regain lost weight:
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Recognize what triggers your unhealthy habits
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Weigh yourself weekly during that time
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Find ways to re-energize your exercise routine
4 thoughts on “The Truth about Weight Maintenance”
Everyone is always so negative about weight maintenance so thank you for the good read. It’s very disheartening when you hear people going on about how it’s impossible to change and how it’s a constant struggle every single day. Then you read posts like this about how it’s not impossible and you have to wonder if the other people are doing something completely different to maintain their weight.
Congratulations on maintaining this weight for a decade now. I can’t imagine how much effort that must have taken.
What has been the hardest part for you about maintaining your weight?
Hi, Holly
Thanks for your kind words. Weight maintenance doesn’t have to be a penance- in fact, there are days when it’s fabulous! Unlike when you are actively losing, you can relax your criteria a bit, so long as you don’t completely overhaul your new lifestyle 🙂
The hardest part of maintaining weight for me is keeping up with a regular fitness program. I do have some good equipment to use at home, but I don’t get motivated by gyms. What I tend to do is sign up for the latest community ed courses to try some new moves. That helps break up my home workouts.
Thanks again for commenting!
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