I got the first stabilization menu for MetaBalance this week. It's basically just replacing the mid-morning HNS with a comparable protein like a piece of string cheese. If I would just stop having extra stuff, I should still be able to lose the last 5. I'm having alcohol way too often. It's such a hard habit to break, especially in the summer with all the events and all-around more relaxed feel... Last night we had a small party at which my husband made ceviche and grilled mahi mahi tacos that he caught in mexico. I made very healthy sides - tomato salad, roasted corn salad, spicy cole slaw, sliced watermelon. It was summertime heaven. Oh, and margaritas with fresh-squeezed lime juice....I topped mine with sparkling water to cut the alcohol and it was surprisingly good.
Someone brought a rhubarb crisp and ice cream. Tasty, but not so good for camaswa....

I'm going to focus more intently on exercise now. I have two books I am using for information about strength-training and building muscle, one I have mentioned before called Lose the Fat, Feed the Muscle: The Body Fat Principle by Tom Venuto. The other is The New Rules of Lifting for Women. The later book would have you eat way more calories than MRC would suggest, so right now I'm just looking at the exercise part. But that book's premise really is that it takes way more fuel, especially protien, to mild muscle, than even a 1500 cal diet gives you. Reading too much can confuse.... So many different theories and plans out there.

Faerychic, so glad to hear of your great progress! our path has been so similar.

Stay cool, everyone.

tamikl, that is GREAT! Remember that analogy about auto-pilot actually being continual course-correcting? That's what you are doing! Yay!

Exactly! That's what I had to figure out and what I've been doing for the last year. It's a slower weight-loss, but it's still a loss over time.

One thing to keep in mind-- when I first started maintaining (truly maintaining, not just losing slower), I figured out I needed to have some other goals for myself. I mean, I got so used to celebrating a victory on the scale every week, and it's just not the same when you step on and you're like, "yay, I maintained. No change." That's actually when I started running and decided to do my yoga certification. I decided I needed some physical fitness/activity goals that were directly tied to my being and eating healthy in order to help keep me on track. I needed to feel like I was still making progress. Not saying you have to start running or do yoga, but find something you enjoy and want to improve at--that is directly tied to you continuing to eat well and stay active. It's all a mind game, from here on out!
Ditto! This is how I started running! It's a program that truly works and doesn't kill you or make you hate running--it definitely eases you in. As far as learning proper form and whatever--I recommend a book called "The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide for Women." It has lots of tips and tricks about running--especially as you increase distances--the author is funny, and she also does a good job of addressing the need to overcome the obstacles in our mind in order to run further or faster. Or at all. Proper form is pretty basic: make sure you are relaxed (as possible) and run with good posture. After that, just watch other runners and experiment with different strides, breath patterns, and etc. There's so many pros who recommend so many different ways, but I think it's about paying attention to your body and what works for you. If nothing else, though, GET GOOD RUNNING SHOES!

Yay! Congrats, and welcome to the "club!"

Back home. And I was so sure the scale would be up to 160. I was ready for it. I was ready to go back to the yellow plan for a few days...and I stepped on the scale...it was 155. Just .5 up from where I left. I do want to hit 150 by my birthday at the end of the month, but it won't be nearly so hard as I thought. Don't get me wrong, it will take me no cheating and lots of focus, but 5 pounds this month is doable if I stay on track...which I am going to do! Going to precondition this week (I need to get out of the snacking habit...I did good with staying away from sweets on my vacation, but got in the habit of mindlessly snacking).

This is 100% true. And if we are always looking for the "perfect" plan, we'll spend more time reading/thinking/worrying than actually doing it. Even when this is the area I'm an expert in and can make programs for people, I'm always looking for someone else's ideas. I actually had a high school football player that I was training tell me "You are really good at what you do. You should go work with the NFL and not train me again...no offense." None taken.

