Just a quick check-in before I head out to work. I was 137.6 on the scale. I remember a week ago I was at 138.0. I should probably write the numbers down so I can compare week-over-week since my intake varies greatly by day of week. Yesterday I weighed in at 141.0! Luckily I didn't panic. I knew it was because I woke up overheated in the middle of the night and chugged a couple glasses of water. So, it was literally water weight, whew!

The feast was crazy yesterday but I'm proud to say I avoided the dessert table entirely, despite strong cravings/longings. I still had a .5 pound gain this morning but I'm sure that was the sodium and the fact I didn't exercise, so I'm okay with that. I couldn't believe it this morning when I went to put my lunch in the fridge-- we have 3 fridges and they were all full to the brim with leftovers! So.... I'll have to continue my diligence today.

I went to the doctor yesterday and then for X-rays. She thinks it's bulging disc(s) and wants to treat with PT so I've scheduled that for next week. We'll get the X-rays in a couple of days and see what/if anything they show.

Dh is home so now I face the challenges of his yummy cooking. I took less last night than I did in the past and I need to keep that up, even if we have leftovers.

Hi Chickadee! Great to meet another "woman of science", as my mentor used to put it. Are you looking for a position at a new university, or trying to stay at your current one? It's great that after all of the higher education, student loans and hard work, our reward is that we have to beg for money constantly just to keep our jobs. With a 10 percent current payline. Sometimes I think we are all insane.

I work as a contractor at a govt lab, not at a university. The govt lab moved to another state about 2.5 years ago, I couldn't relocate, and there was no provision in the contract my employer had with the govt for remote work. So I had to give up my former contract position, and fund my salary with my grant in order to see the project through (the govt lab's capabilities were critical to the work, so the grant couldn't easily be taken elsewhere - not to mention that the grant funds were supporting 3 other people who did move with the lab). Anyway, now that we'll be out of grant funding, there's no other mechanism to support me working remotely - hence the need to find a new (local!) job. For all the reasons you mention, though, academia may not be the place to find one! Right now I'm kind of looking for something temporary until I find out how a few other options might pan out. It's been stressful, and is getting more so. I really have no idea what I'll be doing come Jan 1 at this point, which is very weird given that I am still in the middle of a ton of work.

That stress is part of why I miss really being able to run!! The run/walk sets I'm doing while recovering from the ITB issue are not very satisfying. Didn't eat all that well for lunch today (not terribly, but more pasta than I should have had, plus a few pieces of leftover Halloween candy), and am thinking about heading to the gym this afternoon rather than tonight after the kiddo goes to bed, and then working tonight instead.

I wish we as a country would spend more on basic research. Perhaps universities could spend more on it too, instead of opening more rock gyms and paying more to top admins.

I guess my "scream weight" is 140, but I blew through that 2 days ago. Today I'm down to 137.2, which is odd since yesterday wasn't a light day. If I'm not too hungry tonight, I will aim for another light day. I should probably schedule activities for light days; that's what makes Wednesdays so easy. Right now we don't have any plans to go out for the weekend, so it's a chance to make a little progress before T-Day.

Confession: I haven't been putting enough effort into losing weight and I've been eating some junk. I haven't gained, but I haven't lost either. The amount of weight I have to lose right now is just so overwhelming that I can't do any "serious" dieting because I just can't sustain it mentally long enough to lose all the weight. In the past I've done the track-for-two-weeks/break-for-one thing but the burden of tracking calories feels so huge to me right now that I can't get started.

My one-bowl approach had been working. I need to just stop snacking outside of main mealtimes and make sure I get to the gym more and I'll probably make some progress, but with the holidays coming and everything I am just not mentally prepared for that much. The worst part is that I'm getting used to the way my body looks now because it's been this way so long.

Jessica

I snack way too much outside of mealtimes now, too. My main meals are generally fine, it is everything else that is torpedoing progress. I get it.

I too absolutely get it. Please don't be too hard on yourself; you're maintaining despite a hectic life and that is REALLY something to be proud of (take it from me, as someone who is steadily gaining again). Every day that you maintain is a win.

I also worry that because I was overweight most of my life, I still am more familiar (comfortable?) with that body than with the slimmer one that I have had only for the past few years. I can see my recent weight gain very clearly in the mirror, but my reaction tends to be "oh right, THAT'S how I look normally". Which is unproductive, because I genuinely do not want to go back to my old normal.

JZJ, thanks. The weird part is that the way I look now is totally different from the way I was when I was heavy before. Before, my weight was distributed very evenly over my whole body. Now, it is almost entirely in my belly. When I was pregnant I got a lot of positive comments like, "oh, your weight gain seems to be all just in the belly!" but once the babies were born, the belly didn't go away. It is awkward-looking because the rest of my body is not similarly large, so I still look pregnant. So it's not like now being heavy again I even look remotely like I did when I was heavy before, which makes it even stranger that I'm getting used to looking like this.

