How do you keep your self motivated after you reach your goal?

My emotional battle that I currently have are my dreaded thought of healthy diet and exercise being similar to never ending treadmill. Just the thought of this is exhausting…and the continuous temptation of my old habits.

My plan of calorie control with healthy diet and good exercise is working well. I do get great satisfaction from seeing my belly shrink. Being able to fit into smaller size close makes me feel this is all worth it. But when I reach my goal, then now what?

Do I stick to this strict regimen forever? This means, no more chocolate chip cookies, no more junk snacks and no more fast foods and all the horrible but yummy stuff. Some say it’s ok if you enjoy these in moderation. I am very afraid that if I try to enjoy these in moderation, I may slide right back into my old habits.  

How can I continue encouraging myself even after reaching my goal? What are your thoughts?

im about 9 lbs off of my total goal of 40, and i use the mirror as my motivation. Liking what i see in the mirror and knowing how to manage my weight are the two best tools in maintaining

best of luck and once you know how to get there... staying there is a whole lot easier.

What i think is SUPPOSED to happen is that by the time the goal is reached, new habits are formed and the old ones are out the door.

But it is a slippery slope. I reached my goal (actually went under it) but it IS easy to slip into the old habits. Im trying now to find the balance of "yes, I CAN have this now" and "I dont need this I eat healthy"

I think it's something we are always going to have to be aware of. we arent dieting (short term), we are changing a lifestyle. ONce the goal is reached, we are supposed to have the new lifestyle, and not want to revert back. I'm trying to let myself have cake at parties...and then say no to ice cream. or have mcd's breakfast, then eat clean the rest of the day.

Sorry I guess I'm not much help....just dealilng with this issue myself right now!! I just try to remind myself that healthy is the key, NOT being slim. Good Luck!

Thank you for your reply, Jessi and Vicki. It really helps to hear your opinions. I'm not alone! Maybe one of these days my new life style will be normal and if maintaining weight after hitting the goal is easier, then I won't have to stress too much. I feel like I have some ways to go but maybe I can survive this...no I will survive! Oh yes I will...

I'm 7 pounds off my goal of losing 67 pounds.

I also think of what I will do when I get to my final goal. I have come up with two things I can do to stay motivated as I enter the maintenance portion of my weight lost journey.

1. My final goal isn't really my final goal. It's actually my final SHORT term goal. My real goal is 155 pounds but instead of having 2 or three months to get there I will give myself like 8 months to lost those last 13 pounds. It will keep me doing what I was doing to lose the first 67 pounds and further instill in me my new healthy lifestyle.

2. I made a few posters and put them up in my room that says things like. "Two years of planning for a lifetime of change." "The journey was long, the journey was extremely hard. It's a journey I don't wanna take again." I wanna keep reminding myself that I had to push myself hard to get where I am, I had to endure 100 degree weather with extreme sunlight burning my skin. I had to endure the sweaty days exercising to help me get that extra weight off. Basically I had to do a lot of things that hurt me in many ways that I would've rather not done.

I think with these two things constantly on my mind it'll help me loads to keep the weight off.