...but I'm not. Thanks to TOM I've binged twice this week. Once on Wednesday, which I'm particularly ashamed about I NEVER binge on weekdays anymore, and once last night. I can use all the TOM excuses that I want but the truth is I made the choice and I gave myself permission. The binges and damage were minor, but the emotional damage is not. So it's time to dust myself off and push forward. I did learn a lot this week. I feel like 148 is WAY to close to 150 and I need a bigger buffer for non binge related fluctuations like TOM. I realized chocolate milk is NOT a good post recovery workout drink for me. I learned that I like my losing cal level so much and am so comfortable and confident there that my extra maintenance weekday cals should come in the for of a post workout protein shake so mentally I don't really feel like I'm eating extra cals and then leave most of my maintenance cals for the weekends (we frequent restaurants). So fortunately I'm realizing all this, makings confessions and pushing forward NOW instead of 10, 20, 50 or 120 lbs from now. Ok, thanks for listening.

hang in there!

I think you are doing great because you seem to be very in touch with your body and you can identify your triggers and do something to change it. I know you will be a great maintainer. Try not to be too hard on yourself as you are learning what your body needs

You have done a fantastic job losing the weight! You will find what works for you in maintenance. I know you will!

The best part is you recognize that you let it happen and what you need to do to prevent it in the future.

I've had issues with binging in the past and the best thing is to not let it carry you into eating bad all the time. I let that happen once, and not again!

l hit goal and immediately gained two pounds if I recall correctly. I spent the next two months going up and down up and down. In fact, a bunch of us maintainers did if I recall having this *conversation* at one time or another. After those two months, I decided to lower my goal weight and took it down another 11 pounds. And yes, I still go up and down, but now since I am lower the ups aren't quite as high a number, barring a couple of instances.

I know for me, and heck yes we're all different, I like keeping my calories identical during the week for maintenance that I did while I was losing. It's what I know, it's what I'm comfortable with. It works for me. So it didn't make sense for me to change that. For me to have added in calories would have been disastrous - leaves the door open, too many variables - you don't fix what ain't broke. So my extra calories come on the weekends.

Nothing is broken. Nothing is unfixable. No matter what happens during the *figure it out stage* - you can't gain back 120 lbs in a week.

Trial and error. That's what it's all about. You're entering a new stage and have to learn how to navigate it. And that's what you're doing. You WILL figure it out.

I bounced all around when I first went into maintaince & in the past 6 weeks it's begun to be a bit more stable. I had to go from counting points to calories to do it (dunno if that made a difference or it's all in my mind lol)....hang in there girlie! You'll find your balance soon

I think is going to be me, and I'm ok with that, in fact I'm more than ok with it. It's very comforting to feel like I'm in control and I already know what to do. When I start to think about finding a maintenance range and dealing with that along with restaurants on the weekends I literally start to have an anxiety attack. So I think the first stage of maintenance for me will be to change nothing! Once I lose another few lbs to get a little further from 150 I think I'll add any extra cals I need to the weekends, maybe practice "intuitive eating" on the weekends. That way I know that if I *choose* to eat more over the weekend I'll make up for/balance it out during the week. So in a sense I'll be taking weekends off, but they will NOT be a pig out session or a free for all, but you know what I mean. Ahhhhh....I feel better already. Now if TOM would just get here so she can be over with life would be grand!

I really want to caution you about the intuitive eating on the weekends. I tried that many times and I wound up with HUGE gains.

As much as my habits have changed back from my 287 lb days (including a MUCH smaller stomach capacity - thank G-d), intuitive eating can NEVER work for me. My intuition somehow still quite easily remembers and reverts to the old Robin - who had no turn off valve. So those weekends still have PLENTY of rules, definite NO's and MUCH awareness and mindfullness. AND I can't really go over my calories EVERY weekend. Sometimes I'm still catching up from the week before. Because every time I go over my daily calories, it is ALWAYS with the knowledge that the scale will go UP. ALWAYS. So I then have to get them back down during the week and if I haven't gotten them all the way back down by the time the next weekend rolls around again, I need a *tight* weekend. No splurges. No overages.

I am sure you will quickly find this out. And I also know you mentioned no free for all on the weekends, so just beware. Not in a scary way, but in a responsible, kinda cautious way.

I'm not worried about you. I've got full confidence you will be on top of this.

ncuneo,

Maintenance means working to keep things at a certain status quo in order to maintain the integrity of a place/thing/situation/person's weight.
Sounds good, doesn't it? (I just made that up!)

Therefore, the highs and lows, ups and downs are just part of the see-saw of weight maintenance, which is not much different than the see-saw of weight loss!

You are doing just that by addressing a few little "rusty" parts that you noticed need maintenance, after which things will be back to the status quo ... or in some cases, newer and shinier than ever!

And then it starts all over again.....