I'm Considering Maintenance For A Few Months

I’ve been reflecting by looking back on my weight tracker to help me gain some positive perspective during a time when I am feeling down, and I don’t mean down as in the scale moving down.

The most surprising thing that has jumped out at me is how I tend to skip the scale more from May – July than any other months of the year.  This give me hope in that maybe I experience this low feeling each year and just didn’t notice?  It could be due to working weekends in the summertime and feeling like I’m missing out.  Maybe also due to more social outings and beer since Phoenix has summers off from working at a school.  I don’t really know.  But, apparently it is sort of natural.

In July of 2015, I left my police dispatch job at Idaho State Police to pursue a dispatch job with Nampa Police.  I remember I was struggling with my weight at that time, mostly with the mental part of being over goal and being in the 200s again.  Boy if I could go back to 205 pounds now, I'd be happy!

In January of 2016, I called it quits at Nampa after gaining the approval to come back to Idaho State Police.  I couldn’t do the stress anymore and that stress was taking a major toll on my life and my weight.  I drank a lot, I cried a lot, I felt so helpless at times and yet also so stupid at the same time.  I was at a loss for why I was on this path in life and was desperate to find a detour.  I also gained a lot of weight in those six month.

And, it didn’t stop there.  The scale continued to climb until July of 2016 when I finally re-claimed my heath, mental wellbeing, and made some much needed changes.  Those changes were not easy and I had to start small.  But slowly, things started to turn around and I started to feel better.

The good news is I am down in pounds as far as the scale number reads each year since July 2016.  And, as long as I continue to stay the course, this mental slump shall pass.

I’ve been thinking a lot about our WW workshop a few weeks ago where Coach Cindie reminded us it was okay to go into maintenance at any time during our weight loss journey.  The key, she said, is to set an end date.  I have never gone into maintenance during the summer months, but looking back at the end of May and the beginning of September for several years, I am within a few pounds of where I was previously.  Sometimes more and sometimes less.  Overall, that is sort of maintenance.  While I don’t do it consciously, I have been surviving the summer months and seem to kick it back into gear by September.

This provides me with some mental relief.  But, I also know that if I don’t stay on top of my tracking and food, I can very easily gain 10 pounds.  If I do try more for maintenance for the rest of this summer, I need to set some boundaries with myself. 

I’m going to continue to think and reflect on maintenance, what it means to me, and how I’d like to proceed.  I’ll keep you posted.