The research shows that many different strength plans work similar (i.e. when they look at sets/reps/etc, as long as people are consistent with doing SOMETHING, they build muscle/strength). The beauty is that there are so many programs out there that you can chose one for a month or two, then switch...or just slightly alter the one you are on if you like it. In the summers I generally do body weight exercises with timed intervals...pushups for a minute, squats for a minute, dips for a minute, lunges for a minute, ab exercise for a minute...repeat, repeat. I throw in different ex's. That way I can do them anywhere. Starting in Sept. I'll be doing more weight room stuff with sets and reps and trying to increase my weights. That's where I can actually see a difference is when I use that method...but it's just not practical for me to do it year round. I actually couldn't do it while I was on the green menu. That's why I'm going to do the green menu most of this month to get at or below 150, then build muscle which may put on a few pounds of muscle over the course of the year, but it will kick start my "furnace" (calorie burning).

I agree that if you are trying to put on muscle, 1500 calories is too low. During my heavy strength and running seasons of life, 1900 calories is more like it for me...or even up to 2400 on some days. Not everyday, but some. That's why bodybuilders go through different phases. They have time where they are just working on building the muscle and may eat quite a bit and even get some extra fat on them, but then close to competition they will go through a cutting phase where they reduce their food intake, especially carbs, and focus on maintaining the muscle they have while doing cardio on top of it to get rid of the fat and get the "ripped" look.

For the record ladies...that PB2 is fabulous!!!!

nwcgina - It sounds like you are a personal trainer, so I'll ask the question and see if you can give me advice. I've lost 20 pounds and now have more "old lady" skin than I would like to have. It's mainly on my upper arms (not so much "water wings" any more, just loose, wrinkly skin) and thighs. I've never been much of a person to work out (especially with weights) and now I have fibromyalgia and it's too painful to lift, etc. My daughters both are fitness nuts and said that I should try light weights, however I'm not sure that would help. Any ideas on how to get rid of this excess skin that used to be full of fat? I found a trainer's blog on the internet that said that there is a thin layer of fat under the wrinkles and when I get rid of that, the ugly wrinkles should go away too. Makes some sense, but I'm looking to get rid of it now! Any ideas from any one?

If lifting weights is too difficult/painful, maybe resistance bands would help? I do yoga, and I think it really helped tighten me up in a lot of areas. I will say, however, that I still have some loose skin on my upper arms, my breasts, my lower abdomen, and my upper thighs. I'm starting to suspect that this may not ever tighten up for me, but I figure that's because I had carried soooo much extra weight for soooo long. After a lot of careful thought about it, I am planning on having my arms and belly (I don't care that much about my upper thighs) taken care of when I have "the girls" put back in place sometime after I've had kids. I guess I figure that will be my reward if I can manage to lose pregnancy weight and get back to where I am now.

Sorry I'm not much help. Like I said, I have been doing yoga for 2 years now, and I can definitely tell a difference in my muscle strength and tone.

jlpnebraska-I agree with teacherlady. Yoga or resistance bands are good strengthening/firming exercises. I especially like yoga or pilates for people with arthritis, fibro, or other chronic pain issues. Also water aerobics class. I have arthritis in my knees and often experience joint pain in my hips as well, so i can't workout like i used to, which just kills me. Especially since I work with athletes. (I'm actually an athletic trainer...the person who runs onto the field with a fanny pack when an athlete gets hurt. I also teach exercise physiology at a college, so exercise is my area of expertise).

Some of the skin firms up with time. But some (sadly) will remain that way, especially if you've carried that weight for a long time. I (like teacherlady) had carried the weight so long that some of the skin is just going to look saggy, although it does firm up some with exercise...especially on the arms. The abdomen area is a different story. Mine will always look like a road map with old stretch marks...so no matter how small my waist gets I'll never wear a bikini. I say it keeps me modest. I just do my best to firm up what I can, and dress the parts I can't to be flattering. (But if I am doing planks and catch sight of my tummy I catch myself thinking "it looked better with more fat")...but since I don't walk around shirtless, it looks better smaller

Surgery is the only other way to tighten up saggy skin. A bit of trivia...that's why Richard Simmons always wears a tank top. His skin is so flabby from the time when he was overweight but he doesn't want to have surgery.

WI yesterday and the scales didn't budge. Plateaus are so frustrating but I'm not going to use it as license to eat whatever. If I've learned anything, it will move...eventually, if I stick with it.

