The roller coaster ride that is your weight

A couple of years ago I lost 43 pounds on Weight Watchers. I was pretty happy about that.

Then, beginning around Christmas 2013, I started gaining it back. A pound here, a pound there. At first I was fine with it because I had gotten a little too gaunt, or at least that's what many people said.

But then I went past the upper limit of where I wanted to be. Then I went way past where I wanted to be.

And now I've regained more than half of what I lost, which is more frustrating than I can tell you.

I come from a family of solidly built Welsh-German people. We have big thigh and calf muscles, which is good if you're a runner/walker like me, but we also have have a tendency to be "stocky," to put it politely.

In December 2012 I weighed something like 215 pounds. Six months later I got as low as 172. I wanted to stabilize at 185.

But as I type this, I'm almost 200 pounds with clothes on.

Weight Watchers is a great program and I think it works wonders. But like any healthy eating plan, it comes with the little caveat that you actually have to keep doing it if you don't want the weight to come back.

I tend to eat healthy. I just eat too much.

So now I'm slowly trying to lose the weight again. I've already dropped a few pounds, and I'm hoping by the end of the year to be back at a comfortable, healthy number.

In the meantime, I have a whole closet full of men's medium-sized clothing that's too tight on me. Stuff I bought after my The Big Weight Loss of 2013 when I figured I would be the same size forever. I hope to fit back into most of it before the calendar turns to 2016.

Losing weight is actually relatively easy, especially for guys. Maintaining weight loss is a whole different ball game, and for me it requires a full mental, spiritual and physical commitment. I lost my focus over the last year-plus, and now I'm trying to get it back.

That's life, I guess. Sometimes you're good, sometimes you're bad. Some people say it's important to maintain that healthy number on the scale, others say you shouldn't obsess over it.

All I know is that when the number is low, I feel better all around. Nowadays I feel like my clothes are tight and I'm more tired than normal. All because I can't stop going to the refrigerator.

Or at least I couldn't do that for several months. Now I'm back under control...I think.

So it's back down the roller coast hill I go. Only this time, I plan on getting off once I get to the bottom.