Goal - Five Years Later

March 14th marks my fifth anniversary since I reached my goal weight with WW.

I wrote a blog post about celebrating my forth year which you can read about here.

The Fifth Year of Maintenance I will call the Year Of New Territory. The last part of this last year of maintenance I have had to learn how to navigate through some new territory as I am around 10 pounds above my goal weight. This can be summed up by:

As I have said before, both weight loss and maintenance are a journey and should really be viewed at as such. It isn't always smooth sailing but it isn't always tough either. Finding that balance while staying in your goal range is key. Unfortunately this year was not an easy one for me. I have always been, and still am, confident that I can keep this weight off. I even put safeguards into place with my decision not to have children. I figure the biggest hurdle might have had to encounter would be pregnancy weight gain. With that no longer an issue I always knew that an injury could also make my maintenance journey tougher. That statement became true last August when I started having pain in my back.

I was no longer working out as much as I once was and while I had barely been keeping my weight within goal range I let depression take over and made some poor eating choices. Regardless I can't dwell on the past.

While I am currently still around 10 pounds over goal, I have been working really hard since we returned from our trip to Hawaii. I got serious with my tracking and the accountability with my food intake. I stopped eating my APs and instead use them as a deficit. While the losses are slow, they are losses. So I'll keep at it. I really would like to get back into goal range and be a free member again.

Here are some photos from before joining WW.  You've seen these on the blog.

These first two photos were taken several years ago.  

 This photo was taken in October just before I joined WW the following January seven years ago.

So what does goal look like five years later despite being 10 pounds above goal? Still pretty darn good!

Here are some recent photos.

This was taken over the summer when I was still holding my own around my goal weight of 175. I wear a compression tank top so my muffin top isn't really showing in this photo (which I prefer!)

This was in October. These pants barely fit! I bought these camo pants on our Colorado trip in 2009. I was obviously several pounds smaller then as the top button won't even button.

 My birthday last October.  Not quite hanging on to my goal weight of 175 and starting to slowly see goal range slip away.

This was taken on our Hawaiian vacation. I was already over goal by about eight pounds and feeling a bit "fat" most of this trip.  I tried to shake it off but it was tough.  Struggling with your weight after losing 130 pounds feels 20 times worse.  I wasn't aware of my weight gain the first time around and this time I am very much aware.

 This is from my Academy Awards Party a few weeks ago. I was 10 pounds above goal and wearing my Spanx. I felt really pretty in this dress. It is my high school homecoming dress.

This was taken Saturday at the Shamrock Shuffle 10K.

Overall I am still really happy with my maintenance journey. There are always places for improvement but I strive each and everyday to be happy. I am grateful for all WW has helped me to achieve and all the great support I continue to receive. Bottom line is being skinny doesn't suddenly make your life perfect. If there was an issue before you lost weight that issue will still be there. Spending time with my husband and traveling is what makes me happy. Having lost 130 pounds has allowed me to do that much more easily.

I will continue as I have been for the last five years and I look forward to many more years to come as a much healthier Lindsay.