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4 Lessons I Have Learned from Losing 170 lbs and Maintaining It for 7 Years!

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Here we are again!

Seven years later and I am still maintaining my weight in the range of 150 to 160 pounds. It still feels incredible to me, but there are always new challenges and struggles. I want to share with you the lessons I’ve learned this year and the topics I’ve been focusing on with my coaching clients and community members.

I know that thinking about maintenance in the beginning of your weight-loss journey can feel overwhelming, so I want to demystify maintenance and explain why it’s so important for your long-term goals and mindset.

I want to help you make peace with your current journey and know what to expect when you reach maintenance. Please learn from my experience—the more you know about maintenance, the more effective and prepared you will be to make decisions, set goals, create healthy habits, and finally lose the weight in a sustainable way.

Lesson 1

The first lesson I’ve learned is that the lowest scale weight you ever hit—more than likely—will not be your maintainable weight. And that is okay.

I’ve been checking on people I interviewed back when I started the Half Size Me show in 2012 and other long-term maintainers. What I am learning is that many of them gained some weight back.

I’ve learned that when you talk about long-term weight maintenance, the weight you are at on you lowest weigh-in day is not going to be the weight you can comfortably maintain. There’s always water retention and normal fluctuations on the scale. Beyond that, most of us have discovered the effort required to maintain our lowest-acheived body weight is not something you’ll want to commit to on a daily basis.

After years of doing these repetitive behaviors—which no longer provide you with the reward of seeing the scale go down—will probably lead to you re-evaluating your maintenance weight. You could also find a relaxed approach where you feel comfortable maintaining your weight while still enjoying your life.

Many people reach out to me to say they feel like they’ve failed because they lost 100 pounds and gained back 20. However, they are keeping off 80% of the weight they lost and are enjoying their life.

That is a huge win! It is NOT a failure!

Lesson 2

The second lesson I’ve learned is that a higher maintainable weight is not actually the problem. The thoughts you have about your maintenance weight is the problem. And those thoughts can sabotage all of us.

Let’s say you hit a low number one time in your journey and assume that’s where you “should” be. But what if you chose an intentionally higher maintenance weight and then stayed there for 6 months to a year to see if you could maintain it before dropping down to a lower maintenance weight?

For example, if your lowest goal weight is 130 pounds and you get to 145 pounds, stop there and maintain it for 6–12 months. See how you like maintaining at 145 before progressing to 130. Then, if you decide to get to 130, you can create a maintenance range that is realistic for you on a day-to-day basis. You can choose a weight range that will allow you to enjoy your life and still keep the majority of your weight off.

It is normal to gain some weight back; most maintainers do. Unfortunately, I think many people, even longtime maintainers, struggle with that lowest-ever number. Back to our example, you may reach the 130-pound goal but discover it’s more comfortable to maintain at 145. But then you feel like you need to constantly pursue 130. It’s a never-ending cycle.

After 7 years of successfully maintaining my weight loss within a 10-pound range and witnessing the weight fluctuations of other maintainers, I can honestly say you shouldn’t expect to stay at your lowest weight. I’ve reached 150 pounds (and have gone even lower). But I’ve decided to settle in around 155. This allows me to live my life and enjoy treats. I get to find pleasure in my day-to-day life, which is more important to me than trying to chase after some weight loss goal all the time.

(If you want to hear more about how to find a range and how to think about your weight loss goal, listen to this Coaching with Heather podcast.)

Lesson 3

The third thing I’ve learned is you will have to constantly battle between two versions of yourself.

There’s a  version of me that wants all the cake and all the ice cream all the time. I refer to this as my inner toddler. Some people call this your lower brain or your primitive brain, but whatever you call it it’s the part of your brain that doesn’t think about consequences.

This never goes away. Even after 7 years of doing this work. I know that’s a disappointing truth for some of you. But here’s the good news: over time, you can strengthen other parts of your brain to become stronger, more resilient, and louder.

The parts of you that understand keeping this weight off will lead to a better life.

The parts of you that want to say no to eating all the things all the time.

I’ve spent a lot of time with my coaching clients helping them win each battle even though the war continues to rage on. You have to acknowledge your own inner toddler. You have to say no to it using the logical and reasoning side of your brain.

I call it putting on your adult pants. I know this is easier said than done, but realize your inner toddler doesn’t have your best interest at heart. If you allow them to run the show, you won’t have a life you feel good about.

Lesson 4

The fourth lesson (but not the final one because there’s always more to learn) is that life happens.

There will never be a time when this is easy. You will need to develop various levels of behaviors and habits to deal with different life circumstances. The more concrete your habits, the easier it will be, but it will always be a challenge.


As you build healthier habits, you have to realize that as life changes so does the rulebook. Often we get comfortable in our routine, thinking we will continue doing it indefinitely. However, every time a major life change occurs—divorce, marriage, break-ups, having a baby, kids going off to college, new job, moving, losing a job, anything that could disrupt the flow—is a time to go back to the basics and ask yourself, “How am I going to change my expectations?”

