To maintain or keep going?? Please advise!!

Hi,

I'm a relative newbie on CC and actively started to lose the last 20 lbs. at the beginning of April. In the short time I've been doing it, I've had amazing results--so far, I've lost 15 lbs. and I'm on my last 5.  The problem is that I've attacked this program very aggressively--my calorie count is 1,320 and I do a combination of intense calisthenics and cardio at a private studio 3x/wk for 1 hr.  It doesn't sound too difficult, but the results speak for themselves (I've consistently lost 1 - 1.5 lbs. a week over 3 months) so I'm just happy I didn't have to do more!  The issue is that I've gone totally OCD and have been weighing everything down to the gram, not going to restaurants (since I don't know how they cook the food and the calorie content), cutting carbs (except from fruit and veggies, which means no bread, pasta, ice cream...) and generally driving myself crazy looking at/thinking about all the food I can't or won't let myself eat, even though I've been ecstatic about the results. 

So the question is, I am SOOO close to my goal, do I power through the final month, or do I take a break and try to maintain for a little bit and pick it up later?  On one hand, I'm afraid that if I stop now, I'll fall off the bandwagon entirely and never get to the finish line and wouldn't it just be easier to just suck it up and get it over with?  On the other hand, I keep turning down dinner invitations, or friends offering me fat free brownies because "it's not in the plan" and I'm starting to sound like a crazy person I'm so strict...The problem is that I don't know how to do things half way, again, because I'm afraid that if I loosen up my program, it will no longer be effective and I ask myself, what's the point of being somewhat restrictive (you still don't get to eat what you want) if you get no results?

Sorry for the ramble, but for you guys out there who have reached your goals, I'd love to hear your thoughts!  Thanks!

If it was me, and I was still losing weight, I'd keep going if I only had another month to go.  In fact, that's what I did. :)  But if you figure it's getting to be too much, then there's really no harm in maintaining for awhile.  It's probably good practise anyway.

Clint

Go for that last 5 pounds if you feel like but maybe save your sanity and try to do it in a manner that would resemble what you feel would be your life in maintenance i.e. going out with friends, restaurants, lifting the food restrictions, etc because what you are doing right now doesn't sound very sustainable if it's making you OCD and crazy.

"generally driving myself crazy looking at/thinking about all the food I can't or won't let myself eat, even though I've been ecstatic about the results."

This might be a bit of a "warning" sign, since it could imply that if you ever get off your diet regimen, you would have trouble not giving in to going back to however you ate before losing weight.  I went through a very similar thing, in terms of often thinking about food while waiting to fall asleep.  (I have a habit of watching "The Food Channel" or food shows on "The Travel Channel" before I fall asleep.)  However, I will say that eventually I fell into a pattern of eating the right kinds of meal where I didn't feel "crazy" any more.  And, I, too, was "ecstatic" about my results; so it was worth it to me.

"The problem is that I don't know how to do things half way"

I, also, am definitely this way.  But I agree with Clint--go slowly, maybe maintain for awhile, and when you do go for the last 5 pounds, be happy going slowly and steadily and NOT driving yourself too crazy thinking about all the food you could be eating.

Best of luck.  You have done a great job!

I'd keep going, your in the groove it is easier to continue, and then ease into maintenance.
btw the fitness plan did quite a bit in your before and 125 pics.
good luck!

Thanks everyone for your input and being so encouraging!!  I must have been feeling particularly stressed when I sent out that first post...I find that most of the time, I'm actually ok with being strict (in fact, I take comfort in knowing that if I do X, it will results in Y).  Every once in a while though, particularly if I'm stressed at work and really want to blow off steam, the restrictions suddenly feel like something else I don't want to have to deal with (probably because I just want to drown myself in a few drinks and ice cream!).  But that may be just an emotional reaction and therefore should be resisted...(?)  Today, I feel much better and feel a second wind coming!  I'm off to Napa tomorrow (and allowing myself one weekend of not stressing over everything I eat--will try not to go too crazy the other way though!) but starting next week, I'll hunker down once more and shoot for that last 5!!

"btw the fitness plan did quite a bit in your before and 125 pics."

Right?? The program is AWESOME!  While the weight lost was not huge, I built a lot of muscle and cut % body fat so I think the results were more dramatic than if I'd just lost the weight w/o exercise.  I can now do over 30 pushups!

When I start to feel a little crazy like that I tend more towards a maintenance weekend than a maintenance month. In the big scheme of things, a month would be more likely to get me in the habit of eating poorly again, however two days of eating my full burn meter (I often eat really good for bf and lunch just to make room for a splurge dinner) gets the frustration out of my system. Then on monday I can get back on the wagon and feel good about it (and not too set back). Plus it's good practice.

Just as an FYI... I've been maintaining at 170 pounds (+/- 1 pound or so) for the whole month of August.  I thought that was my "happy" weight.  But I'm not quite as happy with that as I thought, so I'm thinking about a slow loss down to 165. 

Guess my point is that even if you decide one thing, you can always change your mind later. :)

Clint