Motivation and Awareness for the long haul

[skinnyrita 188]

Now that I'm getting close to my weight loss goal, I'm starting to realize that I need to think and strategize for the " maintenance"

Phase of weight loss. What and how are my fellow VSG and RNY recipients doing or planning to do to keep focused on eating right and exercising after reaching your goal? Please share any tips, tricks or words of wisdom!

[Inner Surfer Girl 12,015]

Congratulations!

I am not close to maintenance myself, but the first thing I plan to do when getting close to maintenance is to make an appointment with my NUT to talk about strategies.

Keep us posted on how you are doing.

[Babbs 14,681]

I'm dealing with this right now. It's much harder than I thought to stay motivated, but I'm working on it! My excersise has dwindled down to 2-3 days a week, although I'm still eating healthy 90% of the time. Instead of a weight loss goal, I will just have to make fitness goals for myself. I also have invested quite a bit of money in new clothes for my size 6 body, so being able to wear them for as long as I can is also great motivation for me.

You gotta get it where you can find it!

[AvaFern 3,516]

I've been in maintenance phase since April. I think the one thing that has helped more than anything else is weighing every single day. I started gaining a little bit back in October but because I knew about it right away, I could fix it right away. It took me almost 2 months to lose 5 pounds, so that makes me even more motivated to not gain again. Also, clothing...I love clothing and if I gain weight my entire closet will not fit me, lol.

[CowgirlJane 14,261]

I have been maintaining for awhile. Here is my mindset...goal weight isn't the "end" it is more like the beginning of the REAL challenges. While I do eat more, and follow rules less strictly than I did during the weight loss phase, I still strongly identify as someone who is actively managing weight, fitness and health. I still set goals, I weigh for accountability, I have non scale related goals and victories, I surround myself with active fitness oriented people, etc. This is a fundamental shift for me from my old ways of thinking when I was either dieting and losing weight or not dieting and eating in a disordered way.