Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is nothing wrong with maintaining your current weight loss. I always struggle with maintenance because it feels like I don't have to be super diligent and then the weight can creep back. I hit my goal weight, lost 20 pounds, and am taking some time to simply maintain. I started weighing myself once a week, now once every 2 weeks. I had a period, Thanksgiving through Christmas, where I put back on 5 pounds. I knew part of it was the season and cookies and pie. I dropped that 5 pounds and am back on maintaining right now.

I want to work on eating healthy with moderation of snacks and the like. Once I am comfortable that I have done a better job with the maintenance, I will work on losing the next 5-10 pounds.

I am at the top of the healthy category for my height and weight. I would like to get closer to the center of that category. I also know that if I go too quickly and don't give myself time to adjust to my new normal, I am likely to see my weight go back up.

My BMI is 26, I only have to lose 6 pounds to be sub 25 actually. I kind of want to just DO IT. I want to be a good role model for my daughters. Maybe I will maintain for a while because that is the hardest part...

Being a good role model to your daughters is about so much more than weight, or pushing yourself to diet more. Being focused on a number or specific BMI (when we know there are a lot of flaws in that) I don't think is a goal to strive for in terms of being a good role model. I would instead focus on the other pieces you talked about - being happy with your body or even better thinking about it a lot less. That was a huge shift for me - not that I need my goal to be "wow i love my body!!! My body is amazing!!" all the time, but that I actually just don't need to spend so much brain energy on it. That was real success. When I got to the point that my body was my body and I feed it and move it and listen to it. To me, that is really role modeling something to your daughters. They will get plenty of messages and pressure elsewhere that they need to change their body to be a certain shape or size, they don't need to learn that from you.

I would try to focus on listening to your body, stopping when you are full, thinking less about it's size/shape, and the specific number on the scale since you've gotten to a weight you feel good about and the previous weight was hard to maintain. Usually when a weight is hard to maintain our body will push us back from that on it's own, so it's just not really meant to be where you are and is not worth (or healthy) to continue that struggle. Try to also start challenging some of your ideas of health - help your daughters learn that health is about behaviors, not just the shape of your body. It's about enjoying food, but being able to listen when your body says to stop, it's about moving your body regularly.

First of all, thank you so much for your thoughtful response. You are SO right. Being a role model is not focusing on the scale, but being confident and happy and eating well. I am going to try to focus on that. My waist to hip ratio is .7 and that's something to be grateful for. I will try to give myself a break and accept that I am maintaining and not dieting. it will feel good to not "be on a diet" like I have been since I gained weight with my first 4+ years ago.

Anonymous wrote:Somebody clue me in with the waist to hip ratio. Never heard of this type of calculation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is nothing wrong with maintaining your current weight loss. I always struggle with maintenance because it feels like I don't have to be super diligent and then the weight can creep back. I hit my goal weight, lost 20 pounds, and am taking some time to simply maintain. I started weighing myself once a week, now once every 2 weeks. I had a period, Thanksgiving through Christmas, where I put back on 5 pounds. I knew part of it was the season and cookies and pie. I dropped that 5 pounds and am back on maintaining right now.

I want to work on eating healthy with moderation of snacks and the like. Once I am comfortable that I have done a better job with the maintenance, I will work on losing the next 5-10 pounds.

I am at the top of the healthy category for my height and weight. I would like to get closer to the center of that category. I also know that if I go too quickly and don't give myself time to adjust to my new normal, I am likely to see my weight go back up.

My BMI is 26, I only have to lose 6 pounds to be sub 25 actually. I kind of want to just DO IT. I want to be a good role model for my daughters. Maybe I will maintain for a while because that is the hardest part...

Being a good role model to your daughters is about so much more than weight, or pushing yourself to diet more. Being focused on a number or specific BMI (when we know there are a lot of flaws in that) I don't think is a goal to strive for in terms of being a good role model. I would instead focus on the other pieces you talked about - being happy with your body or even better thinking about it a lot less. That was a huge shift for me - not that I need my goal to be "wow i love my body!!! My body is amazing!!" all the time, but that I actually just don't need to spend so much brain energy on it. That was real success. When I got to the point that my body was my body and I feed it and move it and listen to it. To me, that is really role modeling something to your daughters. They will get plenty of messages and pressure elsewhere that they need to change their body to be a certain shape or size, they don't need to learn that from you.

I would try to focus on listening to your body, stopping when you are full, thinking less about it's size/shape, and the specific number on the scale since you've gotten to a weight you feel good about and the previous weight was hard to maintain. Usually when a weight is hard to maintain our body will push us back from that on it's own, so it's just not really meant to be where you are and is not worth (or healthy) to continue that struggle. Try to also start challenging some of your ideas of health - help your daughters learn that health is about behaviors, not just the shape of your body. It's about enjoying food, but being able to listen when your body says to stop, it's about moving your body regularly.

First of all, thank you so much for your thoughtful response. You are SO right. Being a role model is not focusing on the scale, but being confident and happy and eating well. I am going to try to focus on that. My waist to hip ratio is .7 and that's something to be grateful for. I will try to give myself a break and accept that I am maintaining and not dieting. it will feel good to not "be on a diet" like I have been since I gained weight with my first 4+ years ago.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is nothing wrong with maintaining your current weight loss. I always struggle with maintenance because it feels like I don't have to be super diligent and then the weight can creep back. I hit my goal weight, lost 20 pounds, and am taking some time to simply maintain. I started weighing myself once a week, now once every 2 weeks. I had a period, Thanksgiving through Christmas, where I put back on 5 pounds. I knew part of it was the season and cookies and pie. I dropped that 5 pounds and am back on maintaining right now.

