Getting to goal...

[her1981 448]

Has anyone gotten to goal with little/no exercise?

For those that have reached goal, is it hard to stop losing once you get there?

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

In my exerience and observation, exercise isn't so much key to getting to goal, but is pretty important for maintenance.

The only people who seem to have trouble "stopping losing" seem to fall into two broad catagories:

1. people who develop complications like strictures that literally limit their ability to eat

2. people who develop fears/eating disorders or whatever you want to call it and are afraid to eat/overly afraid of regain.

for most of us, we had to fight to get to goal. I lost 150# in 14 months and those last 30-40# were like hand to hand combat...haha! I still love food and eating and have no complications that limit my eating so 4 years post op, I still work at maintenance.

[Babbs 14,681]

I agree. Weight loss is 90% diet. But I also think someone will have a hard time maintaining and will also lose muscle while losing without excersise. Like I've said before, if you wanna be thin, eat right. If you wanna be thin and healthy, eat right and excersise.

I'm trying to put the brakes on my weight loss right now because I'm 7 pounds below goal. But I did that on purpose more or less to give me a little cushion for maintenance. I'm just trying to dial in how much I need to eat to maintain and not lose or gain anymore. I'm still well within a normal weight range, so no biggie if I lose a little more. Like Jane said, people who don't stop losing are either having a psychological or physical problem most of the time. Mine is just trying to find the balance, and I will

[IncredibleShrinkingMan 437]

Everything above is correct re: exercise and maintenance. That said, it is extremely useful, and perhaps ultimately required, to break out of stalls. I have had three since surgery, and liquid Protein and exercise has done the trick for a good month each time. Your body finds a way to stay at a certain weight without burning fat and that's what causes a stall. With exercise, it can't maintain all its functions and fuel exercise without spending the fat. This continues for a little while if you stop exercising, because it takes time for your body to bring your metabolism back down to maintenance level.

You will eventually want to vary up your exercise and definitely include some resistance to avoid muscle loss. Eventually, even with exercise, your body will attempt to enter premature maintenance by learning how to be efficient at the same exercise over and over again. I have gotten down from 286 to about 200 with pretty sporadic exercise, but I am having hard time breaking into Onederland on the same basis, so I am not intensifying my exercise schedule in hopes of continuing past this point.

[her1981 448]

Thanks. I was curious because my exercise has not been consistent at all. I am trying to find some consistency because I'd like to maximize my losses, but it's difficult. I don't get much exercise, except for walking, but I'm finding that that is definitely not enough.