I've been struggling this summer. So, it seems, have many Sparks friends I have come to respect during my 20 month journey.

Why? Because maintenance is harder than losing weight.

I hate to frighten those of you still struggling to get the weight off, but it's a dirty, little secret no one talks about.

Unfortunately, it's also true.

Losing weight and keeping it off isn't like other difficult things you've accomplished. I mean, once you learn to crawl, walk ride a bike, ski, pass calculus, or HTML tag your website, you know how to do it.

It's not the same with weight.

No one warns you that you have to constantly be vigilant. You can't stop weighing and measuring what you eat or logging your calories in and exercise. Heck, I've been wearing a BodyBugg for over a year. And, if I don't have a calorie deficit of at least 200 calories at the end of the day, my weight starts going up.

So, don't believe what you read that if you do 30 minutes of cardio three times a week and do strength training at least twice and don't go to hell with your food choices, you'll be fine. 'Cause it bollocks!

The people I know who are going through what's plaguing me aren't sitting on their duffs eating bon bons. They're out and about, living active lives, they just can't eat like regular people.

This is where SparksPeople lets us down. I know I'm echoing what's already been said by quite a few people of late, but perhaps if enough of us speak out, someone will listen.