I have come to, what is for me at least, a momentous decision. I have decided to go onto maintenance. I have been thinking about it for a couple of weeks now and feel it is the right time plus the energy I have put into this has taken a toll on me and it's time to relax a little. I have a lot of stuff to put down here so this is going to be long.

When I started out on this journey I set myself a goal of 55kgs. Upon talking with my doc at about week 6 he suggested going to 60kgs and seeing how I felt then. Well here I am now under 60kgs and I am extremely happy with where I have gotten too, the goals I have met and the overall achievements of my weight loss to date.
What I have achieved.
- 26.2kgs lost weight
- 20% approx less body fat (about 6 weeks in I was at 42% and last reading was 23.8%)
- 25cm approx off hips and waist (I didn't measure this from day one but went off my pants that fit snugly at the time)
- Size 18 to a size 10-12 (I got into size 10 pants 2/11/06 but will most likely always be a 12 up top!)
- Now within healthy weight range for my height
- Enjoy exercising and do so most days
- A fitter and healthier person
- Have learnt better eating habits and how to control how much I eat
- I have more energy, get more things done in a day
- I like what I see, how I feel and...actually don't mind my photo being taken now

- Sausage rolls and savoury pastries are no longer my fave junk food, I don't really have any fave junk food anymore.
The last two may seem silly but savoury pastries were my biggest weakness and I could easily eat 2 large sausage rolls as a snack...these days that equates to 1/2 my cals for the day and double the fat I now have and all from 1 MEAL! Not liking my photo being taken was one of the biggest reasons I started this. So...Yayyy!

Has it been easy? Hell no!! LOL I have been at this 34 weeks all told and have found it extremely difficult especially after reaching the 20kgs mark. The difficulties were more on an emotional/mental level though. I got to a point where I had had enough of watching and thinking about every piece of food I put in my mouth. No I didn't binge or pig out I became angry and couldn't think clearly for about a week and a half, everything was out of whack and I was ready for throwing in the towel. What got me back was realising I am really going to have to be aware of my food intake for the rest of my life. It was, after all, that which got me to FatKim in the first place! So, yes, I can have treats and no it won't affect me much provided they are treats and not an everyday occurrence. Yes, I will eat pretty much what I have been and if I need to increase then it is more of the same healthy stuff and not about adding a chocolate bar or two a day!
So, I have set maintenance goals and limits that I want to stay within which I will set out and I have a plan on how to do this. I am so used to losing weight and have gotten used to the amount of food I eat that there will be some adjusting to do so I will still be monitoring food as much as before but I'm not going to post in the daily food diary as I keep my own anyway. I will still post entries in the exercise diary, I love the exercise I do so I am not planning on changing that at all. I will be doing official weigh-in once a month but will still monitor weekly at home until comfortable.
Maintenance Plan
- Continue to do cardio exercise at least 5 days per week
- Continue to do weights for at least 2 days per week
- Maintain weight below 60kgs
- Body fat % between 20-25%
- Monitor food intake daily, monitor progress weekly, weigh-in monthly
- Told hubby to tell me immediately if he sees unhealthy habits creeping in (I am hoping I will pick this up first but it doesn't hurt to have a back up plan!)

My food will pretty much be what it has been but to increase calories without increasing too much bulk the following things are what I will be looking at.
Adding more fruit and salads, cut veges etc.
Replacing 'diet' products for low fat or no added sugar products (this increases the cals whilst eating the same volume).
Adding 1 whole egg to my egg white omelettes.
I am used to how much I eat each day and find it really is enough for me so I don't want to just eat bigger portions to add calories, this is where my challenge will be and why I know there will be an 'adjusting' period.
So there you have it! Brave souls indeed to have gotten through all that lot. I will be changing my ticker for that spiffy one put up by Scott and will add some more 'glamorous'

Thanks to Scott and all the weightloss.com.au crew for having a wonderful site where we can get together like this and offer support and encouragement. Thanks so much to all of the forum members for your advice and help along the way. It's surprising how much it can really help. You're all awesome people and I wish you all the best on your journeys. I am no expert but am happy to help out wherever I can.
THANKS EVERYONE!
