I will never be able to maintain

No matter what I do, I get so close then I gain 3 or more pounds. I continue to eat and exercise the same and I still gain the weight back. Now I know of water weight gain and weight fluctuates and all that bull, but shouldnt water weight and fluctuations go away fast, mine stay for months and I have to work extra hard to get back down 3+ pounds. This is so frustrating, and I understand for some of you that are not near your goal weight you might think me a little whiny, but when you get to your goal weight you will want it to stay as well. I am so scared of gaining it all back. I have changed my life so much and I have not gone back but that doesnt seem to matter. Ok end rant.

Maybe that 3 pounds up is your set point, and really, if you're so close to maintaining 3lbs does not make much of a difference.. 

are you still overweight? and really goal weights are irrelevant as long as you maintain a healthy lifestyle and do everything you can to be happy,

*sigh* If I were just 3 pounds away from my goal weight, I think I'd be celebrating. :(

Yeah...are you at a healthy weight now? If so, this may be your ideal weight. Mine just hovers around 150 naturally, and I made myself pretty miserable trying to make it 145. You body just may want to stay there. If you're at a healthy weight then there's no reason to stress...we can't see three pounds. Just maintain and feel proud of yourself.

How many pounds have you lost? You need to focus on maintaining THAT, not on catching that elusive, "just another 3 pounds". Focus on the good work that you've done and give yourself credit!

And keep in mind that weight loss often does get slower and slower. 

Also, you don't need to worry needlessly about "gaining it all back" if you just set a red flag weight level. What I mean by that is set a level of lbs. where if you get up to that level, you'll go back into diet-mode, instead of maintenance mode. For example, my current goal is to be at 135, and I do fluctuate between 132-137, and that's fine. But if the scale ever tips at 141 or higher, that's when I push back my calories down to 1500 for a few days. Seems like that's all it takes.

 

 

 If it's so very hard for your body to do that last three pounds you wanted to lose, don't beat yourself up about it! Three pounds is a very small amount, and maybe that's just where your body needs to be for best functioning.

You can't maintain at one single weight forever, no matter what that weight is - your water levels change daily depending on how much sodium you have, whether/how hard you exercised, how much fiber you ate, etc etc. You need to have a 'range' that's okay, and if you tip above that then you go back to dieting for a few days. It's perfectly normal.

if you are staying around that 3 pounds, then you are maintaining  :D  at least you are not gaining, right?  make sure you are eating the right amount of calories depending whether you are exercising or not.  don't eat too few calories or you could put yourself in starvation mode!

I won't poo poo your desire to stay at your goal weight. I went to your profile and saw your comparison shots. It does look like your healthy and not overly thin at 121. (Not that you look bad at 125, not at all!) I don't know what the answer is for you. I am within about 8 pounds of where I want to be and I understand that even three can make a world of difference in how clothes fit, etc. I know that I have some self-defeating habits that I'm going to have to give up if I'm going to make it there and then maintain. My best suggestion is to be really sure that you are being honest with yourself about how much you're eating/exercising. Maybe you could track it religiously for a week or so and see if you can identify the problem. Now if you're already doing that, I don't know what to tell you.

i don't think that is whiny at all. you knew what to do to lose weight, you did it, and it worked. now it isn't working anymore. sounds like frustration to me! perhaps there is something sabotaging your goal.

scrutinize your menu. perhaps a food item has sneaked back in that should be removed? i agree with chris1208 on that note. 

treat it like any other plateau. try techniques like zig-zagging calories, trade your most popular cardio with another form (biking for swimming), incorporating HIIT, redo your math, re-check portion sizes and all the other things you might have done at a standstill before.  

 

Maybe do more strength training...your weight will stay about the same, but you'll replace that tiny bit of fat with muscle.

Thank you all. I am over my rant, I was on my period and a little grumpy. I have been bouncing back and forth from about 120-125 for months and months. I do cardio every day and pilates on the days Im not doing cardio. The pilates have helped a ton to tighten and pull everything in, but I fell hard on my tailbone two weeks ago and I haven't been able to do the pilates. I am going to try again today though. But I have a pocket pc (pda, whatever you want to call it) and I eat every three hours about 300 calories a meal and I record EVERY thing in my pda. I also record my work and workouts for calories out. I am doing everything right and I know that this is probably just where my body is supposed to be. I am going to (as soon as my butt heals) continue with the pilates to tighten and tone. But thanks for listening to me and thanks for the compliments and thanks for letting me realize that 120-125 is where I should be.

Oh one more thing, I am only 5'2" and when you are 5'2" every pound shows. I know some of you other shorties out there can back me up on that one!

 

good for you that you exercise this often. i believe being toned and healthy is most important