The Dilemma

I've reached the goal weight I set for myself when I joined the gym last year, a day after my 51st birthday. I had spent 6 mos getting depressed (and fat) after getting laid off from work and spending every morning sitting in front of my computer, fruitlessly looking for a new job. Decided enough was enough, and joined the gym with the modest goal of losing 10 lbs. At 128 lbs, I really needed to lose more than that, but I didn't want to set the bar too high, with the emotional state I was in at the time.

I didn't make much progress the first several months, losing only about 2 lbs. Then I realized two things about myself. I watch too much TV. And when you watch TV on the cardio machines, you don't get a very challenging pace going. Second, I was ravenously hungry by the time I got home, and would stuff myself with "nutritious" food like organic cereal and fruit, etc. No wonder I wasn't getting anywhere!

My husband suggested I keep a protein shake in the car so that I could refuel right after my workout. I looked for a lactose-free, pre-mixed beverage and after several taste-tests, settled on the "marketed to seniors" Ensure High Protein. That was in July. By September 2011, people were looking at me differently. I was still a whopping 122 lbs but my body started to change shape. I bought new gym clothes to celebrate.

By the Holiday season I'd dropped to 115 lbs and started to get worried about undoing all my hard work so I stepped up my cardio from 30 min daily to 45 minutes. I have horribly bad knees and other joints but I can do the elliptical without any problems. If I bust my butt, I can eek out over 5 miles in my 45 min workout before heading onto the free weight floor.

Now it's April and my body weight is fluctuating between 106 and 109 (men don't have to worry about these monthly hormonal fluctuations!) but I'm really happy with my weight, and the way I fit into clothes (need new ones!). So the dilemma is, do I keep going to see how far I can get or do I pull up the reins and try to institute some sort of maintenance plan?