Tips for maintaining?

[PinkShoelaces]

I'm so not there yet. But I have been in the past, more than once, and then predictably I just eat whatever I want and wonder why the weight comes back.

I have managed to slowly work out what works for me longer term losing weight (including being not judgemental about myself, who knew ) but can't work out what I need to do to maintain weight loss longer term.

Is it a lifetime of eating low cal? Do I just have to accept I can't ever have nice meals out again? My only plan thus far is to have really high protein intake and eventually to wean myself off sugar but that's another mountain to climb. Anyone got any tips?

I got to my target weight with a slimming group. I was surprised that the calories/diet I’d been eating to lose weight were now the calories/diet I needed to sustain my weight; only 200 calories extra to maintain, ie two biscuits. I think this needs to be appreciated more while losing weight, with more education/anttention in diet groups around filling the ‘hole’ with something else instead of food.

Oh my god...200 cals extra...I could eat four times that and not even think about it. Do I just have to be hungry for ever now? Why?! You're definitely right that I need to think about this from a more mental perspective. Even the thought of that makes me feel like I'm restricting myself, which is not a great place to start at all!

Yep. I had to sleep that one off. Makes sense though. People returning to old patterns is the boomerang slimming behaviour. Again slimming groups don’t make too much of this, otherwise it does scare people off I think. But what’s the alternative? The issue that drives us to put weight on and then diet again.

I made a conscious decision to choose health over chocolate. It feels very very hardcore at the beginning; actually withdrawing from an addiction. I’m still working on it.

I've been thinking about this a lot today. I listened to a random podcast a couple of days ago that focused on being mindful when you're eating - again that psychological link - and I caught myself being aware of what I feel when I eat. It really, really helped because I realised that sometimes I don't actually want to eat whatever it is, there's another reason for the desire to eat like tiredness or wanting a bit of a pick-me-up. Thanks for your thoughts on this, it's been helpful. Although I still can't stop thinking about the extra 200 cals