Jessica, how far postpartum are you? I'm wondering if, with everything else going on (because I know very well just how much ANYONE with a very young child has going on), perhaps it would be helpful to give yourself a mental break on the pressure to lose weight until after the holidays. That wouldn't mean a license to gain or stop caring, but perhaps just less mental pressure to lose would be helpful. Maintaining, rather than gaining, is very much a victory. And maybe you'd lose some anyway with just the effort to maintain. I don't know, it's different for everyone, but just a thought.

I've reached that point in the month where I feel hungry (not stomach growling hungry, but unsatisfied) no matter how much I eat. I had a HUGE dinner last night, which, while composed of healthy foods (baked chicken, ratatouille and only a half serving of polenta), was definitely more highly caloric than I'd planned due to the volume of food I consumed. Two entire large chicken breasts? Yikes. And then I was craving frosting - like the tub kind you purchase in the baking aisle - which thankfully I did not have in the house. This kind of mental (I guess) hunger will continue on and off for the next week or two, and is the time of the month when I have to be reallllly careful to not just say f-it and eat whatever, whenever. It's also the reason that when I'm NOT feeling this way, I try to eat only when I feel actual hunger. I feel I have to have lower calorie parts of the month to balance out the higher calorie consumption parts. I don't know if this is an unhealthy approach or not, but it's the only strategy I have right now to keep me from panicking during the days when I'm seemingly unable to exercise enough willpower for portion control. It makes me feel kind of nuts, though. Does anyone else have these really large, seemingly hormonal swings in hunger/satiation/just generally wanting more food?

I'm a week behind Michele in the carb-cycling business, which means that today was my last low-carb day for a while- weekends are always "normal carb" days (Sunday is also indulgence day), and then next week is the give-your-body-a-break-from-carb-cycling week. And I intend to make Thursday the "Sunday" of that week, for obvious reasons.

Since I've been away from a scale since last Thursday, I'm not sure how I'm doing but the mirror says I've lost. Probably as much from the lack of work- and family-stress as from the carb cycling. I have to say, I'm pleasantly surprised at how painless it is to eat low-carb (with relatively high fat) for a day at a time. And I've pretty much given up on the 5-mini-meals-a-day part of the plan, which just doesn't fit into my hectic schedule most days. I aim for a big glass of water at snack time, and some veggies/soy-nuts if I have time for them, but I don't sweat it if I end up with only 3 meals.

Glad to hear you are finding carb cycling easier, Andrea. This has been my week off from low carb. The scale pleasantly surprised me this morning on my weigh in day. My tummy was upset last night for no known reason though which was probably part of the 1.6 pound overnight drop. I had a slight gain last week but overall I'm down 4.6 pounds in 4 weeks so I'm pleased. However, the next week will provide many challenges. Older dd is flying in today for a week. She is the one that is doing carb cycling and got me started. She's lost about 50 pounds but has another 75 or so to go. I want to support her while she's here but I have a feeling she's going to not stick to the plan too much while here. Like Andrea, I will make thanksgiving my "fun" day of the week. However, my real issue is that we are going to Napa Monday and Tuesday and I always overindulge there! I'm thinking I'll make Monday my fun day this week but that means making Sunday a low carb day. My dd says I'm overthinking things but I'm trying to figure how I can fit the plan into the holidays and vacations, which is where I always struggle. If I'm not careful, my last four weeks of efforts will be promptly undone.

We had our monthly wine women dinner last night so the scale is up this morning. But we're golfing today and tomorrow so I think it'll be back down on Monday.

I looked at the carb cycling information and now hearing your results I may have to give it some serious attention. I downloaded the book to my kindle and skimmed through it. I think what I really need is a quick start guide with a list of foods to eat on each day.

Chickadee, I'm 18 months postpartum (and 4 months since finishing breastfeeding) so I really have no excuse anymore from that perspective. I will be satisfied if I don't gain during the holidays I think, but I would like to continue to lose. Partially it's because I'm going to see my family who I haven't seen since before my twins were born, and it's kind of embarrassing that I still look pregnant after this long a time. Hopefully they will be too distracted by the two cute toddlers to notice.

My MIL is doing an intermittent fasting plan right now where two days a week she eats only 500 calories. Apparently it is working for her but I can't imagine having the energy to get through a day of work and running around with toddlers on only 500 calories. I need to pull back out my Volumetrics book and start making those recipes again I think...

My experience with fasting is that it desn't have much impact on the level of energy I need. Wednesdays have turned into fast days (<500 calories) for me. Since I'm used to eating only dinners anyway, it doesn't affect me at all on Wednesdays. Surprisingly, there doesn't seem to be much effect on Thursdays, either, but Thursdays I'm usually at a desk job all day until dinner. I can walk quite a bit some days (yesterday I had over 15K on the pedometer), but I don't try to run or lift or do anything that really pushes my body.

I'm at 138.2 this morning. Staring at a week of eating ahead of me. Pot luck brunch at work on Tuesday, T-Day on Thursday, family annual ritual on Friday that includes eating at a favorite, not-nearby restaurant, annual ritual with friends on Saturday that includes a road trip and eating at another particular restaurant. Sunday is the start of holiday baking. Yikes!

I'm going to try for a light Monday and fasting Wed. The other days I will get in my fresh course before hitting the main meal but I am going to choose the food I want to eat at the special meals.