How am I going to maintain this weight loss?

My biggest struggle is going to be maintaining this loss after I've reached my goal. What is my goal? When should I stop? Should I stop when it seems like the weight isn't coming off any more? Should I stop at a predetermined number? These are the questions that plague me now that I'm getting close to a comfortable weight for my body.

Today when I weighed myself, I was the same as last week. Ok, maybe I was down by 0.2 pounds, but who's going to count that as real weight loss, right? Anyway, the maintaing of my weight over the last week wasn't the easiest thing in the world. It still took effort. Is this really what maintaining your weight is about? Does it take effort every day? Does it require watching what you eat so closely every day?

I think the reason that I didn't lose any weight this week was because of what I ate over this past weekend. We went to dinner on Saturday night at Bravo. I had a salad with balsamic dressing, then I ate half of a margherita pizza (these are thin crust pizzas with not a lot of cheese on them). Oh, and I also ate one piece of the bread they put on the table. I also think that evening, I was really hungry because we ate dinner early, so I continued to splurge by eating a large bowl of Frosted Flakes. Shame on me, I know. And I didn't track any of this because I didn't have any idea how many points to count for the Bravo meal. So I gave myself the excuse that if I wasn't counting, I may as well keep eating. I'm so stupid.

Sunday wasn't much better. We ended up eating the leftover pizza for dinner that night. And at this point, I can't even remember what else crappy I ate (oh yeah, darn that Chex Mix!), but it had to have been something. Anyway, these weren't huge indiscretions, I realize, but where I'm going with it is this: I ate perfectly within my points range for every other day of the week except Saturday and Sunday. And then even on Saturday and Sunday, my indiscretions weren't anything major. But had I not been extremely careful on all of the other days of the week, I bet my weight would have gone up.

So is that really what it's all about? When they say it's ok to eat things in moderation in order to maintain a healthy weight, I'm not sure that's true. I felt like what I ate on the weekend was pretty normal for what I would eat if I weren't watching my weight, and when I eat like that, which I thought was in moderation, I gain weight. So in order to not gain weight, I have to be pretty darn careful of when I stray off course. And that's why maintaining weight is just as hard as trying to lose it.

In my head, I have to accept the fact that maintaining my weight will still require me to eat in a certain way. I guess in the past, I've stopped paying close attention to what I eat once I had lost the weight I wanted to lose. I've never been a horrible eater, but I do love me some sweets. And I know how quickly the calories and points can add up from those sweets. Breads and pastas are the same way. And of course, these are the things that everyone loves to eat, including me. I'm not sure how I'm going to maintain this weight, but I have to figure out a plan. It won't just happen on it's own. I've learned that from the past. And I really don't want to have to try to lose 10 pounds again anytime soon. While it hasn't been that hard (and I'm not there just yet), it takes a lot of time and effort, two things I will soon not have much of.

Now I'm off to buy me a new mixer for my bakery business!

The things I struggle with

I wasn't able to make it to my Weight Watchers meeting last week, but I did weigh in at home. I think I was down a pound from the week before. I weighed in this morning at home, and I'm down even a little bit more. So since the last time I wrote two weeks ago, I've dropped another 2.6 pounds, for a total loss of 8.8 pounds, and I'm now weighing in at 127.6. I haven't weighed 127 (yes, I'm rounding down for discussion's sake) since I was super successful with Weight Watchers back in 2008. So as you could guess, I'm very happy right now. I think the thing I'm most happy about is how easy dropping the pounds continues to be. This program suits me so perfectly. I find it's easier than counting calories, which seems strange, but it is.

Even though the program is easy, I still struggle with certain things. When I'm at work, for the most part, I'm able to keep my eating habits in check. However, Wednesdays are treat day when we rotate who brings in a goodie for the office. Breakfast foods are my favorite foods, so this is a big challenge for me. I try to not walk in the kitchen on those days. Some days I walk in and just smell what's in there. Yesterday, someone brought in a ton of bagels. Oh my gosh, it was next to impossible to walk out without a bagel in hand. I love bagels, especially cinnamon ones, toasted, with cream cheese and cinnamon sugar on them. But I don't eat them. It's very rare when I give in to the bagel. But that's hard. My strategy is to chew gum.

I chew gum often throughout the day. When I'm done with lunch and I need something sweet, I chew gum. It really helps me get through the cravings for sugar. I also recently bought these little fruit chewy things from Weight Watchers. They're like little JuJuBes candy, so they're super chewy, stick to your teeth, and you actually have to suck on them for a while to get them soft. But they're sweet enough and last long enough that by only eating a few, which don't cost any points, I can also curb my craving.

Another thing I struggle with also happens at work when we host a client meeting for breakfast or lunch. We go all out and treat our clients very well. Often there are leftovers, and leftovers go in the kitchen for the rest of the office to enjoy. Even if the leftovers aren't sweets, which are my biggest vice, I'm still tempted. One day there were these little avocado eggroll-like appetizers, and some days there's salad (but not usually lowfat dressing), or sandwich wraps, or whatever. Who doesn't like free food? But I've usually already eaten my lunch, or had my breakfast, or whatever, so I know that any of those leftovers that I would take would just be extra, unnecessary calories. I'd only be eating them because they looked good, not because I was hungry. So again, I just try to stay out of the kitchen. It's my best defense, although not always easy to do.

My biggest downfall, though, are my own baked goods. I've mentioned before that I love to bake, and I have a home-based business baking cookies and pies for the local farmer's market in the summer. But I bake all year round. Baked goods are my gift when a friend at work is celebrating a birthday, or someone just needs to feel loved for a day. I give them my treats. But I have a hard time not eating the batter or dough while I'm baking, and I have an even harder time not eating the stuff after it's baked. Often, I need to taste what I made to make sure it turned out correctly. But that's really hard, because once I take one bite, I can't stop. But I know that in order to keep this weight off, I have got to learn how to do this. I've tried chewing gum while I'm baking, but it's weird, because almost without even thinking, I toss my gum in the trash mid-way through baking because subconsciously, I'm preparing to eat the dough.

So those are my biggest struggles—the things I would love to eat every day, but have to work very hard at saying no to. What do you struggle with?