Hi everyone! I haven't logged into this site in a long time. It's nice to see so many familiar faces.

I was doing well with my maintenance until the holidays. I was at 135. I'm so discouraged to be at 141 now. I don't want to enter Spring feeling heavy. I think I need some kind of plan or strategy, but I don't know what. I cannot lose weight via exercise due to significant health issues. Therefore, it's all about doing better with my food intake. Open to hearing your thoughts/opinions...

Hi, nineteen!

Food is really the secret. I've seen it posted that "You cannot out exercise bad eating habits," and I believe that. I hope there is some physical activity you can do, though, just to stay healthy.

I'm not one to give advice on this, but some strategies are: counting calories, weighing and measuring, using plate size to limit portions; also, cutting out between-meal snacks, if you eat regular meals. If not, then sometimes eating six small meals works because you never get really hungry that way.

Of course, you want to choose foods that are friendly to weight maintenance. That goes without saying. There are always better choices to be made. Lowfat vs. full-fat. Lean meats. Limited carbs. Cutting out refined sugar is a good thing for many reasons. You know the drill! Just don't get nuts about it (so to speak).

Good luck, nineteen!

Hi JayEll, it's so good to see you again!! Thanks so much for your response.

I am wondering if any Maintainers have done Whole30? A friend suggested it. Maybe it would be helpful...?

There is no secret answer, I know. I just need to get some positive momentum going....

Wednesday at 161.1

I fell in bed later that I should have, but wiped out, and my head was just one big black scrawl. This morning, some resilience buoyed me up. My dreaded noon meeting can't kill me, it can just emotionally mangle me. I'll still be alive afterward, whatever happens. Also someone hugged me in the kitchen at the office for working so hard on something.

I'm down about 2 pounds so far (really more like 4 since the beginning of the year). I've been doing my walking and am a bit dismayed that my Garmin still isn't calculating my distance correctly. I am confident that it is counting my step correctly though. This morning, I got up and walked 2 miles on my treadmill and it only registered 1.18. I do think, however, that it is doing the right distance in "real" walking when I take the dogs, independently, for walks twice a day at the office (I've driven the route and it does compare to the Garmin). So, when I walked 4.75 miles yesterday, with 2 on the treadmill, I can safely say I've walked over 5 miles for the day, right?

That said, I'm afraid I'm coming down with a cold. I've had a scratchy cough for two days and early this morning I had that deep down feeling that a cold was forming. I got up and did the Zicam in the nose thing that has worked in the past to help get rid of colds. I'm hoping it works this time. But for now I'm drinking hot tea with a little honey and it tastes wonderful.

I've done a Whole30, which was helpful figuring out food intolerances, reduced sugar cravings and gave me more energy. Many people lose weight following the Whole30. I didn't lose a lot of weight, but then I didn't have a lot to lose, and I wasn't in it for weight loss. My DD, on the other hand, lost quite a bit of weight. If you decide to do a Whole30, the forums are helpful. I follow a low carb-moderate protein-high fat diet, which I find really helps me maintain my weight easily without feeling hungry. I hate feeling hungry. Many people follow a LCHF diet and don't (or can't) exercise and manage to lose weight. Good luck with whatever you choose to do!

Two evenings this week with 1000 cal binges and I am at exactly the same weight as a week ago despite 1300-1400 cal days the rest of the time.

Did anyone else here read the NYT article from Feb. 20th titled "The Key to Weight Loss Is Diet Quality, Not Quantity?" The article reported the results of a 600-person clinical trial in which overweight subjects (average starting BMI 33) were randomized to either a low-fat or low-carb diet but without specific calorie or portion restrictions, only to focus on eating whole or “real” foods, minimally processed and without added sugars — as much as they needed to avoid feeling hungry; and they were taught a mindful eating approach to monitor satiety levels. The two groups lost equally, and were able to adhere to their diet for a year, but average weight loss was about 12.5 pounds (in the article, this is presented as "substantial"). I'm curious to know, if you read the article, what your reaction(s) are?

It seems to me that 12.5 pounds in a year is a slower rate of loss than most people want--especially for those who are in the habit of trying to figure out what they ate yesterday that caused their weight to go up today.

I think it's worth noting that if a person who is 5 ft 3 in with a BMI of 33 loses 12.5 pounds, they would still be on the edge of obese. So for some, it would mean following this program for years to lose a large amount of weight. And, there's no indication of when the program would stop working. The body's metabolism doesn't care about arbitrary weight goals.

It makes sense to me that eating better quality foods would result in a lower weight. I had a neighbor who was in her 90s, and she said that when she was a child, they didn't put "butter on everything"--but then she laughed and said, "What we did was pour cream on everything!" She lived on a farm, so it was fresh, high-quality cream. She had no weight problem.

