I agree with you Linden, I had to get control back quickly or my weight would have gotten out of control fast.I also gained extra pounds back quickly in maintenance. I have reset my weight goal lower and restarted phase 1 and I will really have to watch the carbs this time when I hit phase 3 & 4. I still lost a little while in phase 3, but I also tried to keep my carbs lower than the 50 allowed. I have found some good low carb breads, pancake mix and cereals, and will probably do a phase 3 type eating in phase 4 this time when I reach those phases, and also not eat carbs at the evening meal.

Happy, happy, happy belated birthday and congratulations, big time, on moving into a new home that you had to labor through the building process to get to. Well, double congratulations. (I'm not a big fan of moving, either, especially cross country then an ocean. At least you had your car and it wasn't stuck on a boat in the middle of a gale in the Pacific.) I also appreciate the link and the charts. They're quite helpful and seem to correlate with the wrist measurement. And, to be honest, I totally cracked up at (and sympathize with) the 3 foot thighs. I looked in the mirror the other day and said to myself You don't have saddlebags, Lady. Those are panniers.

If anyone would like to use a calculator to see what their BMI is vis a vis their age, here is a site. www.baby2see.com/medical/your_bmi.htm I can't comment on its viability but I sure liked the results.

Okay...so as scared as I was, I took out my new scale from Christmas and weighed myself...first time since I hit maintenance on December 15th and went crazy through new years. Well...I weighed in at 133.4 phew. Down from maintenance weight. Weird thing is the scale weighs water, body fat, etc., and it said my body fat was 39%, obviously that is incorrect. But still annoying to see. I was 22% on Dec. 15th, I guess i'll assume I am still in lower 20s...?

Hi everyone. Back from an interesting and grueling trip to NY that included a crashed laptop. Happy to report that I avoided carbs the whole time I was gone (ate all the fat I wanted), and I'm back down to 146.5 today.

I love your new picture also. You look wonderful!
Thanks for your supportive comment. Yes, I have made a drastic difference and it is definitely impacting those around me.
I look forward to the tea. I bought myself a tea heater so I make tea all day long at work and don't have to go out into the cold to get it. I am also loving my Butterscotch Toffee coffee.

To everyone here..Thanks for your supportive comments. I really do gain strength from reading your comments.
My reflection for the day is that a year ago I would not have had the confidence to confront my boss. I would have just accepted his inappropriate comment and then gone home and turned to food. This lead me to reflect that I have developed a binge free lifestyle. In the past year I have had only one day of out of control eating..It was a free day months ago and I felt very sick. "Aversion therapy." worked.
A person who has conquered food addiction was asked how she did it. She said she asked herself the question, "Does overeating dim my spirit? " Then she commented, " I made the decision that I am not going to do that to myself anymore." I keep telling myself this.
My second reflection is that I have been extremely focused on myself and eating healthfully. My husband of many years is reacting and being forced to change. Fortunately he is trainable.

Cap: Happy Birthday and congratulations on the new house. I am excited about your article. My husband has been saying that I am large framed and I am saying that I am medium!
A friend told me that in our society today overweight is considered normal. That could be why people are threatened when you are at goal.

Linden: Your comments are thoughtful and supportive. Thank you.Enjoy your day in Germany.

Jolo: Welcome and so happy that you reached goal. Congratulations on your 18 year anniversary! I take fish oil in the am.

Jenny: You and I are eating very similarly..watching carbs.

Sunnymae: Re-education is a good term. There is so much to this whole weight issue and the dynamics of interacting with others. Great job on losing 4 of your 8 pounds. Mindfulness is the key..

Pat: Hope you are now unconfused about carbs. Mainly I eat Phase 3 breakfasts and do not always have carbs at night.

2011weightbegone: I like those low carb cereals and pancake mixes also. Currently making pumpkin pancakes.

Leganegan: Very nice that you are maintaining and below from December.

Pixl: Great job on staying away from carbs in NY and going down!

Off to Seattle to see my son..Going to Ruth Chris for dinner..driving through a snowy pass.

2011weightbegone: I like those low carb cereals and pancake mixes also. Currently making pumpkin pancakes


Maile, way to go standing up to your boss. Enjoy your visit with your son and safe travels.

Thanks for the idea about the pumpkin pancakes they sound delicious, maybe they taste like pumpkin pie,(which I love), minus the whipped topping of course!! I will try these when I get back to being able to have them.

so am sitting on the couch watching OWN. watching this show, I saw it before but it hits home more this time. It is about a lady who is 5.10 and between 160and 140 lbs... she wants to be at the low end of the scale 125s... does this sound familor? so the host asks her to put herself in a lineup of 10 women whos waists are between 39" and 45" (they all look beautiful and healthy) and she puts herself in the middle of the pack, and the host then tells her she should be at the lowest end. She is learning that her body image isn't what other see, and that she is beautiful as she is. This just hit home for me this time around because I want to be in the 140s and am stuck in the 150-160 range, the weight on the scale isn't the whole story but it is only a small part. This just continues to remind me this is a journey and I am not there yet. We have to start loving ourselves no matter what is on the scale.


