~~~ It's Never Over! ~~~

You never get to stop paying attention to what you are eating if you want to maintain your hard-earned success.

Do you put on make-up only once and then not do it again?
Do you buy one wardrobe and you're done? Don't you have to go shopping periodically for new clothes if you want to look nice?
Do you buy groceries for a month and then never set food in a grocery store again? 
Do you exercise once a month and think that's all that is necessary?

Get the picture? The diet is never over. Once you slide back to old habits, the weight comes right back.

Our lives need constant renewal to maintain our health. And then there is the fact that much of this renewal is routine: the routine of putting on make-up, buying clothes, shopping for groceries and exercise- these all have to be repeated to be effective.

You never get to "go off" your diet. You will always need to eat mindfully to lose or maintain the pounds that are gone.

I just wrote some emails to some previous Weight Watchers members. They pleasantly surprised me by sharing  that they all have maintained some significant weight loss and one of the three is hanging out at his goal weight. They didn't achieve this by accident. They learned enough skills and changed enough habits with the help of our meeting room to keep it up. Renewal. Repetition. You never get to stop paying attention.

Do you want to pay attention to the misery of the scale going up OR do you want to maintain a good thing? You'll be paying attention either way. Make it a good way. Keep coming to meetings and remind yourself why you need to pay attention.