The Two Parts of Wisdom

Please keep in mind that although I can share my experiences,
no one can tell you what successful maintenance will be like for you.
It's a very individual thing.

Some people find that it's best to continue counting calories,
and they do it indefinitely. Others find that they don't need to do that,
as long as they follow certain principles for themselves.

Another thing to keep in mind is that maintenance changes…
…it doesn't stay the same forever.
What works at first may not continue to work later on.
So it's good to be flexible and not box yourself in
to having to have things just one way.

Everyone who has been obese
and then reached their maintenance level
is concerned about regaining.

As you're losing weight, consider what maintaining might look like
in terms of how you eat. For a lot of people, "I will never eat a cookie"
just isn't realistic … and neither is "I will eat cookies whenever I want."
For them, the optimal path is somewhere in between.

Don't be fooled by what online calculators tell you you can eat to maintain.
Many people regain part of their lost weight by thinking
that they “should" be able to eat at a certain calorie level
without regaining, and it turns out that this is not true for them.

Each of us has to find out for ourselves.