I've often heard it said that the best food plan is the one you're going to stick with, and I believe it. I think the authors of this study found that their guidelines helped people stick with the program. It shouldn't be overlooked, however, that no weight goals were involved. There is so much frustration because of weight goals. You see it every day.

Hi nineteen!

152.2 for me this morning. The first couple weeks of eating less always has so much more scale motion. I'm three weeks in, and I've lost 5lbs, but this week the scale has not been budging at all despite the fact that I was 100% on plan last weekend. I remember from previous weight loss that sometimes I need to have a day with higher calories to give it a kick, so we'll see what happens this weekend. The weather has been feeling like spring which is great for getting outside and getting more exercise though!

Allison - I have historically had trouble with fitness devices not tracking properly on the treadmill or the elliptical. If you don't swing your arms, it doesn't always count the steps or distance on the equipment. Some have settings where you can set stride length for walk, run, and treadmill separately. That might help some. Also, vigorously swing your arm with the watch on it.

Saturday morning at 159.4.

Yesterday, I'd thought it would be a quiet Friday when I'd get paperwork done. But no.

I had to republish a pilot document that my company is testing during this sales quarter, and which I'd botched the day before because the product people provided me with incorrect information when I queried them.

I had to listen to feedback from a research analyst on my direct report's and my edits to their content. (They want more passive voice in the writing -- they don't want it to sound so active and aggressive. No words for the stupidity of this, just no words ...)

And I had to give feedback to my direct report about her meltdown last week. Basically: Don't melt down next time you have to do this work. Take a step back. Think about process.

She was shocked to receive this feedback. Later on, hours later, she asked if I had a minute to talk. Oh, no, I thought. More of this conversation. I told her no, I had projects to work on -- and I did. I think she needs to let what I said sink in over the weekend. I am not going through something as emotionally exhausting again when she's got a rewriting assignment. I just want her to do her job.

Yes, we both need the weekend to calm down.

Today, I need to go to the gym, then the post office, and have a day of cooking & housework & possibly some bad TV, maybe Oxygen, with trashy women killing their boyfriends. I don't know what I need, but I need something relatively sedating, and something simple that, when I look back on the day, I've gotten something done.

After 5 let outs during the night the dogsit dog finally did his load of diarrhea in the backyard, rather than on the bedroom carpeting. I don't think he really "gets" the concept of housetraining/asking to go out. Gonna be a long week.

I took him out with Trixie this morning and he loved it! Hoping to have her spend the night tonite to give him some idea of how dogs behave. Poor thing is over a year old now. Time for him to get some basic concepts. Trix is a good teacher.

I'm not even worrying about what I eat/weigh until April. I have to get over the dogsit and the broken foot and then regroup.

I am having a big piece of cake this week to "celebrate" my birthday. Hubby will be playing a show with his band and I will be dogsitting, doing my regular dogwalks, and looking after my own pets too on the actual day. That makes me kind of sad and resentful but it is what it is.

Dagmar

Happy birthday, Dagmar! Glad you're back at work but sorry it's this dogsit. I hope Trixie will help the dogsit dog.

saef, you are worth so much more.

The terrible wind of the last few days has dropped and today I plan to mend some of things broken. I'm charging up the drill. All very wearing. I'm going along with Precision Nutrition still, learning to eat lean protein at every meal, eat slowly, eat until satisfied not stuffed. Much of this is pretty familiar but it's always good to revise. I like their workouts. No weight lost, as yet.

saef, it could be that your direct report is figuring out that she is routinely going to be asked to do the impossible without enough time. You have been doing this so long, you think it's normal and she should just suck it up. If she's smart, she'll quit.

Happy birthday, Dagmar! Sorry you'll celebrate with only your pets and other dogs on that day, but really, that's not so bad.

I didn't hear about the winds, Silverbirch. Sounds bad! Keep doing the healthy things. I do best with lean protein at every meal--I feel more satisfied.

Just checked the proof for a poem being published next week. I had to change a word--I must have submitted an older version where it hadn't yet been corrected. Eek!

Enjoy today, everyone!

Thanks, JayEll. I thought I ate protein at every meal but, on looking at it again, I can see I've not always eaten quite enough. Breakfast and afternoon snack can be low. I have milk and Greek yoghurt as part of my usual breakfast and occasionally eggs and bacon. In the afternoon, I've tried peanut butter and that's really not very good for me. I've just had a piece of mackerel and an apple. What do you eat? I seem to remember you're not a mackerel person! Good to hear about your poetry.

Everyone! What protein do you eat for breakfast or in the afternoon? Or ever? Thanks.