Wow Andrea that’s cute you have the figures - you must have been so happy to see them together on the screen finally this season:)

Hello fellow maintainers :)

I know I don't post much here, but I don't feel I have much to share as I am certainly no example of a maintainers life :)

In fact I feel pretty gross right now. I ate bad crap (choc/candy) the past couple of days at work. We're having a busier and more stressful time than usual, in fact I would say that while I get annoyed at clients, my job is pretty much stress free. And I was fine at home last night. So I would say it was stress eating. Of course I probably would have turned to better foods, but my co-worker is selling chocolate covered almonds for her son's soccer and we were making up candy bags as a work give away thing, so I had easy access to these things. But things should be back to normal on Monday so I should be able to get back on track this evening. But I hate that these slips are like one step forward and two back as it means I'm eating and working out to keep new lbs from creeping on instead of losing more and toning up( which is what I want).

Oh well, I'm certainly not giving up and will continue to work at it.

Andrea, I love your new porfile pic, you look fantastic and so happy :)

Hi all - I've been away for a couple of weeks. The last day of school was yesterday and the lead up and end of season sports has been crazy. My kids are off to the beach for 2 weeks with their grandparents so I will go from crazy to calm now. Since my last crazy post where I hit goal inexplicably I am back to my steady state weight which is 3 pounds higher. I have found that I have gone more lax where I am not eating veggies at lunch and letting the bad stuff back in a little at a time. Really the issue is less about cheating and more about planning. The diet isn't my main focus. I'm not making sure I have the veggies cut up and on hand, i don't have the bars in my purse or office, I'm not getting all my water. So I vow to focus back on myself again. On the other hand I am happy that I can eat at the end of year party, enjoy it, and not gain or at least realize that I can recover from eating a little croissant sandwich (well 2 of them)

I have a question for all the successful maintainers. I am still in my losing weight phase, but I think I might hit goal sometime in early August.

If anyone has any tricks or tips or caveats about maintaining, can you post. Sort of like a top 5 list of do's and dont's. Things that youve learned that you wish you knew when you first phased off. If anyone can save me from making costly (maintaining) mistakes, that would be so valuable to me! (I've always been a good dieter, and a "crummy" maintainer.)

Thanks in advance!

GREAT POST ALEXANDRA! (Avalon)- I would love to hear some words of wisdom/top 5 secrets or dos and don'ts. I am phasing into LIFE on Monday. I am determined to keep a journal. Determined!!!!!!

Love your attitude Bootros. A journal is a great idea. Keep posting and keep us apprised on how you do.

I LOVE this! :)

Hi lovely ladies,

Great to see some new faces on the thread n

Amber - I did watch GoT finale at the movie theatre last Sunday, they replayed the week before then the finale OMG loved it and so sad.


Bootros - I do plan snacks and I think that has really helped me. I do the 3pm one, either a whey based shake or a Simple bar. Then about 12 almonds after work around 5 which gets me to dinner. I don't eat after dinner as snacking after dinner was a huge issues before for me. I add a snack - shake usually, after every workout. I usually have a tbsp of almond butter in the day as well for a snack.

Centxchk - good for you for posting what happened and I echo Liana's words. I have an inner brag to that needs to go to bed! It feels like a lot of self talking needs to happen to sty on track. How was P3 the next day?

Alexandra - great question
My do's 1) journal using MFP or some other calorie counter
2) schedule your exercise
3) do your regular weigh ins - people who are accountable have more success in keeping weight off.
4)plan your meals
5) think fun meal not fun day
Don't
1) do this without support. Surround yourself with people who believe in you.
2) eat like you did before or go back to bad habits
3) don't give up! Dieting is hard but so is maintaining
4) reward yourself with food. Find other ways to celebrate with friends and to reward your self
5) dont stop using 3FC :)

Hi determined, you have done awesome on your journey. I have seen your posts on the exercise threads. I'm sure you have lots to share on this thread.

Shasta - glad things have slowed down for you and hopefully you'll get the time to plan for you.

Hi to everyone and hope that you have a great start to the week. Our kids have 4 more days of school and no holiday for me till the end of July. The up lbs were coming down then TOM hit this weekend. Hoping things settle back in a couple days.

Quick question for all you maintainers now that I've finally joined your ranks. I had my first 'fun meal' on Saturday, a very delicious buffalo chicken wrap with a small cupcake for dessert. I don't feel guilty or bad about it all as it was planned. However, I did notice the dramatic increase on the scale (3.5 lbs). I know that is not actually all weight gain, and was also being influenced by the day I spent out in the sun (burned unfortunately).

I have gone back to low carb/low cal/low fat to combat the increase, but I was wondering how long I can expect to see the scale stay at that increased weight? Typically I am a weekly weigher, but started weighing daily after the increase out of simple curiosity to see how long it takes for my body to recover from one carb-laden meal.

How long does it normally take you to see the scale go back to where it belongs after a 'fun meal'?

Shasta - great to hear from you. Reading your post motivated me to get my water in and a few more veggies, I’ve been a little lazy those two areas this last week also… feeling bratty about it, so had to calm the little brat and this weekend felt much more hydrated as a result:).

