How long is a typical maintenance break?
Hi Heather--thank you so much for your sane, practical, realistic advice. I am so grateful for you. So I have almost 200 lbs to lose. Whenever I drop a lot of weight, I get a 7-month 'honeymoon' where I lose 60 to 70 lbs. Then I hit a wall and quickly regain everything. This time, I am planning on taking a maintenance break after I lose 30 lbs. It will be a new thing for me to hit pause during the honeymoon and the thought fills me with panic. What if interrupting the honeymoon means losing the thread and not dropping anymore weight? I am reaching an age where I desperately need to lose all this weight and keep it off. I feel like it would help me to have some idea of how long maintenance breaks typically need to be, and what some of the pitfalls to watch out for are. I plan to take another maintenance break after the second 30 lbs, and probably continue that pattern until I'm done (assuming I can be done--arg). Really hoping this will make a difference, and I won't just drop 60-70 lbs again an pop back up to the 380s. Thank you!!!
Weight Loss and Stress
Hi Heather, You've been so incredibly helpful. I really appreciate you and all that you do. I have been listening for a couple years now, and not doing the things but I think I'm getting it now. I recently went on a maintenance break and successfully maintained my weight for 8 weeks. Over these 8 weeks my kid had their second craniotomy and their tumour was upgraded to stage 2 which means chemo and radiation. We've just finished week one of 6. When I started my maintenance break at the end of November it was going to capture holidays and 2 birthdays including mine. The plan was to go on a small deficit for 4 weeks and then increase it after those 4. With all the crap I'm dealing with (kid's illness, in school full time, off work for mental health reasons and just bought a house) would you suggest staying at maintenance or continuing on with the small deficit plan? Thanks for taking the time to read this. It's more complicated than I can put in a short email but suggestions would be helpful because I'm struggling with body dysmorphia and have weddings coming up and I hate how i feel in my skin. Thank you!
Tired from the process
Hi Heather. I joined your community in Nov 2020 and it helped me lose about 50pounds. I have been trying to maintain since October 2021 but instead have gained back about 15pounds. I initially kept trying to lose the weight (thinking I was the expectation), but this just led to more weight gain. I’ve since just worked to try and maintain, but not so secretly, still hope to lose 5-10pounds. But I’m mentally exhausted. You talk about maintenance being a part time job, but quite frankly this is a part time job I battle not to quit. I track and keep active. But grazing has come into play and is the thing that’s sabotaging my efforts to lose/ maintain. I “burned my boats” and never want to go back, but also don’t feel I can maintain what I know is required to maintain my weight. I need something to help me recommit to myself. Thank you for your guidance.