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Old Sat, Jul-30-05, 20:12
kathleen24 kathleen24 is offline
Monday came.
Posts: 4,418
 
Plan: my own
Stats: 275/228.6/155 Female 5'4"
BF:ummm . . . ?
Progress: 39%
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Enomarb
I am very scared about gaining the weight back/being insulin resistant again/getting sick. So I have commited to this WOL for the long haul. I have also given myself permission to see what works for me and make this very personal and individualized. So far it is more than a year maintaining. Right now I am trying out the concept of having fun with my body and dressing it up and taking it out to play. . . . E



My question was actually focused on the physical sensations of stabilizing, but I suspect from the various answers here that the greatest challenge lies in the direction of emotional/mental aspects of maintenance.

I read a book once about people who had escaped or been released from prison, often after several years inside, and they almost invariably ended up back behind bars in short order. This author, a repeat offender who had spent most of his adulthood in prison, including several `successful' escapes' finally was able to SEE and then to break that pattern. He realized he'd no plan, no skills, that he would need for living in the world outside of prison, and thus moved back to his comfort zone whenever things got tough outside. His solution? Support groups and transition processes.

I think our situation has parallels.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Enomarb
Maintaining is different. . . This is the most difficult part of the journey, and there is almost nothing written about it. . . . One more thing- for me maintenance has evolved over time. It is not static. HTH-
E

I read on a different forum a post from a woman who had, at 280+, more or less given up on life, and was waiting for the end. Then came the diabetes diagnosis, and something in her galvinized for the fight. Now this was a primarily-LF group, so winners were rare, and their insights treasured. I have never forgotten her analogy--she said it's as if she had crossed an ocean in a small boat, and encountered storms and despair along the way, but by the time she hit her goal weight, about half her starting weight, she said it was just like hitting the dock with a gentle *bump*--and now she had to learn to live life in the harbor.

I was at 185 this a.m.--expecting a bounce-up, so haven't changed my stats, but am starting to plan ahead for the changes, because I am almost 70% of the way to my prelminary goal. And ladies, I really don't want to have to do this again. . .

Eno, loved what you said about `dressing up the body and taking it (her?) out to play.' I'm already enjoying having many more options for clothing at 16/18 than I did with 24's. I'm also taking the time to sort out the size 10's and 12's I saved from years ago--and am thrilled with the quality and style of many of them (there are others, though. . . remember shoulder pads?) So excited about being able to wear those clothes--and also realizing that there will be more to explore. As if I am, in my imagination, visiting the land of the slender before I arrive. . .

Atkins also addressed many of these issues with the last-ten-pounds chapter in his book--I remember a time when that chapter seemed so far away from having anything to do with me.

I also want maintenance to be a time of experimenting with new programs--maybe Somersizing, maybe CAD/CALP, South Beach? I look forward to being at goal because then I will have a set number that I won't go above (at this time I'm planning on that being at 150, but I'll know better when I'm closer.) That kind of ceiling becomes obscure when you're still losing--am I standing still because of the food, because I'm stalling? Also, that will be a time to explore the changes that happen as a result of exercise.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Enomarb
Maintaining is different. The support is not there the same as when you are losing- E


So. What are we going to do about that? There will be more of us, you know.

What worked before? Challenges? Regular posting? Journalling? New goals? Trying out new recipes? Being able to travel without having an extra 75 pounds of `luggage'?

I know that what I'm feeling like right now is *starting* to be the new normal. . . and the experience of being 252 is starting to be more abstract, a memory of a memory. . .
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