I get this question from my clients all the time.

It’s either from people whose weight is slowing down close to goal, or from people who are terrified of maintenance…

Even though they’ve lost an astronomical amount of weight (over 100 pounds in many cases) and have been looking forward to maintenance.

In both cases, they ask me, “Cristy, is it normal for weight loss to slow down when you get close to goal?”

The short answer: No.

Longer answer: Here’s what’s almost always going on when when someone’s weight “suddenly” slows down as they get close to goal.

The person suddenly realizes, “OMG. I’ve never kept the weight off before.”

They start doubting their ability to keep the weight off.

Then, they start getting lax with the lifestyle and call it stalling…not because they’re deliberately trying to screw around, but because keeping the weight off is scary, unfamiliar territory…

Whereas  “losing weight,” while not fun, is familiar and even emotionally comfortable.

So they stall themselves five or ten pounds below goal with a combination of stressing themselves out about maintenance and getting lax with the program.

If that happens to be you who’s concerned about a “stall” close to goal, let me point a couple things out:

1) One definition of maintenance is to stay at the same weight (though you’ll obviously fluctuate a little on a day-to-day basis).

If your goal weight is 135, it’s not realistic to say you’ll be at 135.0 for the rest of your life. But your average weight week-to-week will be 135.

If you stall out above goal – let’s say at 145 pounds – and your average weekly weight is at 145, guess what?

You are maintaining.

And thinking you can’t do that just because the weight you’d be doing it at is 135 pounds instead of 145 isn’t rational.

2) Your belief that you’ve “never been able to keep the weight off” is a lie.

If you’ve EVER lost even ONE pound and kept it off for more than one day, you actually have kept weight off.

You may not have done it for as long as you wanted, but you have done it…which means yes, you CAN keep weight off.

Overwhelming yourself with fears and worries about keeping the weight off, and starting to sabotage yourself so you stay in weight loss mode, is the #1 cause of stalling five or ten pounds above your official goal weight.

If you truly do want to be done with “losing weight,” then it’s time to embrace the maintenance lifestyle.

Yes, it will probably be outside your comfort zone in some ways, but that’s to be expected. Any result you have and don’t want is outside your comfort zone.

Lean in, get the weight off, and then apply for my maintenance coaching program when YOU think you’re ready (not before, please).

In maintenance coaching, I’ll teach you how to KEEP the weight off if you’re approved to join. (If you’re not, I’ll tell you how much more weight needs to come off first, then invite you to reapply.)

You can apply in the Code Red network (see the link below) under Programs ==> Maintenance Application.

Applying for maintenance coaching is free; please only do it when YOU think you’re ready.