I am one of those who came to YLF after losing a bunch of weight and neglecting my clothing for a long time - and am currently battling a minor (well, it's not minor to me) weight gain - up ten pounds. Thing is? I lost over a hundred pounds, so as long as I get these ten pounds back off, then it'll all work out.
In terms of maintenance (I know what works for me, even though I'm battling right now) - I'd say that exercise/being active is the #1 way to maintain one's weight loss.
During weight loss, it seems like diet is of 80% importance, while exercise is the other 20%. Once you reach or get close to your overall goal - it shifts quite a bit. You aren't going to keep "dieting" forever, and this is where exercise becomes more important. At goal weight or close to goal weight, I think the balance shifts to 40 or 50% 'diet' (what you eat) and 50% to 60% exercise.
Now granted, we're not all going to hit the gym five or seven mornings a week and "train" like some sort of elite athlete.
What I find *really* helps is to keep reminding myself, "I am an active person..."
That means taking the stairs, walking, cleaning my own house, doing gardening, walking even more, taking the long way around or what have you.
It's not realistic to always be on some sort of "diet" and it's also not realistic to expect to be in the gym ten or more hours a week. Thing is, that mantra, "I am an active person" goes a long, long way toward keeping things in check - even in the face of no longer being on a "diet" such as you might have been while you were actively losing weight. Real life means having a bit of chocolate here and there, a slice of birthday cake or what have you.
Moving more, being more active - makes a huge difference (imo). Like I said though, this doesn't mean being at the gym at 6 am - it just means taking the opportunity to walk instead of driving or taking transit. It means thinking of housework as a 'workout', it means looking forward to spending time in nature - hiking through the woods or tromping around on the beach. It also means siezing the opportunity to shovel snow and deciding you'll also shovel your neighbour's front walk (and maybe even their driveway too) as well, since you're out there anyway.
Seems a little too simple to work, but thinking, "I am an active person" goes a long way toward being able to stay in place (weight and size-wise), while being able to enjoy life (not dieting) post weight loss.
