The first two phases are complete or being completed. Now it is time to reflect on your progress over the last twelve months. Did you hit your monthly weight loss goal each month? For the year? Did you make corrections if you strayed from your program? Are you able to determine portion size by sight rather than using a scale? How much cooking did you do versus eating out or purchasing prepared meals? Do you have a support system in place?

These are some of the questions you should be asking yourself as you begin to maintain your weight loss, as they will recur for the remainder of your life. There is always the thought with any weight loss program that you are finished. You hit your goal weight, and you no longer have to worry about that part of your life anymore. There are people in this world who can do this because they do not have the same personal issues with regard to their health that you do. It is easy for them to manage their health because it is their priority, or they are driven by something else – a job or career, family, creativity, etc. – that allows them to effortlessly maintain their weight. You are different than them; otherwise, you would not have been in this position in the first place.

Any idiot can lose weight; it is keeping it off that separates you from everyone else.

If you have followed the first two phases correctly, then this process will never leave you. You will always think of how you manage your health. This is not an invitation to become disordered about your eating, weight, and health management. This is a declaration to yourself that you will remain as mindful for the remainder of your life as you were over the last 12 months.

The Scale

The scale is a data point. It is not a measure of your self-worth. You are not “bad” because you gained weight. Conversely, you are not good because you lost weight. You are good because you care for yourself in a way that you haven’t done in the past, and it involves checking in with yourself to ensure your weight does not get away from you again. The scale should be checked at a minimum of once per month. Again, you are checking in with yourself to determine if you are still on track or if you have to adjust your focus back to yourself. If you are comfortable with daily weigh-ins and it will not do harm to you mentally or emotionally, then that is what works for you. If you suspect or have had issues in the past with the scale, then you should talk to a therapist who can give you tools to manage this part of your life.

Corrections

Unless you are professional athlete or someone that makes a living with their physical being, ability, or attributes, then you will lose focus. It happens to all of us. Work, personal relationships, cost of living, accidents, illness, etc. are dealt with by all of us. We use food, drugs, alcohol, shopping, sex or all of the above to deal with the stress of daily living. Most of us use food because it is legal and more, importantly, food will not say “No” to us. Food is tied to fellowship and social gatherings and family. There is an expectation that if everyone else is eating, then you can, too. Nevertheless, you can participate in events and occasions without losing yourself in those events. You should have a healthy relationship with food even though you might not a healthy relationship with life and the people you encounter in it.

Portion Control

If you have measured your portions for the first two phases, then you should have a good idea of what a serving size of a particular food – cooked, prepared, or processed – looks like. Portion control, not quality control, is the focus. Anything I eat other than fruits and vegatables has a label with a weight assigned to a single serving as well as total portions in a container. It does not matter how much I intend to eat in one sitting, the food is always weighed. Because I am so used to weighing everything, when I travel or visit with friends and family, I have an idea of what I am looking at on my plate/in my bowl. If I overeat, then I know why. If I undereat, then I know why. Most importantly, if I gain weight, then I know why. If I lose weight, then I know why.

Cooking

Unless you are the owner of a thriving business, work two jobs with a family to take care of, or are a first responder with odd work hours, there is no excuse for you not to cook the majority of your meals. Cook, not prepare. I cook almost 90% of my meals because I love to cook and prefer to stay home. This helps me manage my health twofold: I have better control over my intake; additionally, on the rare occassions that I do go out to eat or get together with friends or family, I can look at a dish or dishes and know what goes into the preparation of said dish or dishes. I know if it is prepared in a way that conforms with my overall eating (plant-based) as well as how much of the dish or dishes I can consume to stay on track. I am not saying you have to be cook like I do; I am saying that you should try as hard as you can to be the hands that feed you.

One of my favorite television shows is Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.” I have learned more about cooking than anyone has personally taught me by watching that show. That said, I also know the importance of supporting local business. Eating out supports the local economy by supporting the restaurant at which you are eating as well as the farmers that produced the food about to be consumed. I am an extreme example of cooking for onself and do not expect anyone to eat like me. However, if you are going to eat out, then know what and how much you are consuming so you can enjoy the meal and meal attendents rather than fretting about staying on track.

Support System

Like most people on this type of excursion, you have been on your own. You have changed the way you take care of your health with the assistance of health professionals as well as your own personal will. However, unless you have one of the strongest minds and/or wills to succeed, you will need assistance and support from someone – anyone – who understands what it means for you to take care of yourself. They do not criticize you for helping yourself; they ask you what help you need to keep going. They will even participate themselves as another show of support.

Remove anyone who is not there to support you. It may not be removal because some people, namely family, cannot be removed. However, you can alter the number of interactions you have with these people. I am in my fifties and have lived enough life to know how to cut people out of it. Additionally, I believe in brutal honesty. For people that are younger and still discovering what a person or persons means to them, it will take practice. It could mean that part of the agreement to meet for a meal involves agreement on an establishment that has a menu that caters to the majority of patrons. For example, if my friend is vegetarian or vegan, then I am looking at the menu of any restaurant I choose to ensure my friend has choices that align with those dietary systems and encouring them to do the same so they can feel comfortable that they will enjoy themselves as well. I am not going to suggest a burger place unless that place has veggie or vegan burgers – and for some of my vegan friends – has a dedicated cooking station so their food is not in contact with any animal products.

Your support system should also support your exercise and movement goals. If you have developed a love for hiking, then a good supporter will ask if they can go with you or suggest a scenic and/or more challenging hike for you to feed your new passion. If you find you like lifting weights, then they will go with you as a guest or join the same gym or gym franchise (same gym, but different location). If you decide to go for a walk after dinner instead of wathcing television, that person is not complaining about walking. They are putting on their walking shoes as well.

Most of the “negative nellies” you encounter are projecting their lack of motivation onto you. It is not necessarily that you are doing something to better yourself; it is that this person does not like that they do not have the same drive you have and want to discourage anything that moves them out of their own comfort zone. You will become adept at spotting this behavior. As I have expressed to my child many times: do not be the person who is envious or jealous of another to the point of discouragement. Be the person who admires others, wishes them success, and offers assistance as they embark on their new path.