I've been thinking a lot about maintenance lately - and I am nowhere near my goal weight.

But I have been there... helped substantially by this forum... but here I am back again working on the weight all over again.

Why?

We all know how much work and dedication and time it takes to lose ... but after we lose it, how are we prepared to keep it off?

I think we have to start thinking about that right now, this moment, so that we are part of the successful minority, so that we can change the stats regarding regaining weight, in our favour.

What are you planning for maintenance? What have you got in place?

I certainly went into this knowing it was a "lifestyle change" but what does that really mean? Secretly, some (maybe a large number of us) in our deep musings, see this as a diet and that once the weight is off, we just need to be a bit careful and it will all be OK.

That's not my experience although it may be the experiences of some folks.

A few things I think about and prepare for it now:

- I am currently doing low carb and also keeping calories low. I'm targeting 1500 a day. I use fitday.com to record my food and also to calculate calorie deficits so I have an idea of how quickly the weight should be coming off. The difference in calories between weight loss, stable weight, and weight gain is not huge. With the eating patterns I developed as a large person, I could close that gap in the blink of an eye, without even thinking about it. So I expect I will need to be mindful of calorie counts for the rest of my life.

- While exercising is not a prerequisite to losing weight, being active is one thing that many many successful losers have in common. My gym membership kicks in tomorrow and I will use it regularly.

- Buffets are instruments of the devil. Both now and on maintenance.

- Giving away my "big" clothes is not a deterrent for me. I can't explain it without sounding like I intend to regain, but I'm just packing them away and storing them in the barn.

Anyone else have things they would like to share on this topic? Doesn't matter if you are a year from goal, planning "after" is part of our success!

I was reading the writings of a friend of mine, Valerie, who is a successful loser. We're both about the same height and similar builds.

She's figured out that she would need about 2000 calories a day on maintenance on a sedentary day, a little more on days when she does a hard work-out. She's a runner now.

2000 calories still seems like a diet to me. But that is the reality of keeping the weight from coming back. Food for thought. Haha ... "food" ... can't get away from it.