Anonymous wrote:Congrats OP. What you're doing sounds reasonable and realistic, which is the best way to succeed. I managed to lose 25 pounds last year over the course of 9 months (5'7 and went from 195 to 170), gained back 3-4 over the holidays, but I'm firmly back on track the last week and excited to continue. One thing that served me well last year was looking at plateaus or small gains during breaks and vacations as practice for maintenance. It gives me a chance to see what it will really look like when I stop losing at a certain point and what is needed to maintain that weight, if that makes sense. I'm planning to lose another 20 this year to get back to where I was pre-children, but I plan to do it slow and steady and I'm fine if it takes me 12 months to do it. I realize this is way slower than most people on these boards seem to do it, but this way has worked well for me and feels both sustainable and like the habits are becoming more firmly engrained over time. I like to eat. So I'm making sure that I know how much I can really manage to eat for maintenance, vs. losing, vs. gaining, which is important to my overall success. Previous to having two kids in the last five years I was always slim/healthy weight.
I like your post. I see plateaus the same way! I’m never much discouraged by them because they are little milestones of their own. When I see friends get discouraged by a plateau, I wish I could explain how it isn’t their ‘fault.’ What you have said is a helpful way of describing how plateaus are part of the progress.