Hi everyone! Great discussions while I was away in NYC. Oh my, I went off the deep end and ate all kinds of items that I am definitely not prepared to discuss here as I don't want to lead others astray! I'm also rather embarrassed about how quickly everything went to pot.

I am back on P1 tomorrow for at least a couple of days. I got back today and so I haven't weighed myself yet. Am dreading it but I know I need to hop on that scale tomorrow morning to have a point of reference.

On another note, the personal shopper at Macy's was amazing! She picked out some awesome outfits and I now have a fantastic work wardrobe. I can definitely recommend the service and it's free!!

Good you are back RosiePosie! Buckle down & get back to it! Analyze why you went off the rails to learn from it next round... You can do this .
Sounds like you had a fun time with the personal shopper - do a little fashion show - send us some pictures of your outfits, OK? I'm looking forward to seeing them!

Liana

Welcome Home, Rosie!

Glad to hear you had a good NYC experience. One of my favourite places to go, I admit.

Ditto what Liana said. I am working on the same thing - how do I manage to go off the rails & how do I work better with that next time. I really hate preplanning my meals - everything else I can plan down to the last morsel of a detail, but planning my meals brings out the rebellious little kid in me. Sabotaging for me, to be sure!

You will figure it out!! Back to P1 & maybe enjoying the structure a bit???

Wow, it must have been wonderful to have a personal shopper at your elbow! I would love to see the results, too - Show & Tell

My clinic officially declared me on Maintenance today! Lovely bouquet of flowers & some after photos.

My scale has me at 4 lbs below goal weight & I feel pretty good about staying in the neighbourhood. The clinic suggestion today was to increase my calories as I get back to more serious running - as serious as I get, which means if I am not having fun then I am not doing it right - hard work is part of that fun, but it has to feel really good, at some level.

Feeling my way through the new regime & scurrying back to the safe waters of earlier phases when I have over-reached. Today is a good day - I will soak in that fact in preparation for other kinds of days. I feel confident & in control of what I am doing - at the moment

The difference this 3rd time on IP is this forum. Support, enthusiasm, sharing of information, trials & errors & successes in a community.

Shared this on Oct. Newbies but thought it was great for here too!

You maintainers are my heroes -- it is great to be able to lurk and share your journey in maintenance. I expect this will help me prepare for life after the loss journey... You guys make the idea of keeping it off seem real and possible.

thanks very much!!!

drb - glad to hear things are going well and you may be able to go back to work. Things just always take longer to heal than we would like them to, don't they?

RosiePosie - glad you had fun in NYC and the personal shopper was a hit! Isn't it nice to have the tools to get right back to where you want to be after a splurge?

Westwillow - congrats on getting to maintenance! Wow, you've done a great job. I think you are right - having the support here makes all the difference. Every time I was tempted to go off plan I'd come and read and it always motivated me to stay OP.

I like that Slipfree - I keep a folder of motivational quotes and pics on my desktop just to keep me aware. Really good ones I email to myself so I have them on my phone.

oneuh2 - you are doing great! If anyone had told me 2 years ago that by this time I would be at a healthy weight and maintaining it I would have laughed at them. But looking back, the time went quickly and I learned so much - I wish I had found IP a long time before I did!

Hi folks. It has been a little too busy around here. I am leaving tomorrow to go see my mom again in HI. I can get one last visit in before school.

I have always liked the comment that food addiction is managed, not cured. It is constant effort and yes, the urge to go off the deep end will surface! I think we are all doing a great job of finding our way.

RuthAnn, I am glad you liked the article. If anyone told me that I would be staying thin for 3 years, I am not sure I would have believed them.

RosiePosie: That is so fun to have a new wardrobe for work. Plus it was free!

Oneuh2: I hope you reach your goal soon and join us in maintenance.

Slipfree: I like that courage to continue. Very well said. I am sorry you are going to have a difficult class. My principal is changing the schedule and it could be nuts next year. I also can feel my stress mounting.

Westwillow Welcome to maintenance! I agree with you. Having a supportive community to work on maintaining is so helpful. It lets you deal with the daily efforts that no one else sees.

Canadinjeh: That is hard that you don't have much time with your husband due to your new work schedule. It reminds me of harvest when my family would come in at 8pm and be asleep by 9.

Drb: That is great that you can return to work part time. Daytime tv can be boring.

Have fun in Hawaii Maile! I'm so jealous! We are having a heat wave here but it'd be much more fun if we had an ocean to cool down in and some beautiful palm trees to look at!

I am enjoying all of your posts. I like the quote you posted Slipfree, isn't that the truth!

Shopping with a personal shopper would've been a blast, especially with losing the weight. I'd love to do that sometime!

It seems everyone is busy and that you teachers are either back to work or preparing to go back. I'm looking forward to life settling down a bit in September even though I love summer. But, my eating will also be more scheduled which certainly helps with maintenance!

