Bloggers for Health: Maintenance

I've maintained the same weight, plus or minus five holiday/traveling pounds, since fall 2010. I think I had a brief moment where I went up 10 pounds after a series of vacations and birthdays, but lost it again in short order (maybe fall 2011?).

I've heard that weight loss can be counted as successful when it lasts more than a year. It's been more than a year for me of maintaining this weight range. My doctor approves of the weight I currently have and tells me that I shouldn't lose any more weight, so I won't.

As I move from activity to activity, from swim to dance, from yoga to weights, my body continues to change while my weight stays the same. I don't see it when I look in the mirror. Debs came to visit last week; she hadn't seen me since last summer. When I opened the door, she noted that I looked much smaller, even though I know I was about this same weight last June. Other friends and family have noted changes in me, especially since I started swing dancing.

I think it's more than the body shape. I stand up straighter since the physical therapy for my shoulder. I am also filled with purpose and joy: I've got writing, knitting, dancing, yoga, and visits with friends and family to fill my free hours. Moving my body regularly fills me with endorphins, which add to my omnipresent enthusiasm to make me really excited about most things. ("I'm gonna take a shower and it's gonna be AWESOME!!! Yeah!") (You should see me after I've danced with a particularly skilled and energetic partner. I get wild.)

Also, I've been buying clothes that fit. When you go from wearing Maude Findlay to Willona Woods (because all of my fashion references are stuck in the 70s), people notice. (Also, I would like some elephant-leg hiphugger jeans like the kind Willona wore in one episode of Good Times.)

Anyway, I'm happy where I am--muscular, energetic, somewhat limber, ready to dance for hours at a time. I will probably eat better because the braces don't allow me to eat some of my favorite things: chips, candy, baked sweets, nuts, crackers, etc. (I figure cake and plain ice cream are okay if I brush my teeth immediately, though. They are neither crunchy nor gooey!)