Maintaining That Body!

I’ve been becoming more and more comfortable with the concept of weight maintenance lately.  When I was finally emerging from my weight loss, I was nervous about being able to maintain my new weight for the rest of my life.

With the momentum from my weight loss at first, it was easy.  But then I chose to have some surgery and lost a lot of muscle mass during recovery.  I had only gained a few pounds, but it made me nervous again that I wouldn’t be able to continue all my good habits long term.  I mean—and I’m sure you know—life happens.  Unexpected work lunch meetings, and stress decisions, and social events happen.  And I’ve been struggling with how I perceive weight maintenance.

I was worried that my weight fluctuation meant that my maintenance was unstable.  I’ve been up and down within about 10 pounds (the lower end being my goal weight of about 170, the higher end being my ceiling that I set for myself of about 180).  I’ve found that it’s getting easier for me to maneuver within that 10 pound range.  For example, I’ll have a couple days at work with lunch meetings and Starbucks trips.  I’ll step on the scale and see that I’m approaching 180.  At that point I know I need to get my butt into gear.  I commit to making the gym a priority and plan out what I eat.  Usually with a couple days, I’m back to being closer to 170.

But this is what had me worried for a while—that my weight was “yo-yoing” and I wasn’t stably maintaining my goal weight.  However, I’ve come to the conclusion that my idea of weight maintenance was a fantasy.  No one gets onto the scale and sees the exact same number day after day.  Even if I could maintain perfect control over my eating and exercising, my weight would still fluctuate within a couple pounds.

I’ve decided that this fluctuation is exactly what weight maintenance is: that I manage to live my life with the unexpected and maintain control over my weight.  It is not that I am maintaining a number on the scale, but I maintain control over the weight I gain and the weight I lose.

How about you?  Have you struggled with the idea of weight maintenance?  Have you reached a point of comfort in maintaining your weight?