Now that I am truly in the maintenance phase of my journey, I constantly look for ways to find motivation to stay on track. I weigh myself not for results, but to make sure the numbers stay constant. Without looking for weight loss, what is the motivation?

I know how easy it is to fall back into bad habits. I found myself just a couple of weeks ago, realizing I was grazing too much and it showed on the scale. I have my own limits in terms of heading into the red zone. Above 115, I have to get my act in gear...above or even close to 120, that's a real problem. So far, I'm bouncing around between 112 and 116 but in order to stay in that range, I have to constantly remind myself of how it used to be with me.

I make sure to keep myself aware of all the NSVs I have day in and day out and never to take them for granted. That means anything from buying clothes in the petite department instead of the women's department to walking around the city with minimal pain instead of struggling each and every step as I used to do. Even just this morning...starting my day by stretching my hamstrings and lower back as the physical therapist has recommended, I paid attention to how I could easily bring my bent leg to my chest because my leg, belly and thigh are normal sized.

I went to JC Penney's yesterday because they were having a sale on fashion jewelry. I already have lots of clothes and don't need more, so I'm changing it up with accessories. I treat myself like I'm a real life Barbie doll and after years of buying clothes based on if they fit, it's wonderful to now buy based on how they look on me.

I try to reward myself with things other than food. It's not always about purchasing things....I reward myself for getting to the pool to exercise by spending ten minutes in the sauna. Or I reward myself with a movie I really want to see, or an afternoon with a good book, a glass of wine, and a wedge of low fat Laughing Cow cheese.

I know that I will have to be vigilant the rest of my life. Food will never be something I can take for granted or have a normal relationship with. It is my drug and I have to respect that addiction and always plan ahead to keep myself safe.

I know that alot of folks on the site are in the losing weight stage and when they are maintaining, they drift away. I'm going to do my best to hang around and comment on this part of the journey. I daydream sometimes about my 5 or 10 year anniversary at a normal weight. My fervent hope is that my family and friends forget what I used to look like and think of me at this size like I was always this way. I think that's a good goal to reach for now that my weight goal has been met.

Liz, thanks for not drifting. I need you here!

As someone who has never achieved goal weight in my life despite hundreds of diet attempts, I relate to the motivation issue. I have fizzled out before the maintenance stage each time.

I want to always remember that I am worth the hard work and commitment it takes to keep myself healthy and slim.

I will never ever give up on myself.

Thanks for the great post and thanks for being here.

Thanks for sharing, excellent post!

I have no doubt you will Celebrate many years of maintenance, friend.

But you are correct in never saying "I've got this!". As you know, it takes constant, consistent and dedicated vigilance to not give in to old habits, band or no band.

Love how you are reminding yourself daily how wonderful being at your goal weight feels. I know you never will take it for granted, and that is another way of maintaining this new-found health.

Thank you for your thoughtful post and thanks for sticking around this site. I really appreciate hearing from people who are maintaining their weight loss.

In the past, my diet efforts were focused on losing as much weight in as short a time as I could. I never prepared for maintenance, so I never maintained. As soon as I stopped dieting, I started regaining.

This time, I started thinking about maintenance before I had even lost much weight. I finally realized that diets, being short term changes, only give short term results. Long term results are only possible with permanent changes.

I have a laid back, passive and hedonistic personality. None of those traits are helpful in my Quest to change my lifestyle. I don't need or want to be a different person, I just need to permanently change my habits enough to succeed. This will only happen if I stay focused. Reading posts like yours helps affirm that real change is possible. Even though I have only dipped my toe into maintenance, I already see a difference in my approach thanks partly to what I have learned from others in this community.