About saggy skin. I'm 57 and after gaining and losing more than a few times, the skin around my armpits just won't shrink back up. I can accept the batwings, but this is tough. When I see that area, like when I am holding a hair dryer, I am stunned. It looks like a really old person. I still wear sleeveless sometimes and actually am liking the biceps and triceps development I have achieved, but this.... Even short sleeved t shirts don't hide it completely. It's WRINKLY... I guess I just keep working on the parts I can and try to get over this...

Related, I had a tummy tuck in 2005. It would have been better if I had been thinner, but even so it was miraculous. I had terrible, deep stretch marks from pregnancy, and a hang-down lower abdomen that was just gross. My dr called it an "apron." whatever, it was a HUGE surgical procedure to go through, and at times I thought I would never be able to stand up straight again. But it absolutely changed my life-even still 30+ pounds overweight I felt normal-looking for the first time. And now, I look really good in that area, if I do say so myself.

Gina, Richard Simmons? now that's a blast from the past! i had all his workout videos! :-) on those big Video tapes! one tape came w/ resistance bands that i about popped my eye out. lol! talking about stretched out skin, my mama used to always tell me to lose the weight while i was young so i wouldn't have excess skin. well, i did and gained, and lost and gained and lost :-) my batwings are droopy and i try not to wave at people from the boat! better to do the beauty queen wave so it doesn't flap so much :-) just pivot your wrist. maybe i'll get out my old Billy Blanks Tae Bo dvds- all those punches might just work and i do love me some Billy :-)

when i'm on the beach in a bathing suit, i feel much better about myself when i've had a couple margaritas or a couple mich ultras. just saying!!! :-) plus when i look around and see everyone hanging out (literally) i'm envious of how comfortable they are w/ themselves and am like, you go girls!!

Camaswa, try some really good heavy lotion like even suntan lotion - that really helps. i cake on the cocoa butter lotion every am right out of the shower.

On the subject of skin...........I have noticed with the weight loss this go around that my skin looks crepey - like crepe paper - on my neck, around my knees and my forearms. I am thinking this is something that is not going to go away due to my age - 52 (change in hormones maybe?) I think this is different than saggy skin like my belly apron or droopy boobs! Also, as I lose more weight I have noticed lines in my face. My cheeks look hollow now and I have more crows feet!

Same here, in fact I tried to write crepey, but couldn't decide how to spell it so just wrote wrinkly! But I am in the exact same boat. Yuck.

Well, girls, thanks for chiming in! I hate to tell you, but I think that age has something to do with it too. The crepey skin is an old age thing. I've got wrinkly going on and crepey going on, but I guess that as long as it's not full of fat, I should be happy. I've also spent lots of time in the sun and that has definitely aged my skin and didn't help the other problems.

I think that I should look into yoga or pilates - the problem is that I live in a small town and there are no opportunities to take classes here. My daughters might have some instructional dvds that I could learn from, but it's easier for me if I go to a class, rather than do it alone when I'm learning. Maybe a little more weight loss will help it out and I could just perfect my beauty queen wave.

I will chime in here with the skin situation after losing weight. I have wrinkles and some deep lines in face since losing weight that I did not have before and I did the weights for arms while losing, and I have wrinkled like, for better word, hanging skin on my arms, and they are thin. I don't wear sleeveless anymore due to that, as it is not a good looking site. I do wear short sleeves, but not sleeveless. My sister noticed it in May when I was up North for a graduation. She suggested seeing a plastic surgeon, which is out of the question, but for her saying something to me, made me take attention to the fact, that is it is there and not the best looking, but nothing I can do.She is not a vicious type person and meant no harm, but has not seen me for awhile and we were talking about her neck, which she does not like the look of and I started on my face, etc..
I walk 1 hour daily, do the weights at home, and I just do not have time for anything else working full time.
Soooo, to sum it up I have the crepey, wrinkly, or whatever skin we are calling it and not happy about it. Face is the worse, I would have to say. It is very aging and I am there already. LOL.
Patzi