You've touched on something that has crossed my mind.

When I started losing weight early this year it felt really good but it was a slow process even with the exercising I was doing.

Then, when I read Dr. Atkins and finally realized that I was doing a version of locarb, I decided to follow the plan more strictly and saw the fat come off at a much faster rate. I was very pleased and was feeling better than ever.

The downside was in becoming so consumed in the fat loss and the changes in my body. It was sort of like when you are renovating a house or planning a wedding or having a baby. It becomes all-consuming and you eat, sleep, think and talk about nothing else. I was becoming addicted to checking the forum three or four times a day. However, it did cross my mind that this couldn't go on forever, that at some point, it would become less all-consuming. And I had to ask myself what would I do then?????? Same sort of let-down you describe.

For me, it is all in trying to keep it in a balanced perspective--to be "consumed" enough to get myself all the encouragement I need to "keep up the good work" (that's where journaling and checking the forum comes in). But also be about the other business/es of my life because that other business is always there and will always be there whether I reach my goal or not.

The thing about reaching goal and maintaining it, in my mind, is in remaining true to all the principles and lessons I have learned about myself and my body along the way. I can't get too cocky and think I can disregard that valuable store of knowledge.

I love carbohydrates--pasta, rice, potatoes, corn, doughnuts, bread, expensive chocolate and cheesecakes. But the reality is, I think I will always have to limit my intake from here on in for the rest of my life because they affect me in negative ways if I eat too much of them. I am okay with that as long as I can indulge once in a while w/o guilt.

So to me the weight loss journey is about more than just the weight loss and I am trying to deal with all those other aspects of it so that I don't fall into the catagory of those who think they can just jump right back into their former WOE and end up gaining it all back. What a waste of my physical and mental time and energy that would be!

All that said, I do find it interesting that now that I have been at a certain weight for a while (and knowing that I am not at goal) I have days where I feel really overweight in exactly the same way as I did when I really was overweight. It's as if my body has forgotten about all the fat it has lost. That's when I get out my old reference shorts, skirt and jeans and try them on just to see all the room in them and remind myself what fat really was like!

Interesting thread. Lots to think about.