Hey guys - pick your chin up and listen.
My center closed pretty recently - I think it was late October or early November. It's so wierd to read everyones posts filled with anxiety and despair because when my center closed I felt the same way! I was so worried that I would just gain everything back right away. I started having urges to eat bad foods when I hadn't really splurged at all since February when I started this whole thing. This worried me to no end... I had to wait 2 weeks to talk to a counselor on the phone and I felt so lost because for the previous 8 months I had weighed in at the center 3 times a week without fail! Suddenly the only accountability I had was to myself and this discussion board.
Looking back, it really has not been that bad doing this on my own. I have the knowledge now and all I need to do is use it. I've lost a couple of pounds since the center closed, which is cool because I'm so close to goal I know that it will be a slower process to get there. I feel good where I'm at right now and that is motivation enough to keep this up. I have talked to the LA on the go counselor a couple of times, but I can't honestly say its the same. I would suggest everyone at least get this set up so that they can get plan info when its time to drop down a plan or go into stabilization/maintenance phase - you want to at least get all the information that you paid for!
I stumbled across an old thread pretty recently that had started when Dan was losing his center and it was strange to see that he too had the same concerns (Dan - if you're reading - it's only because you always exude such confidence!).
Anyway - my point is, we all go through the worrisome phase when the center's abandon us - especially when we've had such great success with them. But the bottom line is YOU are the one making it happen! Take credit, stay accountable to yourself! Keep weighing 3 times a week or more, keep journaling your food, stay on plan... and when you start to stall or plateau, don't forget to stay involved here so that we can all help each other through those tough times!
I hope to see you all stick around here