Just checking in. I have been pretty good the last couple of days - just trying to eat healthy foods in moderate amounts and no calorie counting. Honestly, that just feels so much better not to have a number tied into what I am doing. I have also started to shift my thinking about exercising - instead of feeling this obligation to go to the gym every day, I go if I want to - which last week was 2 times. But on the other hand I am focusing more on "fun" ways to exercise. I played tennis yesterday and today I am going to go buy a bike trailer so I can go biking with my son. I am also thinking if learning disc golf and my neighbor said he would teach me regular golf. I wish I knew more people here so I could do more activities but there are a lot I can just do on my own.

Anyway, with all of this I lost about 2 pounds from last week. I know, I know - evil scale but I decided I would weigh in once a week on Weds so I did and was pleased (but trying to keep in mind it is just a number).

Hi Everyone..

I am so glad I found this thread. I am in need of some support to help me regain my motiviation. I started off at 192 in early 2008, and in last summer 2009 got to a reasonable 136. I was following WW and walking and going to the gym 2-3 times a week. I maintained this through 2010, until late fall. I started to get my old carb cravings and low energy back. I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia (a diagnosis a long time coming, I knew I had this condition for years-finally got a doc to acknowledge this). Anyway, I have gained 14lbs, and I feel lousy. Totally exhausted. Any tips and suggestions to help me out of this funk would be great.14lbs isn't a huge gain, but I don't want it to go farther. I need help.

asparagus, I had to look up disc golf. Who knew? I guess I lead a sheltered life. And I now have found out that there's a course not too far from where I live. That's good to hear about your 2 pounds--but I'm sure you know from experience that that 2 pounds could be almost anything! It's so irritating...

celtica98, welcome! Tell us more about yourself.

Has having fibromyalgia affected your approach to exercise?

Were you eating at a maintenance level when you began to regain, or had you started overeating? Just curious. Were you/are you staying with WW?

Also, are you taking any drugs for your condition? Sometimes certain drugs can lead to weight gain.

You might want to check out the "accountability" threads here in Living Maintenance--also the "Operation 5-10" thread is a good one for daily check-ins.

Today I'm still trying to get caught up with work, and that's going to go on for awhile here. Story of my life. I've noticed that for the past several days I've been skipping snacks. This is new for me--and I notice that I do get hungry. But yesterday, for example, by the time I realized I hadn't eaten since breakfast, it was almost time for lunch--so, I decided to skip the snack. As I read once in Judith Beck's book, "Hunger is not an emergency." I don't need to be "locked in" to the 3-meals-and-3-snacks model any more than to any other plan at the moment.

I hope others will check in! How is the week going?

Jay

Hi

And thanks for the welcome!

Fibro hasn't really affected my ability to exercise, other than I am too exhausted. I do not get increased pain, and it does decrease certain muscle tension for me.

I have been on maintenance level, and all of a sudden, my appetite has dramatically increased. I do plan to stay on WW. I do well with my planning and tracking, but cannot seem to stay focused on it.

This increased fatigue hit about 3 months ago, so it is probably a seasonal thing. I am taking 2 medications my regular doc had previously prescribed for sleep issues and anxiety, nothing heavy, so nothing new there. My rheumatologist told me these are actually helpful for fibro so he continued me on these-I am going for a follow up on Monday. I want to check into this fatigue.

I need some great Spring weather and inspiration!!! I am thinking of changing my diet a bit and doing my WW thing, but basing the foods on a Mediterranean style diet. That might jump start things, do you think....?

celtica98, I don't know much about the Mediterranean diet, so I can't say much about that. I found that when I was exercising heavily, it helped my energy level to increase my protein. 3FC member Meg suggested that, and for me it worked.

alinnell, bonnnie, Heather, sznn... Also a shout to the other regainers. Where are you folks? C'mon in!

Jay

Hi there! I have been a devotee of 3FC for several years, but somehow have overlooked the "Regainers Thread". Perhaps in the past I just didn't need it?? Who knows? Anyway, I THINK I belong here. I started my weight loss several years ago, with a high wt of 200. Lost down to 165 -- stalled there for several months -- then started the slow slide back UP the chart. I have recommitted to eating heathfully -- not binging -- so I plan to be visiting with you guys on a regular basis in order to stay motivated. I think the only thing worse than needing to lose weight is needing to lose it AGAIN, don't you? See ya later -- hope you all have a great day!

Day 5 without weighing in...I'm starting to get worried. But frankly I don't know why. I don't weigh in when I'm on vacation and I rarely go up then, so who knows.

My DD is coming home from school this weekend. She's been on the P90X program for 1 1/2 months. I know the first month she lost 13 pounds. I hope she's been sticking to it.

Hey OK Lizzy! Welcome aboard!

The reason you haven't seen the Regainers thread before is that it's pretty new--it only began last month.

This thread grew out of discussions about where people go when they stop posting on 3FC, and one idea was that perhaps some members regain some weight and are ashamed to show up. This, even though so many people do go up in weight after they reach goal--if not immediately, then some time later.

So this thread is a place for members who have regained to talk about their experience if they want to. After all, we're not a minority!

The short version for me is that I maintained my weight for about a year and a half or two years, and then began to have trouble with it. The old ways stopped working, so I'm looking for a new approach.

alinnell, good for you! And that worry you're feeling? It's probably just a sign of how big a hold the Magic Scale had on you.

My weigh-in day is tomorrow. I'll let you know, of course.

