Dagmar, Weeks like this one are there to make the good ones that much brighter.

No pool. When I posted at 2pm yesterday, I thought I was golden. By the time I got home at 6, not so much. I will be patient. I did stretch this morning without any ouchies, and putting on socks was no problem so I think I'm well on the mend. I will shoot for Saturday morning.

Good idea Becky!

Hope it warms up soon for you Dagmar. That will improve your mood I'm sure.... it's 70 degrees here today but I think it's giving everyone the false idea that Spring is here while it is not. Plus it is still cold in the mornings-- 34 when I drove in so you have to dress in layers.

No butter or peanut butter on Wednesday. Streak is 15.

Gymn this morning, just to do some stretches. Met my oldest gymn rat friends: he will be 82 in the spring, she is about 76 or so. She was balancing on one of those bosu balls, on one leg, moving her arms and legs about. Crikey. She looks about 12 from behind and sometimes from the side.

I’ve been able to walk downstairs without knee pain. Hurray! I haven’t tried our stairs at home yet, though.

Dagmar, you’ve got a lot happening at the moment and it’s cold. Some more dogs are sure to come along. Enjoy the fruit and mint tea.

Becky, the putting on socks test is a good one. Saturday morning sounds good. But you won’t go if you still feel wrong, will you?

You know, you might think there are just a few of us here, wittering about our personal struggles and offering a bit of support to the others now and then .... but this thread has had more than 4,000 views!

Dear Lurker*, please come and join us. You'll be very welcome. And I know we'll benefit from your experiences. And I hope we'll be able to offer you something in return.

*Sorry I called you Lurker but I don't know your real name yet.

Dagmar: Hope the end of the week improves a bit. Did you succeed in your plan to drink herb tea instead of the beer/candy approach last night? This is always my biggest challenge, to stay strong in my willpower when stressed and tired especially in the evening.

Becky, I hear you on the glacial weight loss. Three days POP (and yes, that means NO alcohol, too!) and absolutely no loss. Perhaps I was about 100 calories over what I planned, but still under 1500 (I shoot for something like 1450 or 1380, I can't remember what MyFitnessPal recommended based on my rather sedentary lifestyle). Yes, I said it, sedentary. Golf on the weekends is all the exercise I get and that's really only walking 3 miles carrying my bag of clubs, so not much at all. Believe me, I am still trying to wrap my head around more exercise it's just that my brain refuses to acknowledge that I'll have to get up at 4 AM rather than 5 AM to get this accomplished. (I know, do it after work. Yeah, not going to happen right now--I work 7-4 and once home I toil for at least 1 1/2 hours to take care of the animals and all their needs and get dinner on the table.) I'm usually quiet spent by 7 PM and in bed by 9 PM.

I am also dealing with a stubborn scale. I have been frustratingly and consistently over my "redline" by about 1/2 pound all week. I know that a 1/2 pound shouldn't frustrate me so badly, but it's like the number 120 is just sitting there to taunt me every morning! Especially when I've been really on track this week with exercise and been good - not perfect but good - with food!!

I did 250 kettlebell swings last night, so I might even see a upwards surge tomorrow which will make me pout heading into the weekend.

Jen

ICU - thanks for the reply. Just plugging along......the anxiety is gone for today.

Back issues are no fun. I spent 3 months in Physical Therapy after an injury at a U2 concert. (Crazy U2 fan wanted my spot in front of Bono and I did not want to give it up.) Still 10 years later I have to ice and heat it. If I sleep funny, I'm hurting the next day. Good luck to you.

Add me to the list of frozen-scale sufferers. I've eaten a max of 1400 net calories each day for a week (I subtract out "real exercise" like my 14-mile daily bike commute, and call myself sedentary the rest of the time for the calculations). In addition to the bicycling, I've gone for two long runs. I've avoided alcohol entirely and dessert almost entirely. The math says I've lost 1.2 pounds. My scale says I've gained 0.5 pounds. I have been as honest as I know how to be on the calorie logging. I guess I'll call it "water weight" for now.

ETA: Jen - 250 kettleball swings?!?! Wow!

dstalksalot - dangerous places, concerts! But 10 years after and you're still suffering? That's bad.

Yes, 250 swings? My goodness.

DH went to Costco today. Among the other things he brought home is what looks like 10 lbs. of chocolate truffles. I saw the box in the kitchen and have been avoiding it like crazy. He and I have had the discussion about how much easier it is to eat healthily if such things do not come home.

I have stayed upstairs after dinner.

I will eat my fruit at 8 p.m. and then go straight back upstairs.

Dagmar

I should clarify that they weren't in a row! 10 sets of 25...But wow - hip flexors and my butt are feeling them today!!

Here's hoping the scales are feeling kind to all of us for Friday!!!

Silver, yes I will still go on Saturday, but I will be very mindful about my turns, regardless. It was good of you to reach out to the lurkers. I like this thread very much - it proves that successful maintainers are still very, very well acquainted with the process of losing and that we truly do live with our feet 80-99% in the same world that we occupied while we were losing.

allison, it could be the 4th day that makes things move. I'm trying to take the long view of 5 pounds by spring because unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on my mood) like in many other areas of my life, I'm only willing to devote about an 80% effort to it because it is no longer an "urgent" task. It certainly was when I was 174 lbs! And I am in lockstep with you about the exercise - I do need to move it higher in the priority list. At least I have managed to mostly remove all obstacles from the 3x week swim practices. Except weather, holidays, and injuries. And days that end in "y", and spouses that have to travel and DS's that can't drive yet ...

Jen - holy cr@p, I admire your strength and resolution.

Dagmar - I've seen those truffles. I am really sorry for you that they are in your house. Can you convince DH to hide them? Or keep them in an opaque container that is "not yours"?

My scale had a hard time deciding if I was a half pound down or not - it finally concluded I was. 153.5. On to the next half pound.

Scale down about .4 today so that improves my outlook.

Becky~I can't use the same excuses. No kids at home and my spouse doesn't travel. But I do have the sick dog (who is back on subcutaneous fluids that require me to be home 2x a day for about 10 minutes) and work that takes a good 9 hour chunk out of each day. And his lung mets make it impossible to walk him, you know? (BTW I've decided it isn't the cancer that will "get" him in the end, it's the kidney failure that will do him in. As long as he's on subcutaneous fluids, he feels good and eats well, without he starts refusing food again.)

DS is coming home this weekend as Monday is a holiday off school for him. The dinner I planned for Sunday will have to wait (salmon over rice, steamed broccoli with some orange teriyaki sauce) as he doesn't eat fish (and I only have enough for four) unless I can come up with something that he'll enjoy (perhaps orange chicken and he can still eat the rice and broccoli--yeah, that might work!).

My scale was up .8 today-- way over my redline still. So, yes, my mood is
Going to try to have a good day anyway and try not to notice my stomach smushed into my tight jeans-- or pouring over the top as the case may be.

I'm planning on my monthly weigh in tomorrow and I really didn't want it to be up. Unless a scale fairy flies down from above to give me a giant whoosh, I think it will be. I could wait until next Saturday but dh comes home next Thursday and the last thing he wants when he gets home is for me to be in "diet mode".

We are planning a cruise in April. Same exact one we did last year as it works schedule wise with my spring break. I tend to gain a LOT on a cruise so my strategy is usually to try to have some wiggle room before going. I'm not sure that I'll be able to get to have any wiggle room by then so I may have to be much more strict about my eating on the cruise. We'll see if I can make some serious headway by then.