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From Refuse to Regain:

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May 12, 2009

Question to Readers From Readers: Is Maintenance Possible?

RTR reader Rebecca from Washington D.C. poses a very basic yet incredibly complex question: Is maintenance really possible? Barbara and I will chime in with our thoughts later in the week, but we’re more interested in what you have to say on this subject. As always, leave a comment or send email to refusetoregain~gmail.com.

Here’s Rebecca’s email:

I've been reading your blog for the past several months. It's an excellent website. Kirstie Alley's recent interview on Oprah triggered me to write. One issue that I'd be grateful if you'd address are your views on why it is that maintenance seems to be so difficult for virtually everyone to achieve.

I'm 46 years old, and I have recently lost the same 30 pounds that I've lost four times before in my life since I was 18. After 5 months of changing my eating habits, I'm back down to a comfortable weight range, where I'm wearing size 10 clothes, instead of the plus size clothes I was wearing. (My exercise habits have been good for the past 15 years or so; I've done 30-45 minutes of cardio and strength training regularly for this period.)

Each time previously, I maintained the weight loss (sometimes for a number of years), but somehow found myself back at the weight at which I started. I'm old enough to know that I do not have this figured out, and I am really struggling with thoughts about maintenance, the approach to take, and, most fundamentally, whether maintenance really is possible.

My life feels so much better when I am thinner. Being thinner doesn't fix everything, of course. But I feel so much better in my clothes, and I love not feeling out of control around food. I love not feeling anxious that I may be setting myself up for the unhealthiness of diabetes. More than with any previous weight loss experience, I feel that I've actually changed what I am eating (cut out processed food, refined carbs, sugar) in a way that has minimized "binge-y" feelings. Yet I still feel extremely worried and insecure about maintenance.

In my own life, besides myself, virtually every woman I know has been unable to maintain her loss over the long term. The only woman I know who has done so (a friend of my mother who has maintained probably for 20 plus years) is a long-time member of Overeaters' Anonymous. I see that the blogger on "pastaqueen.com" (linked on your home page) just announced a weight gain of 35 pounds, and other bloggers seem to have had the same experience (dietnakedblog.com, yawwblog.blogspot.com/). Oprah Winfrey and Kirstie Alley recently discussed the issue and their recent weight gains on Oprah's show.

Kate Harding, and the other fat acceptance bloggers, basically argue that maintaining weight loss is impossible, and women should simply accept themselves at the weight at which they wind up. I must say, I have a feeling like, "If Oprah can't maintain with all of the support and resources available to her, how is it possible for the average woman?" All of the scientific studies seem to suggest that it's impossible to maintain a weight loss (although I suppose there are those 10% of the persons who have done it).

Thank you for any thoughts, and thank you for this website.

http://refusetoregain.com/my_weblog...e-possible.html