Hello Maintainers!
CatherineF, you are a tough act to follow! Here I am with my measly 15-pound weight loss. But they're my 15 pounds (or should I say, they WERE my 15 pounds) and I'm glad to be rid of them.
My short story is that I spent high school in the 120s, college in the 140s, and the sixteen years since college in the 130s. Three pregnancies, three babies, but lost the baby weight every time. I tended to bounce around -- low 130s in the summer, high 130s by February. March was always the worst.
I tend to eat healthy but my problem has been huge portions + frequent treats. Stopping at Starbucks for a latte and a scone used to be a favorite activity. I still love my skim lattes, but scones will be few and far between here on out. And while I used to have 2 or even 3 lattes a day, now I rarely have more than one small one in the morning. My food scale has been a big help with getting a handle on reasonable portions.
Stress eating has also been a problem. A disagreement with my DH or challenges with the kids, and I want to eat! Counting calories, and knowing that even stress-induced-calories count, has helped me stop, think, and avoid that reaction for the past few months.
I've been a jogger for 18 years -- now I am aspiring to be a RUNNER. I run 4-5 times/week. I love running -- it is my stress relief, my positive reinforcement, and ideally my alone time (I often push a jog stroller, but on a good day he chills out and it's almost like being alone
).
Anyway, maintenance is very intimidating for me. I have a bunch of questions but will post them in the forum as I settle in here. My goal is to maintain at 120-124. I am thinking of keeping track of "days under 125" as a kind of motivator.
Maintenance --yikes!
