Maintenance reminder

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

I am up at this ungodly hour because I don't sleep well (menopausal

issues) and decided to go on line rather than toss and turn.

I hit my ww goal in December of last year (2003) and lifetime in

Feb. 2004. My goal weight was 136. I am 54 years old, 5'5 " . I

stopped going to meetings weekly and now go monthly, weighing in at

133 to 135.5 until now.

This last summer I had some back problems that prevented me from

doing, well, almost everything. I teach water aerobics at the YMCA

three times a week and could not do that for six weeks. I literally

did " nothing " for that time as every time I tried, it set me back.

Anyway, I did NOT gain anything in that time, remained the same. I

now know that, (while I stayed the same weight) I gained fat and

lost muscle. I was able to go back to work 5 weeks ago and am back

at my usual strength level and have now gained 4 pounds.

What happened? I GOT SLOPPY!!! Even though I didn't see a weight

gain on the scale during the time I was " out of commission " I guess

I was trading muscle weight for fat weight. I know many of you out

there will say it takes a lot of time to gain muscle weight, but I

had been " there - and at my best for a while, and then was forced to

do nothing and lost it. "

My mission in this post is to let you all know how easy it is to

become lax after a while and think you are still following the

program whereas you might not be as vigilant as before. There are

always, and will always be, many excuses to be " lax " . My son has

just been home on leave from the Army for 2 weeks, and our meals

have been a little different. Evem though I have been " good " , I let

things slip just a little and gained a few pounds. I am not worried

because I am now " aware " that these several pounds can add up to

more and more and have made myself a very detailed eating plan for

next week.

I feel that this happens to a lot of people, BUT, it is so important

to stop before you go too far. Get back on track. You see, I was

still eating good choices, just thought I didn't need to be as

careful as before.

This is NOT a death sentence. The fact that we are all here knowing

we need to be vigilent about our eating/exercise for the rest of our

lives is NOT a bad thing. Overweight and unhealthy is NOT something

you " get over and stop " , it is a lifelong committment to making us

able to live a healthier and happier life.

Sorry, just my ramblings when I can't sleep. Again, my main

objective in this post is to say - When you reach your goal and

lifetime, you still have to maintain your vigilance. If and when

you gain 5 pounds, stop, assess what you are doing differently, and

re-=focus, because, IT IS SO WORTH IT.

Terri in WI