Just amazing - we saw the comet Pan-STARRS last night. OK, it's not actually spectacular; it requires binoculars (or scope) to see it. But it's just emotionally neat to see a comet. One place to learn how to see it is the EarthSky site.

Despite all the crazy and difficult stuff going on in all our lives, it's good to know that the Universe keeps doing its thing.

Good Morning Bill. How neat about your seeing the comet! Yeah, our stuff looks kinda small compared on a Universal scale.

Dagmar

Good morning, guys. :-)

Good morning folks! I feel like my weekend evaporated in a blur of sewing. On the upside, I'm done! My curtains and cushions are pretty amateurish but they'll get the job done. For the curious, I have a bunch of photos of me over the past couple months and of our in-progress nursery here. You can see my enormous belly (Saef, you were right, it does look like an easter egg), and a few mixed in pictures of Carter poking around and DH in the background. Also accomplished this weekend: assembling changing table, and buying a couple more maternity shirts since my belly is too big for the old ones.

Carter needs to have his nails trimmed again. Sigh. We did his front feet a week ago but didn't do his back feet. The back ones are easier on him and they need to be done because he stumbles more when they start growing too long. I was going to this weekend but was exhausted from everything else.

Interesting weight-related things I've been thinking about: I'm now up to 174, which is a gain of 36lbs. Doctors are happy with it so I'm trying not to worry about it -- if I can keep it to 50lbs I think I'll be in a good place, and they say the gain slows down at the end with twins. More to the point, I'm feeling like no wonder I'm so tired all the time, I'm lugging around a huge amount of extra weight. Then I wonder how I ever managed to live my life back when I weighed 185 and it was all just extra fat. I can't imagine what it would have been like to be fat *and* pregnant and I am so happy that I lost the weight.

Jessica, you certainly do look pregnant, but it is really becoming on you. I think your cushions look great. Glad everything is going along so well.

Hi Maintainers,

In some ways maybe it's a mistake to compare myself with others but I'm still in my first year of maintenance. It started last June 1 when I weighed 214.2 pounds (at 6'3" overweight but not terribly so, since my BMI is at 25.0 somewhere around 206). I did a cleanse and some serious dieting. By July 1 I was 203.2, by August 1 I was 188.4, and by mid-August I was down in the low to mid 180s. I stayed in what I now consider my ideal weight range of between 180-185 most of the time until Thanksgiving, and by mid-Decembetr I managed to get back down in the 184's. The real climb began around CXhristmas, and in early January I was 191.0. I gained one pound by February 1, then had a bad February and early March, peaking at 197. I'm at 195 today --ten pounds above my goal range--and feeling pretty confident again that I am dropping this weight.

Sorry for all the detail, but that's a picture of how my first year of maintenance ever is shaping up. I had hoped I would top out at around 190 in the winter, so I'm not overwhelmed with my success at getting up to 197. But I'm also at least a little happy that I avoided a whole season of gluttony and addiction, and that I didn't regain all the weight as I have in every past attempt. For now I am having no sugar or chocolate (fruits OK) and generally watching calories. The warmer weather and outdoor exercise opportunities always make weight loss and maintenance easier from now till November.

How does this compare to a typical winter for some of you longer-term maintainers? The image I've often had of maintaining weight is like that of an jet on cruise control at 30,000 feet in clear skies, but so far my reality has been pretty choppy, with lots of falling down and getting back up again, disappointments and relief, etc. I still feel I let it go further than is safe for me, with more weight gain than is good for my long-term health. It's not the wild yo-yo-ing of past years, but it's not exactly even either. What kind of weight ranges and temporary failures do some of the rest of you go through and endure in a typical year?

to all!

Jessica, I'm looking forward to checking out your pics tonight!

Chris, I'm going to abstain, since more or less, it's been cruise control for me, with a few substantial patches of turbulence that resolved back into smooth sailing without much ado.

bill, I think comets are terribly cool. I read somewhere that we may have one in the next few years that will be visible during the day.

