I've done this many times and for me it stems from:
* Eating less bc I am not as active, therefore my body doesn't need as much
* I am MORE active in other ways during daily life- I find I have more energy or at the very least more time to get other things done. When I get into the throws of that, I often go for hours without stopping and sitting. I found that to be more beneficial in overall life and weight management than exercising but without having less energy to do what needs to be done.
* I eat instinctively. Not only do I eat less, but I eat more according to what my body wants and not what some "clean eating" diet or fitness plan calls for. I don't pay attention to macro counts and as a result I am getting the fuel I need for life, not neccessarily to produce physique results.
* Less stress! I am someone that has had extensive testing done for my illnesses and have found that exercise adds additional stress to my system. I am a Stress Eater so combine the two and I either eat more from stress or when I am relaxed, I could careless about food. This is the biggest reason why I phave gotten rid of 90% of my fitness collection and started to toss fitness equipment. Less stress equals a Happier, healthier me and allows my weight to stabilize and even drop with time without monitoring it, working for it, or trying.
The biggest obstical I found a couple of years back when I first started doing the above things was letting go of the morality factor. I felt superior over others because of my eating and exercise habits. My results spoke for themselves and I thought I was better than everyone else bc of it. Then when I got sick, I felt so much lower than "everyone" else bc they could do more, eat a certain way, blah blah. I went from feeling superior to inferior.I've realized that in the end it doesn't how much or how little you do and what others think and how they look down their noses at your bc you and your routine doesn't stack up compared to them. What matters is that I am happy and free to move about life on a daily basis that is pleasing and satisfying. I do movements that make me feel amazing and are not based on the scale, clothing, self-righteous gratification, and mirror-mirror on the wall feedback. I am strong, healthy, and happy AND I do less structured exercise now than at any point in the past decade+. This attitude adjustment has helped me with things like sleep deprivation, pain, stress, last-minute chaos, etc. I live life now and work my movement into life and no longer work life and the beauty of it around my fitness and food.
Exercise is such a small part of the weight-loss equation. When I understood that, I knew then that it was about health and happiness and not about the latest DVD release, fitness craze, or living up to some standard. Even the food aspect of weight loss is vastly different. One doesn't need to be virtuous with food either. Listen to your body and eat what it tells you. It does take time and practice, Intuitive Eating, but if you are at your lowest weight I'd make a bet that you've been listening to your body to more than most would think. Keep it up. Perhaps the new release will give you back some pep to your step. Perhaps it won't. But either way, know it's not about the fitness and really the type of foods, it's about being intuned with your body and at various points in life, you will have different priorities and needs. I know I let go of expectations and my quality of life improved. Who knows whats in store for you!
