Mental struggle

[3momchaos]

I’ve been struggling with my mindset the past week or so. Not that I’ve been eating too much or the “wrong” things. I guess I’m struggling with the concept of maintenance.
Since January 2020 I’ve been on a journey to have weight loss surgery. October 2020 I had the surgery. Since then it’s been a journey to lose weight in a healthy manner while making sure my vitamins and thyroid meds are maintaining parts of my health that I don’t have as much control over. Now that I’ve lost almost 100% of my excess weight, I have a weird sense of just being lost.
I have a goal of maintaining the loss, but that’s basically just me doing what I’m doing. I need to add exercise to my life, but I’m having a lot of hip and knee pain that my chiropractor is helping me manage. I’m also concerned that adding in light cardio and weights will alter the amount I eat, and that for some reason bothers me. Probably because in the past whenever I would workout I was always hungry.
I guess I’m stuck in a pattern that I’m scare of deviating from because I don’t know what the consequences will be. I did not expect to lose all the weight within the first year, and that could be part of my mental struggle. I think I should still be trying to lose, but in reality I don’t need to.
I’m not tracking my protein like I had been in October because I eat almost the same thing everyday. If my scale reflects an increase I’ll go back to more diligent tracking.
I don’t think there’s really a solution to this other than getting over my worries, slowly adding in exercise, and maintaining my protein intake.

 

[missyinacage]

I had a very hard time right around a year, when I realized I was in the maintenance phase, too. It seemed like I had figured out how to lose weight, but wasn't really comfortable trying to stop losing. For me, that had a lot to do with long term planning, rather than immediately weekly goals. Forever is a long time to try to figure out. So I now break it down into smaller goals. I have a set weight fluctuation I am comfortable with and adjust my weekly or monthly goals based on where I am at within it.

I have not had any actual exercise in my routine for a while now. I also would like to add some, but cannot seem to find the time, even though I have the same 24 hours in a day everyone else has!!

I think you are doing great, actually. I've seen on the challenges that you've adjusted your goals to sleep, gratitude etc. I think that will help you maintain long term. It's hard to adjust from weight being the main focus of our lives to finding a "norm". You seem to have already been able to allow your focus to hit on other things that are important to you, while still keeping your weight in your peripheral focus. It certainly takes an adjustment but you've got this.

 

[JudyNY]

Since I haven't reached my goal and not at maintenance, I don't have any particular advice. But I do know that you are like the poster child to WLS and have done an AMAZING job. Try to relax. I don't believe the protein is as much of a concern, especially during maintenance. I know Dr. Weiner/ A Pound of Cure prefers the focus to be on fruits and vegetables rather than protein after a certain amount of months and you are well past that.

Keep reminding yourself that you have done an outstanding job at improving your health and try not to worry.