Bored With Maintenance

I've said for a long time now that maintenance isn't for sissies. It's one level of challenge to lose the weight to begin with, and it's a whole 'nother level of challenge to KEEP it off! Seventeen months into the second phase of this program - maintenance - I'm still doing well.

However, I now realizing that "maintaining" really isn't sufficient. The problem with "maintaining" is that it sort of sounds like treading water or marching in place - a lot of energy expended without really getting anywhere :-). Maybe I'm just tripping over semantics, but I've grown restless over thinking of myself as being "in maintenance."

My restlessness grows out of my belief that nothing can really stay in one place very long - there is a natural inclination to move in one direction or another. I know I don't want to move in the wrong direction, that's for sure! Also, I'm a person who likes to see things happening, and "maintaining" is starting to sound boring to me. I'm not knocking maintaining my weight loss at all, let me make that clear. I'm THRILLED that I'm maintaining my weight loss, as that was a big concern of mine when I was in the weight loss phase.

I have shifted my thinking from maintenance to really continuing my journey towards optimal health. I want to increase my strength, further reduce my percentage of body fat, and live as vibrantly as a 57-year old woman possibly can. That sounds a lot more fun than maintaining to me :-).

I'm setting some goals for myself and using my just-purchased bodybugg to help keep me on track. Ongoing, real-time feedback is very motivating for me and my new toy will help me balance my calories in with my calories out. I've started uploading the nutritional information for my Medifast foods because including 2-3 Medifast meals per day is part of my daily meal plan. I think it's going to be fun and I love the challenge of meeting daily goals, and I'm viewing this tool as an investment in my health.

Getting healthy starts with getting to a healthy weight. I hope you're choosing health today!