And I thought losing weight was hard...

"Now that you're at a good weight, its time to maintain." - Aahhh, the words I've been waiting to hear for a long time. It was one of the thoughts that kept me going during my weight loss, "just get to the weight you want, then it will be smooth sailing to just maintain." Unfortunately, how we often imagine things to be, and how they actually are, can be very different.

Throughout your whole weight loss you watched what you ate and you finally reached your goal, so it only seems natural that it would be time to splurge a bit, doesn't it? You start to eat all those things you couldn't have for so long, and they are good! And then you get on the scale and it starts to read maybe a pound higher. No big deal, it's just a pound. No eating changes necessary for a pound as far as I'm concerned. Next week you hop on the scale, another pound up, hmmm... might want to start addressing this. After all, you did just throw out all your "fat" clothes (yes, you did!) and just supplied yourself with a nice new wardrobe that you want to continue to be able to wear. So you call your personal trainer (or training buddy) and tell them that perhaps you may have splurged just a tad too much and maybe it would be a good idea to revisit the "maintenance program". Now in my case, Rachel is all over this, and immediately puts me back on "the plan" - checking calories, food plans for the week, weighins - the works. As she said to me, "You are not gaining this weight back on on my watch." And so the splurging party is over and the "maintenance plan" gets put into place...for real.

But somehow it just doesn't seem fair. You made it, you reached your goal and there should be a big prize at the end because it was alot of work! And I guess there is a big prize to some extent. You get to buy new clothes in sizes you never thought you would see yourself in and you get compliments from people on how good you look. It's all good. But like all great accomplishments, the excitement wears off, from yourself and people around you. You don't get the satisfaction of stepping on that scale and seeing the numbers go down anymore. There isn't that constant encourgement anymore from people saying, "Wow, another pound, good job, you look great" or seeing your number change on the "Pounds Lost" board at the gym. You'd be surprised how much those seemingly small things can motivate someone. But once you reach your goal weight you don't really feel like you are accomplishing anything anymore, it's just maintenance. "Hey everyone, guess what? I maintained my weight this week! Woo-hoo!" It's just not the same...

So what does it all mean? I'm not really sure. But I do know that the work is not over once you hit your goal weight and that is a very important thing to remember. It is not a 3 month, 6 month, or year commitment - it is a lifetime commitment. Know that going in, and know that you will probably always need some type of support to get you through bumps you will face - because you will face bumps.