Fit to Print Volume 25 Issue 3 September 2016 | Page 13

MemberPerspective

by Dolores Falco

Maintenance Sucks
Losing 100 Pounds Was Hard. This is Worse.

M

AINTENANCE SUCKS!!!!

I thought losing the weight and reaching
my 100-pound loss goal was hard - NOPE!
Maintaining the 100-poind weight loss is
so much harder. It is harder because you
think you can relax and be able to eat
things you normally wouldn't allow
yourself, and you get comfortable, and
the pounds start to creep up. It is harder
because you allow yourself to think the
hard work is done, and you don't have to
work as hard, but you are wrong again.
Maintenance is the hard part, and you
need to work just as hard, if not harder,
to maintain. Summertime can make
maintenance even harder with all the
parties, get-togethers, and the summer
heat. This summer made it even harder
with that 2-week long oppressive heat
wave in July. All I wanted was ice cream.
I would try to have another protein shake
or some watermelon, but I wanted ice
cream, so I would try funky fro-yo flavors,
thinking I wouldn't want it and get it out
of my system. But guess who really liked
the funky flavors – ME. Coconut Siracha,
Coconut Fudge, and Key Lime – very
addicting. I didn't gain a lot, only five
pounds or so, but still it is a backward
slide. So now I am working even harder
to take those five off and lose the rest of
the weight I wanted to lose. Plus, since I
am essentially still competing in the
Fantastic Four contest – this is part II
Maintenance, I really need to work that
back slide off and I will.
During the first half of the contest my
team dominated the mini challenges,
winning 3 out of 5 challenges. I took all
of those challenges very seriously and
gave everything I had to get them done.
I had to accept defeat on the Monkey
bars and rowing, but at least I finished in
the top 5 for rowing. For the 2nd half of
the contest, it's the Triathlon - a fiveminute row on the rowing machine, 2mile Campus loop on the stationary bikes
and a one-mile run on the treadmill. I
have had since June to complete this,
and I am struggling. Anyone who knows
me knows that I like to get things done
right away, but this time I waited until
the last minute. I did pretty well in the
mini-contests during part 1, rowing 1196
meters in 5 minutes on the rowing
machine and biking the two-mile Campus
loop in just under seven minutes, but
running one mile is another thing. I am

not a runner to begin with, and I get
freaked out a bit when trying to run on
the treadmills. I find that the faster
you try to go, the machines start to
shake, and then I slow down. I know
that the treadmill is not going to fall
apart underneath me, but mentally it
screws me up. It would be my luck to
break a treadmill – LOL – but seriously
it screws me up. I finally got it all

3

Dolores and Steven take on the Queenax

done, probably not the best times
submitted, but at least I know I did it,
and I can do it.
Team “Losing It” took third place fo