To help myself this year, I have been focusing on refining my own minimum, basic, and preferred behaviors. I’ve also been helping my coaching clients and community members with this skill.

I’ve become more attuned to watching out for life changes, When they happen I either need to switch my behaviors or my expectations. Recognizing challenging situations before they up-end my life is key to knowing how I can change what I’m doing.

I’ve realized I had to stop expecting life to be easy and problem-free. There will always be roadblocks and issues. You have to learn to adapt and find other ways to move toward your goals.

All I’ve learned over the past seven years and every issue I’ve faced has made me more resilient. Because of these experiences I’m able to lead from a place of compassion and understanding.

Is this journey is easy? No! Habits can become easier the longer you do them, but—make no mistake—this is daily work.

But is it worth doing all this work? Absolutely! You will grow in self-efficacy the longer you do this. You will become wiser about your body and your actions as you reflect on your choices and ask yourself, “What can I learn?”

Your body will change. Your life will change. And you will learn to change over time.

You can do this.

If you struggle with adapting to changing circumstances, I’m creating a way to help you. It’s a coaching cast called Refuse to Quit Again! If you’re on my VIP newsletter I’ll be sending out how you can get this valuable tool very soon.

You can get on the VIP newsletter by clicking here.

359 – Half Size Me: Setting Food Boundaries With Megan

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

In this episode of The Half Size Me™ Show, Heather talks to Megan about

  • why she’s never had a problem with binge eating and secret eating
  • what she’s done to set food boundaries while traveling and how it’s helped her
  • how she lost weight while traveling for work 50% to 80% of the time
  • and more!

JOIN The Half Size Me™ Community waiting list! Learn more about the benefits of community membership and get notified when we open again for new members.

About Half Size Me

The Half Size Me™ Show is a weekly podcast meant to inspire you and motivate you no matter where you are in your weight loss journey. If you’re just getting started losing weight, or if you’ve started and stopped so many times you’ve lost count, this is the show for you!

Hosted by Heather Robertson, who lost over 170 pounds by learning new eating habits, getting regular exercise, and, most importantly, changing her mindset. She shares her own lessons and struggles as well as how to handle to real challenge of any weight loss journey… weight maintenance.

So, join Heather every week as she shares information, inspiration, and interviews with women who’ve learned weight loss isn’t just about losing pounds, it’s about finding yourself.

Disclaimer: Heather is not a doctor, nurse, or certified health professional and what works for her or her guests may, or may not, work for you. So, please be sure to talk with your doctor, dietician, or other certified health professionals when seeking advice about your own weight loss or weight maintenance plan. All information included in The Half Size Me™ Podcast and on HalfSizeMe.com is for informational and inspirational purposes only.

For additional disclaimer information, please visit HalfSizeMe.com.

To contact Heather about the show, please click here to use the contact form.

342 – Half Size Me: How Eating Healthier Helps With Depression

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS

In this episode of The Half Size Me™ Show, Heather talks to Lindsey about

  • how eating healthier helps with depression
  • what her first key to weight loss was
  • what were the steps she used to gain control over binge eating
  • and much more!

[Read more…] about 342 – Half Size Me: How Eating Healthier Helps With Depression

Six Years of Maintaining My Weight (Or How Not To Be Another Weight Loss Statistic)

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I’ve always said I refuse to be a weight loss statistic.

What this means is I want to beat the odds of regaining weight. Oftentimes, we get so discouraged by hearing about the large number of people who regain their weight after substantial weight loss.

What I realized was there are some ways I can make myself successful in maintaining my weight loss. Over this past year, I had more challenges and wonderful celebrations than usual, but I still managed to keep the weight off.

I want to share with you some of what I’ve learned in my weight maintenance journey — the things I know were the most important to me this year. I’m going to start by recapping 2017 so you can understand why this year was a little trickier than others when it came to maintaining my weight.

A YEAR FILLED WITH CHANGE

From a family and life perspective, we paid off all of our debt. We had been following a modified Dave Ramsey approach for the past nine years and had been paying off various credit cards. This year, we bit the bullet and paid off the remainder of my student loan.

In total, we paid off $180,000 over the past 10 years between credit cards, car loans, and student loans. This is a huge victory, and it has brought many life changes. We are now focusing on selling our home and moving into an apartment to simplify our lives. By removing the house mortgage, we will be 100-percent debt free, and we’re extremely excited about this new phase in our lives.

On a physical note for me, this year also brought a lot of change. My menstrual cycle started to become extremely irregular. I spoke to my gynecologist about this on more than one occasion. She assured me I was too young (at 41) to be going through perimenopause.

However, I knew something was not right with my cycle, and there were other symptoms I was struggling with, like hot flashes at night, night sweats, breast tenderness, and generally feeling exhausted. She agreed to let me have a hormonal panel, and we found out my hormones suggest I am going through perimenopause. I have not used birth control in the past, but she recommended I start because they found a cyst on my ovaries.