Jay

Hi Jay - still around, having a rough week - super exhausted.
Loving this perimenopause stage of life.
Still trying to reign in the food consumption - especially right after work.
Been exercising alot - but unfortunately also eating a ton.
S

Hmmm... from a quick read it seems like I'm doing this differently than a lot of others. I've moved back to weighing every day. Not weighing regularly allowed me to not notice a gain until after my clothes got tight...

Hey Heather! I think that "regularly" is a key concept. I certainly don't advocate ignoring the scale.

It's really a drag when you weigh every day and your clothes still get tight!

Today is my first weigh-in since a week ago. The scale was down 2-1/2 pounds from last Friday. I am not giving this too much importance because I figure 2 pounds either way in a week's time could be random fluctuation. (I'm sure glad it wasn't the other direction, though, for my psychological well being!) So, next Friday I'll check again.

In the last week I did no tracking of food or calories. I ate reasonably. In fact, I ate some foods that if I were tracking, I would avoid or fuss about.

One thing that has been a little different is that I've started leaving out snacks between meals. I think I mentioned this earlier. When I originally lost weight, everything was scheduled and counted. meal-snack-meal-snack-meal-snack. I think that sometimes I was eating just because it was on the schedule. For some people, it's really important to do this at first! Both because they tend not to eat and then overeat, and also because it provides an endpoint: when you have had the snack, you are done. No grazing.

But I am trying to get away from rigid rules, and so I haven't turned "must have snack" into "never have snack." If I'm hungry and the next meal is far away, I'll have something. If the next meal is pretty soon, I won't.

Last week I didn't get to the gym at all. Oh dear oh dear! Does this mean I lost muscle instead of fat?? Well, probably I did lose a little. But, my back had flared up again, and it feels better now. I'll keep adjusting my gym stuff until I find something I can do consistently without setting my back off. (This is an inflammation condition.)

Regularly. Consistently.

Jay

Jay - Sounds like you and I are doing close to the same thing. I agree that at the beginning when one is used to just mindless eating, it is very good to get on a schedule and stick to it. But afterwards (at least for me), this is what led me to get bored and frustrated - especially when I would still be hungry and wanting more after my allotted snack. Now I see that some days I need more than just the snack and other days I can easily skip it. I think this is the first step to intuitive eating....

Heather - If getting on that scale helps you then keep doing it - I think we are just trying to figure out this weight loss/maintenance stuff out and whatever works, works. I think for me the scale is my best friend when I am losing but can really push me down when I am gaining - often causing me to eat more. But on the other hand I have had those moments where I purposelly do not weigh and eat with abandon. I am not sure what the solution is for me now or long term. But I am learning more and more each day that the secret to long-term success seems to be not living my life by these numbers - whether it be calories or minutes in the gym or pounds gained or lost.

It sounds silly, but I really like calling myself a regainer! I like being open. I mean, YES, I have been at my optimal weight 2 or 3 times in my past, I loved it, and then I regained 10 or 20, sometimes even 30. Instead of feeling like a failure, I am coping and am simply a regainer.

But I feel like its been such a learning process - its made me take vitamins and minerals seriously, its changed my ethics regarding what I eat, I appreciate my body for being able to cope and endure through rigorous sport (sometimes it complains - Jay, I know what it feels like to rationally know "I overdid it and I should not work out this week", I hope you feel better soon)

I think the most important thing for me, as a regainer is: turn all the negative into positive. Life is too short to 'fail' at something everyday, whether it is a pound extra on the scale, missing an exercise routine, or going beyond calorie requirements.

I fell into the negative attitude last night, first time in awhile. I literally didn't get any exercise because my partner begged me to wait for him for a longer night jog. He got home too late, etc. We didn't go. Then I felt like a fat blob. And I felt tremendously guilty about eating supper. It was a terrible Friday night - all because of this sometimes overpowering weight-struggle world that occasionally takes over my head.

I realized last night that I need to "modify" another habit: I ate because it was planned, but I didn't need to - which ended up being entirely for pleasure. I didn't stuff myself.... but, it was late and I simply didn't need to eat, the hunger was NOT there. We've sort of talked about this issue before in this thread.

Instead of rejoicing that I did not have any hunger, I couldn't pass up the great casserole I had made earlier for dinner. And then, I had a real serving size, not just a few bites.

I need to figure out why I do this and how I can modify it.

Anyway, last night, I was awfully negative and I looked past all of the positive things I had accomplished that day: I had a wonderfully healthy green smoothie for breakfast and for lunch a big salad with veggies, hummus, avocado. I also got a lot of work done on a writing project and cleaned part of the apartment. I booked a great beach trip to the Canary Islands (Spain) for a week in March. I totally forgot these good things. The bad things canceled them all out!

I have to fight to stay positive and un-depressed - it is sort of a natural inclination to be negative and depressed!

I woke up this morning and realized where I went wrong yesterday. I'm putting back on my positive attitude (famous expression here: fake it til you make it).

So, to pump up the positivity, I've still been watching Kris Carr - she is a bit cheesy, but super healthy and positive. I also like this thread, we seem to look at accomplishments differently here.

Where do you guys turn when you need some positive thinking about health? A good book? A good blog?

How do you self-medicate when you need a big dose of positivity?

bonnnie -- I know what you mean about focusing on the negatives rather than the positives. I beat myself up for regaining almost 50 pounds and forget to celebrate that I'm maintaining a weight loss of over 70 pounds.

Well, my week-long experiment of not weighing totally backfired. Instead of losing (or maintaining like I had been doing) I gained 4 pounds. I had lost 7. Now I've got even farther to go. Ugh. I will not do that again! It's better to weigh daily and take the necessary action. I am not a once a week person.