[Meg]

Good morning! I'm about to dash off to the gym for cardio, home for a quickie shower, and then back for a client. 'Fraid it's going to be wimpy cardio as the result of a great leg workout yesterday (I'm having trouble walking a straight line this AM). I'm thinking that a half hour on the bike will be QUITE ENOUGH, thank you very much.

Food's been about 97% good since I got home from vacation, but it's got to improve if I want the scale to go down. Why is it so easy to gain and so darn hard to lose a few pounds? Sigh.

OK, I've got to run but hope to hear from everyone!

[Mel]

Morning, Maintainers

This is "back to basics" week for me, after a week of no lifting and a couple of days of "acting out" with food. It was ugly and childish and I feel like I did a lot of cardio, but that just wasn't enough to keep me on track. From Thursday on was just ugly. No more of that.

No scale for at least a week, but I'm back mentally.

It's stinking hot here- I may start going to the pool and swimming in the eveing.

Mel

[lessismore]

Mornin'

Meg - 1/2 hour sounds like plenty to me. You all amaze me with the hour long + cardio work outs! The pounds always come off slowly, I think vacation pounds are even slower, what do you think?


Mel - Yesterday it was 80 in NH, today it's 50 - gotta love it. But tomorrow it's supposed to be hot again and stay that way for the week. A swim sounds great - you're right back on track, believe me, I know the damage that can be done in one weekend, but you'll reverse it quickly.

I had a great eating day yesterday after a cruddy start to the weekend. I plan to continue with a very low carb diet this week to get off the sugar!!! It's not easy, I'm kind of grumpy this morning and already craving something I should not have, but I'm staying with it this time. No more excuses.

Have a great day everyone.

[Sashenka]

Hi,

I see that it is "back to basics" week for many of us! Sometimes when i turn to this page on monday, I feel so much better I am not the only one who has to deal with all the crap I ate during weekend!

Anyways, talking about weather. Was pouring rain here on SUnday and I promised my kids a hike. So on we went for 4 hour long hike and we made it! I have to say that my 4 y.o. had the best hiking mood ever and she was singing songs and pretending she is a duck! There were NO people in the woods to the whole delight of our dog who ran probably twice as much as we walked. We were all soaking wet and i had to undress kids when we made it to the car and wrap them in towels. But we had great fun!

Today I biked to work which I plan to do 3 times/week as I did in May. I am reading Portion Savvy book about portion control and i am trying to stick to it. Actually on Saturday we had friends over and I skipped chocolate as well as pie (my favourite) and while doing my regular grocery shopping last week I skipped cookies and brownies. So it MUST be a good week as I absolutely DO NOT HAVE any sweets in the house.

Have a great week everyone,
Sandy.

[MaintenanceMomma]

I'll have to answer Ilene's question from last weeks post, since it is already Monday. I can't believe you don't get out until the 24th. That seems very late to me! Do you start late or have lots of vacations? We don't start up again until September 6th! Three months of pure bliss!

Meg - I find eating easier in the summer for many reasons. 1 - all the fresh fruits and veggies, 2 - It stays light forever, so I can keep busy outside away from the kitchen, 3 - I just eat less when it is warm out and 4 - I am way more active in the summer. I don't have any huge plans this summer. Just carting my children to where they need to be mostly! I am on two golf leagues one with the girls and one with my DH. We like to camp and I just bought a new travel trailer, so we are looking forward to using that. I may also visit some friends in Oklahoma if we can get everyone's schedules to coincide. I would also like to start some landscaping but I haven't a clue about it, so I'll have to do some research in that department.

Anne - I had a great exercise video when I was pregnant. I tried to find it, so I could tell you what it was but must be I loaned it out to someone, who didn't return it. I thought MI was the only place were it could be 80 one day and snowing the next. Must be NH is just as unpredictable. Around here we say, "If you don't like the whether in Michigan, just wait a minute and it will change!"

Sandy - Hiking in the rain? It sounds terrible but I bet your children had a hoot! What a fun Mom you must be!

Sue

[SueJo74]

Hi everyone! I am officially finished three weeks of maintenance, and it is interesting. I have never seen such fluctuations in the scale ever, probably they were "hidden" while I was trying to lose.

I have alternatively been panicking because I think I've gained, or extremely happy because I think I'm staying the same while not killing myself with diet/ exercise. I hope to get used to this soon. I think I'm finally realizing that all the weight is not going to come back on the minute I eat a slice of pizza. As long as I don't start eating the whole pizza.

Weather has been crazy here in Alberta, we had rain for seven days straight, with flooding in some areas (not mine, thank goodness).

It's starting to clear up, I hope it will be sunny tomorrow. We Canucks like our summer weather, the season is too short as it is.

Have a great one everybody.

[Meg]

Hi Sue! Oh boy, I can really identify with your maintenance roller coaster of feelings! No matter how prepared for the realities of maintenance that we think we are - we aren't. It's a whole new ball game and yep, it can be really scary at times.

You hit the nail on the head when you said: I think I'm finally realizing that all the weight is not going to come back on the minute I eat a slice of pizza. As long as I don't start eating the whole pizza. It took me a long time (and sleepless nights when I'd worry that I was going to wake up 50 pounds heavier) before I figured out that ONE bad choice isn't going to make me gain the weight back. It's going to take a whole SERIES of bad choices to do that.

The whole issue of lapses and relapses and collapses is such an important part of maintenance because - try as we might - we're not going to be perfect dieters for the rest of our lives. We're inevitably going to mess up and make bad choices at times (definitely myself included ) and it's what we do afterwards that makes the difference between maintenance and regain. Let's say you didn't plan on pizza but ate a piece. Do you put the brakes on at one piece and do some extra cardio and eat carefully for the rest of the day? Or do you eat the rest of the pizza and have a pint of Ben and Jerry's for dessert since you're blown it anyway?

I'm still working on getting away from that 'black and white', 'good or bad', 'on or off' the diet kind of thinking and instead realizing that this is all about living the rest of my life without being obsessed by food. For me, the goal is to have my food choices fade into the background of my life (though I know I'll always have to be mindful of what I eat) and let me concentrate on LIVING maintenance (hence the title to this forum! )

Last winter we had an outstanding discussion of Anne Fletcher's Thin For Life here in the Maintenance Library. Chapter 5 discusses lapses, relapses, and how to prevent weight regain and there are a ton of great posts that are worth checking out - if you're interested, you can read the thread here.

Happy Friday to all! What's everyone up to this weekend? I'm going to put together a newsletter for my gym and hopefully finish cleaning my house. DH and I are going out to dinner for our anniversary tomorrow night at a fabulous French restaurant and I'm going to enjoy every bite! So I think that means I better get off my butt and go do some cardio in preparation for the calorie onslaught.

Have a great weekend, gang!

[4rabbit]

Hi Meg,
Enjoy your dinner !!! Celebrating your anniversary in a fabulous french restaurant sounds great !

Have a great weekend all,

rabbit