Have a great weekend everyone and thanks for all of your encouraging and interesting thoughts.

Hi gals: work schedule will be easing back this week as other contracts come to an end, so I will get more time with DH after Tuesday morning... but in the meantime working every night. Last night was a going away party for our co-worker at Boston Pizza. I had a funmeal that extended into a funsnack while at work, lol. Gluten free pizza at BP, then coconut water with pulp and a whole bag of rice crisps, a mini yogourt, an apple and some peanut butter. Random weirdness food, heheheh! Up about 1 1/2 lbs this morning but the salty pizza & chips didn't help that. P1ish today...

Liana

Good day maintainers;

Well, it was a crazy weekend for me. A wedding, dinner party and friends staying. I am doing a P1 week and back to my exercise schedule. And its cooling down this week so that'll definately help with getting out for a jog. My hubby was saying the same thing, he needs to get back to the gym and eating healthy. Summer is always a challenge. Theres good and bad days but am ready to focus once again on only healthy days. I appreciate the support group on here and it helps me keep going and moving forward and determined to keep the weight off. Have a great week everyone!

Good luck, Hawaii, with your P1 week + exercise schedule. Summer really is a difficult time when the usual schedule gets disrupted by lovely events & opportunities.

Liana - interesting choices of 'fun foods'!

Had my first declared 'Fun Day' yesterday, testing out some salmon recipes for my son's upcoming wedding. Such a pleasant task Shared my creations with friends & got lovely NSV's on my choice of wedding attire as well.

Up less than 1 lb after yesterday, due largely to some decadent chocolate, I would bet Now off for a pre-work jog - Happy Monday, fellow Maintainers & friendly lurkers This, from a former lurker

Hey maintainers! How are you all doing? Looks like there has been some awesome discussions here lately and sadly, I have been out of the loop and only lurking and not posting.

The last few months have been mixed for me. I have put on some weight...about 12lbs since end of February when I last finished phase 1 for a brief reboot. Right now, my job is seriously taking a toll on me. I am miserable with my current supervisor and just cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am starting to job search here soon and will gain some hope when I begin that journey I know but in the meantime I am just doing my best. I work in higher education and this time of year with students returning is unreal in terms of workload. I am working until nearly 7 every night and weekends too.

I guess you could say life has just kicked my behind since May with work and a variety of personal issues (buying new car, traveling, preparing for friend's wedding, etc). It has been extremely busy and like I have done so many times in the past, I put myself on the back burner and again I find myself on a phase 1 reboot. While I am not feeling like a total and complete failure as I regard maintaining as doing phase 1 (for a couple weeks here and there) as part of staying in my range, I woke up this morning in the dumps.

I am on day 20 and I have lost 8lbs ish...I didn't weigh the say I started but a few days before and I was 145. This morning I was at 137 and have been hanging around here for a week or so...actually longer. I am drinking water, using oil, and doing everything the same except I have chewed a few more pieces of spry gum. I have not really felt hungry necessarily but I am not feeling leaner if you will when I wake up like I usually do while on phase 1. It's strange. I was hoping to get rid of the 12-15lbs or so in 30 days but it appears that this reboot could take some serious time.

I hate to complain and usually I am always positive when on here but today I feel defeated. Coupled with my job and the fact that I can't seem to get below 137 to save my life despite three weeks in leaves me feeling like throwing in the towel. However, I won't do that. If I do, I will stay the same and that's not acceptable to me. I want to be back to 130 again like I was in February-early March. Maybe even try to go to 125 so I have a 5lb cushion before my clothes start getting tighter.

Sorry to rant...just felt like there are people here who can relate.

eandc6000:I hear ya! I think we all have those days, its apart of life. I am impressed that you've lost 8lbs and aren't that far from where you want to be. Sometimes we just need to take a deep breath and look at how far we've come and what we have accomplished. You have done awesome. I hope you get your job sorted out, that doesn't sound very fun to deal with. I don't have a lot of words of wisdom for you but just wanted you to know that I have had those days too!!

hawaii - sounds like crazy fun times! It is hard in the summer with all the gatherings and it being too hot to get a proper outdoor exercise going. Good luck on your P1 week.

westwillow - now that sounds like a great "fun day"!

eandc - seems like life just throws everything at us at once, doesn't it? But hooray for 8 lbs being gone in 20 days - that is outstanding! And stress makes a huge difference in how your weight comes off I think. Hang in there and if I can grab a whoosh fairy I'll package her up and mail her to you.

Been crazy busy getting ready for boss to go on vacation - of course, 8 gazillion things need to be done before that. But I will certainly enjoy having the office quiet for the week he is gone. I'll be able to get so much work done that I've been putting off. I realized yesterday that I haven't taken off any time since I had hernia surgery last year and that was hardly a vacation. I think I took a four day weekend for our anniversary but that's it. Think I may need to rectify that - no wonder I'm feeling stressed and overwhelmed.