Winter has hit here and will be -17 and -29 for the next couple of days... oh joy how do you walk dogs this way.... Have a great sunday all.

I know it can be irritating when people tell you that you do not need to lose more weight- been there, done that but I must say, you look so great and do not pear to me to need to lose another ounce. That being said, I would love to get to 150. We know our own bodies best- the people that tell me " don't lose anymore, you are thin enough" don't see me naked! Good job Joanne, you truly look 10 years younger than your starting photo. Beautiful.

Joanne, I agree with determinated, every ounce of you is beautiful! I feel strongly about being critical about the way we talk to ourselves, so I want to point out that you stated "start" loving ourselves. I look at you and am somewhat familiar with the person you are inside from your posts, and I cannot imagine what there is about you not to love! Our flaws make us interesting. Love yourself, flaws and all, and more love will come to you from others.

IP has taught me that before this change, I felt inadequate and didn't love me (or I certainly would have taken better care of me). It impacted how I related with others. Now that I'm free of those feelings, I think I have the inner light that my friend did who inspired me to give this a try.

Hope this wasn't too preachy as that is not the tone I intended.

I'm back after having broken internet all weekend. My husband was beside himself unable to surf other than his phone. I was upset at not being able to track my food and exercise on MFP. I've grown accustomed to counting on it to calculate how much food I have left in the day and whether or not I can have dinner or snack in the evening. I have a "friend" in MFP that noticed I wasn't completing my entries and asked about it. Good accountability!

Pxl, I'm impressed with a business trip that included no carbs. I have to go to a conference in San Diego for a week this month and am not looking forward to the diet challenges!

Cap - Happy Birthday and congrats on the move! I think moving is hard on a diet too. The kitchen tends to be unusable for several days during the process.

Welcome to maintenance Jo! The food is great here.

Maile - how was your fancy dinner in Seattle?

Good morning ladies! Hope everyone had a great weekend.

2Ride- You are definitely not alone in your inner struggles. Even though I know how much weight I lost and what size I now wear, I sometimes look at myself in the mirror and think that my body still looks the same. It is just going to take time. People tell me all the time how tiny I am, but I still have a hard time seeing it. It is nice that we have each other for support and hopefully we can work through it together.

Question for you guys: Does anyone else notice that since they have lost weight, their immune system is down? Maybe it is just me, having an off year, but this is the 2nd time I have been sick in the last 5 months. Before that, I haven't been sick in YEARS! What do you guys think?

Interesting you should bring this up! In our part of the world (South US) winters are so strange. People are sick everywhere with upper respiratory infections, etc. I had one of my "premonition dreams" several months back that prompted me to have my first ever flu shot and at the same time, I increased my Vitamin D (I always take extra Vit. C). I had one little bout with my sinuses that lasted a few days (thank you Airborne) and have been fine ever since.

But think about this....we just put our bodies through some pretty radical transformations and it will take some time for our systems to catch up and be "normal" again. Add in the southern winters and sickness EVERYWHERE, its kinda hard NOT to contract something. Rest well and carry hand sanitiziers with you. But in the meantime....check out Airborne or Zicam.

Good morning Maintainers. I had a really nice weekend. Saturday was my fun day and yesterday was phase 1 for me. So, today I get to return to breakfast, YAY!
I was reading through Dr. Tran's book again last night, trying to help someone in the experienced thread with a question. Dr. Tran never states that a cheat day is mandatory once a week. His book gives directions on how to deal with diet slip ups once in maintenance. I think the mandatory cheat day comes from IP, not Dr. Tran. Anyway, he states not to worry if you don't have packets for the phase 1 day, instead to have some coffee or tea with non-fat yogurt for breakfast and phase 2 type meals for lunch and dinner. For those of us that really miss breakfast on the phase 1 day, this might be easier.
If you haven't read Dr. Tran's book, I highly recommend it. It's strange to read his book and see how IP has adapted from it. And yes, IP had to adapt for dieters that needed to stay on this plan for longer than 6 weeks. I'm really glad I read through it again last night.

love your comments to everyone maille!
Hope your weekend with family is great fun and that you enjoyed that juicy steak!
I'm doing well maintaining during my NW family visit. Got 2 birthday parties and lots of gatherings...one meal at a time. Brought IP type snacks and my beloved b-fast cereals. Those are truly my saving graces.
Don't want to dim my spirit anymore either. That was a brilliant light bulb moment, Maille!!
Love from "puddle city""