Hi Lisa - welcome back
Congratulations for catching the slide and getting yourself back on track! I think that's the key to keeping the weight off long term and it was the hardest thing for me to learn.
I've weighed myself every day for so long that I know my weight fluctuates wildly. I can gain or lose 5 lbs in a week for no logical reason. Knowing that though I watch for trends, is it up and staying up? Am I up more than 5 lbs? That helps me from getting too far off. It's just a matter of finding what works for you.
I'm one who doesn't allow myself to go totally off plan when I'm away from home. Then again I'm away from home a lot. When we go on vacation to the coast I often have one planned off plan dinner. Usually that means the entree is off plan but is surrounded by the usual on plan veggies. The rest of the week is planned ahead and is my usual food. That might happen 3 times a year. My Mom now knows what I eat. She is great about stocking lots of fresh fruits and veggies and I bring my own foods to supplement - smoothie ingredients and veggie proteins usually. It sounds like a lot of work but at this point it's just a small part of my away from home planning process.
I let myself slide last fall with wedding planing, the wedding and my Dad's health emergency. I ended up with 10 extra lbs that it took me all winter to get rid of. I definitely don't want to do that again. Living with all that extra weight again would be a lot more work.
Last summer we started a thread
Making This Work in Real Life
It's been awhile since I read this. Anyone have new tips to add?