When do you actually start counting the days in maintenance?
 

When do you actually start counting the days in maintenance? That's my question. Here's my story:

I hit what I thought was my goal of 130 lbs on 10 March 2014. So is that the day I start counting as day 1 of maintenance? But I've dropped down to 119 lbs on 13 August 2014.

I want to be able to celebrate my "maintenance anniversaries" - yes, I am positively going to continue maintaining my weight loss. I truly believe that "Attitude is EVERYTHING". So when do I start counting my maintenance anniversary?

Thanks in advance for all your input! All of you keep me inspired and motivated! :agree:

IMO - your "Maintenance Goal" weight should be the weight you get to where you think "Perfect - this is the weight I want to be at". I set my initial "Weight Loss" goal weight pretty high. I wanted it to be something I could easily get to without having to fight through multiple stalls to get down to the last pound. Like you, I plan on pushing through my current goal weight and finding a better place. I'm not quite sure what weight that is. I think I'll need to try them on for size to be sure. If, for example - I get down to 190 and like that weight for me -- I'll call that my maintenance goal weight and start counting from there. I will more than likely change my goal weight on this site to reflect the new goal -- so that if I creep above it - I will no longer be at 100% (or above) in my progress percentage. Anyway, that is the end game I'm formulating for myself.

If Atkins constituted a stall to be 6 weeks without scale weight loss or measurement decreases, then I would think it would be the same or similar for maintenance.
When you've actually maintained for 6 weeks with no losses or gains, then I'd say you're 'there'... or at least that's how it was for me.
At the 6 week mark of maintaining the same weight, I guess you could then retroactively begin the 'count' from when you last lost/gained the 6 weeks prior, and count from there.
Have you also been measuring?

I started counting the day I hit my goal weight in December 2005. :)

Thanks for your wonderful input ~ I know I could count on all of you to give me answers. That's what I love :rheart: about being here ~ all of YOU!!!

:wave: Thanks, Ken for posting!!

I think I'm pretty "perfect" now weight-wise. I gave myself a completely arbitrary weight range for maintenance. Where I wouldn't FREAK out if I fall between that range (115-125 lbs). So maybe I'm gonna start counting the day I hit 125 as my day 1 of maintenance... I am going to have to ponder this a little more.

It's either going to be the day I hit 125 or 130 which was way beyond what I had originally hoped for. My goal was to lose 115 lbs and weigh 150 lbs when I first started back in May 2013 ~ that would have been the lowest I weighed as an adult.

Funny how we underestimate what we are truly capable of, or maybe we don't wanna be too greedy and jinx it? In any case, any weight loss is a wonderful thing!!

Thanks again, Ken!

Six weeks, is that in the A '72 book ~ I can't remember cause I haven't seen my book in a couple of decades? :lol:

I knew that once I stopped losing weight that was it, I was officially in maintenance. Yeah ME!!! :cheer:

Thanks Sereen for your post!! Sure helps me out!

You have always been and always will be, one of my LC WOE HEROs, Judy!!

You are the epitome of what we all strive to become: LC WOE Lifers! :rheart: Thank you for being here to share your story and help and support all of us!!!

Thanks Jo. I do have to admit though that I've always counted years and not days. ;)

As I sit here struggling now.......it is never ever to be taken for granted!! This is a gift we give to ourselves, this weight loss. Maintenance becomes what we do to keep the gift. :wave:

I hope to one day start counting years as you do. Today is day 458 since I started this journey to lose the weight.

I love this part of your post: I agree 100%! :agree:
It's one of the truly selfish acts we have to do to keep ourselves healthy, happy, thinner and build our self confidence -- no one can do it for us and I can't blame anyone but myself for the poor food choices I've made in the past (I like to blame "Fat Jo" ~ my self destructive carb loving alter ego).

You are doing really great, Jo!

There is a guy on FB, his name is Tony and he calls himself the anti-Jared.
He lost over 200 lbs about 1 yr or 2 ago and started writing a blog and working out. He was religious about it all. He is now posting his blog on the Huff Post. He writes about all sorts of things which is great for him. But he took his eye off his gift. He freely admitted that he stopped getting on the scale and that he was overeating. He didn't come out and say just how much he regained but it seems like its about 40-50 lbs. He's working it back down now.
That's why I think that not getting on the scale, when in maintenance, is a big mistake. I've had to restrict myself so much because of my recent gains that I took myself out of the weekly weigh in. If I had not been weighing, I would've had more to lose than I do now. I've lost 3 lbs in the past week and am happy with that.

Thanks for the kind words, Judy!! :)

Wow poor Tony ~ hope he gets/got his mojo back!

It is so ingrained to weigh myself every day that I do ~ except when I went on vacation back in June. I didn't pack my scale and I'm leery of using someone else's since it's probably not calibrated like mine. I only weigh on my scale and my doc's and on her scale I'm 3 lbs lighter than what I weigh at home. :lol:

But I watched like a hawk everything I ate, even weighed the food at restaurants with my trusty food scale when we went out to eat and logged it all in my Food Log. I wasn't going to let a little vacation interfere with all the hard work and dedication I had put in to get where I was so I ate 100% clean ~ easy pea-sy! (is that even a word?)

For me, it's no longer about the food... food is just something to nourish my body.

I counted the day I reached my original goal..where I am now wasn't a goal...just where I landed..:)