I haven’t used birth control in a long time, but my doctor recommended I start because a cyst was found on one of my ovaries. Thankfuly, after I took the birth control for six weeks, the cyst disappeared. This was extremely good news, but all the stress and changes in my hormones caused my weight to fluctuate this year. I have usually not gone above 160 pounds, but I reached out to the Half Size Me community in November and shared with them how much I was struggling with my weight. I was hitting numbers I did not like — 161, 162.

My weight usually does not go above 160 pounds, but I reached out to the Half Size Me community in November and shared with them how much I was struggling with my weight. I was hitting numbers I did not like — 161, 162.

The reality is I know that if I don’t honor my commitment to keep my weight between 150 and 160, there’s a good chance it will just keep going up. I also know from experience that suffering in silence, keeping it to myself and hoping it will just get better never works. That behavior caused me to gain hundreds of pounds in the past.

So, I allowed myself to be vulnerable. I shared my truth and was able to get refocused. The scale started trending back down to under 160 (159.5 as of today).

BE CONSISTENT…

As you can see, 2017 was full of wonderful things, scary things, and lots of life changes.

What I have learned is that we all are going to change. Our bodies will change, our lifestyles will change, and this is why I stay firm with my commitment to this statement:

To lose weight, you must do what you are willing to do for the rest of your life because this is the only way to know you will be consistent with it.

This year in My Fitness Pal, I hit over 1827 days straight of logging. No matter how crazy my life gets or how distracted I may be, I know I can be consistent with tracking my food. However, tracking my food does not mean I micromanage my food.

It means that when I eat a doughnut, I write it down. It means that when I have an extra piece of cake, I choose to put it into My Fitness Pal. It doesn’t mean that I “can’t” or “shouldn’t” eat certain things, and it doesn’t mean passing judgment. It means being consistent with journaling or tracking what I eat. That’s all.

I also give myself lots of permission to switch out the ways I journal my food. So, if I were to list the things I find are the most helpful for weight loss, the ones that are imperative for weight maintenance, the number one thing would be consistency.

Find a way that you can consistently manage your food. Make it something you are willing to keep up with, day in and day out. For me, it’s tracking calories or points or portion sizes, but I always track. Always.

…AND MIX IT UP

The next thing I find to be important to maintain is finding new ways to keep it interesting. This year, I did a lot of fun physical activities. I added in Yin Yoga. I did a jump rope competition in the summer and a pushup challenge with the Half Size Me listeners and followers.

All of these activities were fun and made my exercise regimen way more enjoyable. I find that by adding in different forms of exercise or giving myself new things to focus on, it keeps the journey exciting and helpful to me.

BE YOUR OWN BEST FRIEND…

Another thing I recommend focusing your attention on — and this is the one that affects all the others — is your mindset. If you find yourself struggling with the “all or nothing” mentality, with perfectionism, with beating yourself up for not doing a good job, then you need to work on cultivating your relationship with yourself. You need to become your own best friend.

This year, I became Heather’s best friend more than ever. This doesn’t mean any “woo-woo” fluffy stuff. What it does mean is, for example, if I don’t make Heather’s lunch for tomorrow, she probably won’t be able to make as good a choice. I know that situation stresses Heather out a lot, so I’m not going to make her deal with that. I’m going to watch out for her.

Being your own best friend means knowing your own areas of weakness, knowing the areas where you need support the most, and being proactive. That way, you set yourself up for your best-case scenario, and it helps you avoid your worst-case scenario.

…AND LET OTHERS HELP YOU

The last tip I want to offer is that you DO NOT do this alone! I lost weight with support, and I maintain my weight with support. I do not go at it alone. I’ve given that up. I’ve given up telling myself, “I should be able to do this. I’m a smart person. I don’t need anyone. I’m capable. I can do this on my own.”

I used to believe those things, but what I’ve learned is that attitude does not set us up for success with weight loss or weight maintenance. And this year, more than ever, reaching out to the Half Size Me community pulled me back from a possible cliff I did not want to fall over. I know my weakness is food. I know that when I’m stressed, tired, exhausted or frustrated, I’m more than likely going to gravitate toward food.

I need to have safety precautions in place, so that when I feel myself slipping, I have people to reach out to — a place where I know I can be myself, where I know they get me, and where I don’t feel like a freak.

So, that’s exactly what I did. I reached out to the Half Size Me community, spilled my guts, shared my reality, told them about the cyst on my ovaries, the birth control pills, the weight, all of it — and I felt free. Free enough to start making better choices.

So, these are a few the tips I wanted share with you after maintaining for six years. Don’t think that someday it will all just get easier. It won’t because your life doesn’t stay stagnant; it’s constantly changing. Your body is constantly changing. What I have learned this year is that just because my body changes, it doesn’t mean I have to become a statistic. It just means I may have to change a little bit of what I’m doing to make those changes work for me.

I hope you are having much success in your journey. If you need any support, you are more than welcome to join us in the Half Size Me Community. If you would like to work with me personally, you can click here.

I look forward to hearing from you!

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