I want to work on eating healthy with moderation of snacks and the like. Once I am comfortable that I have done a better job with the maintenance, I will work on losing the next 5-10 pounds.

I am at the top of the healthy category for my height and weight. I would like to get closer to the center of that category. I also know that if I go too quickly and don't give myself time to adjust to my new normal, I am likely to see my weight go back up.

My BMI is 26, I only have to lose 6 pounds to be sub 25 actually. I kind of want to just DO IT. I want to be a good role model for my daughters. Maybe I will maintain for a while because that is the hardest part...

Being a good role model to your daughters is about so much more than weight, or pushing yourself to diet more. Being focused on a number or specific BMI (when we know there are a lot of flaws in that) I don't think is a goal to strive for in terms of being a good role model. I would instead focus on the other pieces you talked about - being happy with your body or even better thinking about it a lot less. That was a huge shift for me - not that I need my goal to be "wow i love my body!!! My body is amazing!!" all the time, but that I actually just don't need to spend so much brain energy on it. That was real success. When I got to the point that my body was my body and I feed it and move it and listen to it. To me, that is really role modeling something to your daughters. They will get plenty of messages and pressure elsewhere that they need to change their body to be a certain shape or size, they don't need to learn that from you.

I would try to focus on listening to your body, stopping when you are full, thinking less about it's size/shape, and the specific number on the scale since you've gotten to a weight you feel good about and the previous weight was hard to maintain. Usually when a weight is hard to maintain our body will push us back from that on it's own, so it's just not really meant to be where you are and is not worth (or healthy) to continue that struggle. Try to also start challenging some of your ideas of health - help your daughters learn that health is about behaviors, not just the shape of your body. It's about enjoying food, but being able to listen when your body says to stop, it's about moving your body regularly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is nothing wrong with maintaining your current weight loss. I always struggle with maintenance because it feels like I don't have to be super diligent and then the weight can creep back. I hit my goal weight, lost 20 pounds, and am taking some time to simply maintain. I started weighing myself once a week, now once every 2 weeks. I had a period, Thanksgiving through Christmas, where I put back on 5 pounds. I knew part of it was the season and cookies and pie. I dropped that 5 pounds and am back on maintaining right now.

I want to work on eating healthy with moderation of snacks and the like. Once I am comfortable that I have done a better job with the maintenance, I will work on losing the next 5-10 pounds.

I am at the top of the healthy category for my height and weight. I would like to get closer to the center of that category. I also know that if I go too quickly and don't give myself time to adjust to my new normal, I am likely to see my weight go back up.

My BMI is 26, I only have to lose 6 pounds to be sub 25 actually. I kind of want to just DO IT. I want to be a good role model for my daughters. Maybe I will maintain for a while because that is the hardest part...

Anonymous wrote:There is nothing wrong with maintaining your current weight loss. I always struggle with maintenance because it feels like I don't have to be super diligent and then the weight can creep back. I hit my goal weight, lost 20 pounds, and am taking some time to simply maintain. I started weighing myself once a week, now once every 2 weeks. I had a period, Thanksgiving through Christmas, where I put back on 5 pounds. I knew part of it was the season and cookies and pie. I dropped that 5 pounds and am back on maintaining right now.

I want to work on eating healthy with moderation of snacks and the like. Once I am comfortable that I have done a better job with the maintenance, I will work on losing the next 5-10 pounds.

I am at the top of the healthy category for my height and weight. I would like to get closer to the center of that category. I also know that if I go too quickly and don't give myself time to adjust to my new normal, I am likely to see my weight go back up.

Anonymous wrote:Congrats! What a big accomplishment!

To me, it depends on how successful you've been in the past at maintaining your weight. Are you always either losing or gaining? That's sooo common. Or have you had years of maintaining your weight successfully?

If you have a history of being able to maintain your weight, I'd keep going. If you think your stretch goal is too much, maybe find a middle ground? Perhaps the highest weight in your healthy weight range for your height, rather than 5 lbs below that?

If you have never really successfully maintained your weight, I would take a pause, and learn to maintain while you've still got good motivation. Can you keep yourself at this weight for three months? Or six months? Then you can reevaluate, see if you want more. But honestly, the ability to maintain your new weight is WAY more important for your healthy than losing another 8 lbs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How hard was it for you to lose those 20 lbs? If it wasn't too difficult and you were still able to enjoy life then I think it is fine to keep going. If you had to give all the fun in life (treats, wine, whatever it is you like) then stop. Another option is to take a diet break, work on maintaining your current weight and then in a month or two go back into a fat loss phase to lose that other 8. Don't underestimate how important it is to be able to maintain your fat loss.

What's a fat loss phase?

Anonymous wrote:How hard was it for you to lose those 20 lbs? If it wasn't too difficult and you were still able to enjoy life then I think it is fine to keep going. If you had to give all the fun in life (treats, wine, whatever it is you like) then stop. Another option is to take a diet break, work on maintaining your current weight and then in a month or two go back into a fat loss phase to lose that other 8. Don't underestimate how important it is to be able to maintain your fat loss.