Jenny - boo to the last episode, didn’t like that, no way…. But yes excited to see T & D together next season.
I also liked your “do and don’t” list…

Avalon I haven’t been on maintenance long enough to present many points, but I think I could suggest at this point:

do:
- stay accountable through coach, self, and 3FC
- daily weigh ins keep me on track, the days when I don’t do it are days that I can veer off
- I keep my food in a range recommended by “Refuse to Regain”, and if I don’t veer off those general food groups, I’m overall good.
- however, higher fat/calorie items like nuts, nut butter, and snack bars have to be kept in check
- I do track in MFP, I’ve gotten more relaxed about it, but it helps me to know I’m in my general range. In the next year when my weight stablizes I may or may not relax that some. I have gotten used to about what works for me in what calorie range, so if I know I’m staying within that I might not track.
- i think social support here, or elsewhere, is important. I notice a difference if I don’t post for more than 3 days - it’s like I start to go into denial.
- watch out for non-hunger related eating - you will do it, but observe, and do it with awareness, and make choices from there.
- try to maintain at a range that works for you - even if it’s 5 or 10 lbs over your “perfect” that is still a huge health win, rather than losing and gaining the rest of your life, or averaging 50 lbs (or more) higher
- learn to trust yourself with food, and that you are finding a way to eat for life.

don’t:
- go overboard with anxiety
- ignore weight gains or weight losses, but also don’t freak out about them - just keep looking at the statistics of what is occurring when the ups and downs are happening, and adjust honestly.


The first month or so is a lot of figuring out your body and what hunger signals to pay attention to or not. I have never been good at judging my actual hunger and trusting it, so that was a big learning curve for me.
The second or third month became a lot about body issues. Not feeling “good” about where I stopped or how I look, learning that every month or so women go through the “i feel fat” feeling, and it’s not about that I have failed or “need to lose more weight”. It takes time to override long term thought patterns, esp. self-judgement and negativity.


I don’t have my blood tests results with me but I’ll post them in the next week or so.

If you don't weigh yourself for a couple days after a fun meal that gives you a bit of time to get rid of bloat and feel comfortable again without looking at the numbers. Then you won't be reading all the ups and downs as a rollercoaster and worrying about it.

Lex,
If I go lower carb the day after the "water retention up pounds" and drink lots of water, sometimes it will go back down in a day. If I eat more normally the day after- not more not less - it usually takes a few days to see the up lbs go back down. For me to go back down in lbs, I also need a lot of sleep, so sometimes I have to wait for the weekend to rest more as my body mostly seems to want to wait to let go of it until I'm rested.

HELP! weight after cheat and other stuff
 

Lex - I got on 3FC this morning to post about weight gain after a cheat day and there was your post. Funny. So then I got to read all of the responses- thank you maintainers for your replies.

On Father's Day we were traveling to take my son to camp and it coincided with my first cheat day. I drank BEER - Oh it was so good!!! I also had about 6 hot wings too. When my husband had some (not many) cheez-its, so did I. Because I was so full from lunch but didn't actually eat that much (beer is so filling!), I let myself have some french fries at dinner and a little bit of the bun with my burger that had cheese and bacon on it. Oh it was delicious! I had to have something sweet too so I had two cookies around 3. So that was my cheat day. When I did this before (this is the 3rd time for me on this diet), I ate so much more and cheated every meal- in a BIG way. This time I felt much more in control.

So yesterday was my clean up day and I was still traveling (Not easy to do phase 1 and travel). I had an IP food for breakfast (all I had left were dill pickle zippers - for breakfast!- but ate them anyway), a salad with veggies I had cut up and my own dressing, protein bar and dinner. We ate at Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Did you know they have a HUGE Skinny menu? So I know their food is not all that skinny according to IP, but I did ok. I ordered a side of broccoli and it was not buttered or salted. It was GREAT! Sadly, their Tuscan chicken was swimming in oil. I tried to blot it before eating. I did my best to drink my water, but road trips are hard to drink 60-80 ounces of water without a bathroom break every 20 miles. So I tried to make up for it when I got home.

I was up FOUR pounds this morning. UG! So what phase do I do today? I did my best to do a phase 1 yesterday (although my dinner was not perfect). Should I do another phase 1 today? Or phase 2 or 3? It seems like I can't eat in the life phase after being up 4 pounds. What would you all do?

THANK YOU also for all of the do's and don'ts on LIFE. I have copied and pasted them in my notes on my computer to reread, and reread and reread!

And I need some PALS on MFP. I don't know how to add friends (I am sure this is not hard), but would like to.

Just an updated on my weight gain after my 'fun meal'. Despite doing low cal/low fat/low carb for the past two days, I am now up 4.5lbs! I have been guzzling water like there's no tomorrow (more than 164 ounces yesterday), but still no luck. My sunburn is now nearly completely healed, so can't really atrribute that to the gain anymore either. Not sure what's going on, but am trying not to stress too much until my official weigh-in day, which is Saturday morning.

Also, stress and sleep have been normal, so shouldn't be any wild fluctuations due to that.

Thanks for the support all! Here's hoping my body decides to finally let go of these pesky 'fun day' pounds!

Lex- I posted just above you because I am going through the same thing but one day behind you. I ate a phase 3 breakfast this morning and planning on doing a phase 2/3 lunch and pretty much at dinner. I am going to journal it all and hopefully will be back (I gained 4 pounds after cheat day) to normal soon. The one thing I am going to change is exercise. I am going to do about 45 minutes of cardio each day and see if that makes a difference. Good luck. I am frustrated like you.