Had a good weekend - too much beer, but also more exercise than I've had for a very long time. I am starting to keep a food diary again, as I'm periodically getting into something that is upsetting my guts. I'm thinking it's in the grain side. Could be interesting!

Good morning from Moab!

Having a great time. Hiked to Delicate Arch yesterday and then went out for dinner last night where all the girls got me a cake for my 50th birthday. Then we went out to karaoke and dancing.

Morning all! I'm back at work today, though still feeling pretty under the weather. I don't know if I'll make it all day or not.

Happy birthday, Allison!

Thanks Bargoo!

Chris, our replies will probably be skewed because weight loss and maintenance for men can be very different than it is for women, and it also varies by age. My maintenance range is 133-138 and during the course of a year I go all over the place in that range. I tend to be in the lower part during summer and the upper part during winter, and in a bad year I'll go over the top and have to restrict to get back down. However, I will tell you that it takes me a long time to lose 10lbs (and a decently long time to gain it as well), whereas my DH can gain or lose 10lbs in a week and often varies up to 25lbs over the course of a year. He's just over 6 feet and the whole time I've known him his weight has been between 180 and 220, usually in the 190-210 range which he maintains with little to no effort. Perhaps Bill can weigh in here, I know we're short on male maintainers to gather data from!

Allison, happy 50th!

Shannon, if you have the sick time and you're not feeling well, go home! Hope you feel better soon.

TIRED TIRED TIRED today, BF's upstairs neighbors were being loud at 4 AM to the point where he went up there and told them to pipe down. I had a hard time falling back asleep and tossed and turned until wakeup alarm at 7:10. zzz

Happy 50th Allison! Karaoke and dancing is fun fun fun, what did you sing??

paperclippy - loved the photos, you look so happy in all of them!

Shannon - hang in there. My boss is out sick today.

Chris - I'm not a long term maintainer but I think summer is harder than winter for weight maintenance - too many BBQs and long daylight hours always = drinking more alcohol.

Hi, Chris. Maintainance for me has not always been a smooth road. I have fallen a few times but have managed to get back on track. Weather doesn't have too much effect on me although I do love a good hearty stew on a cold day and would love to have some hot biscuits with it. Most of the time I forego the biscuits. I find maintaining to be every bit as difficult as losing. For me maintaining is eternal. There are some rules I have set down for myself. I can have a piece of pie but I cannot have a whole pie in my house, I can have a piece of cake but I cannot have a whole cake in my house. I don't remember the last time I had a half gallon of ice cream in my house, heck, I haven't even had a quart of ice cream in my house. These things aren't so difficult when I think of what will happen if I stop watching what I eat. I would rather never eat a piece of pie ala mode the rest of my life than have to start wearing extra large clothing again.

Hello all.....
still feeling overwhelmed but want to at least check in.

Maintenance for me has also been varied depending on the year. Some years have been easier than others, but I have definitely swung up and down no matter what. I like to maintain 118-120 but I haven't been there in almost a year so I'm not sure how realistic it is. I was 130 at the beginning of the year (my red line is 125) and I've been down to 123 for the past several days. However, I have a cruise coming up which can mean a huge gain for me so I'll have to be careful. Ideally, I'd be lower before the cruise to allow some wiggle room.

Happy birthday Allison!!

Michele a few years ago I took a cruise and lost one pound. Check to see if they have a spa buffet, which Karen and I used for our daytime eats. Evenings we dined at the big restaurant most of the time of course. Often I manage to maintain my weight for the first 2/3 of the cruise then let myself go to **** for the last few days. Unfortunately, Usually I get on a cruise ship as a passenger and leave as heavy baggage tho!

I always think I'm being fairly good-- we exercise on the cruise, do strenuous activities (ie. snorkeling), I eat mostly from the healthier options, but I always gain a ton. I know it is because I just eat MORE than I'm used to and allow myself some treats I wouldn't normally eat. The last cruise we went on I gained 7 pounds in 5 days. This is a 7 day cruise so I have reason to worry! Plus we will have one night in Houston after the cruise and we are planning on going out to a restaurant with friends there.....