Frustrating news--I have gained 2 weeks in a row. http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/newt...wthread&f=123#
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/newt...wthread&f=123#
FrownThis is not the end of the world, but it's troubling. My WW leader reviewed my (very detailed) food journal and made some helpful suggestions. Duringmy huge food shopping today, I included lots of fresh produce, plain ff yogurt and Wasa crackers. It seems I have been letting some high fat foods (especially cheese) creep back into my life. This week, I am focusing on decreasing processed foods, decreasing added oil and adding in add'l fruit/veg.

I also bought a new kind of hot cereal--a blend of whole rye, oats and barley. It looked good and I'll certainly get my daily dose of fiber.

Would love some encouraging words!

Don't be alarmed- I think it happens to all of us at various times. Things seem to be going so well that you figure all little of "x" in your daily diet won't hurt, or a slightly larger serving of something that has been part of your "diet" food. Then you take a little nibble of something that you wouldn't ordinarily eat that is being passed around at a gathering, or you decide you don't really need to exercise because it's cold/raining/you are tired/you're sick of the whole thing.... That's why maintaining is such a balancing act between making yourself crazy by thinking you are constantly on a diet, and becoming complacent and falling back into old or new bad habits.

I think what you did was perfect- you identified the trend and how to fix it before it got out of hand. Take a look at a lot of the threads on this forum and you'll see that we all do this, and lots of ideas about how different people deal with it.

Mel

I suspect Mel's right because she describes exactly how I get myself into trouble -- "little" of this, "taste" of that, "just this once", whatever. It doesn't take much of the "littles" to really add up to something BIG! Recently I found the scale going the wrong way myself and cracked down on all those little slips and it's making a big difference. And it made me realize how far I'd strayed from my basic plan without even realizing it.

What she said.

Elana, congratulations on your terrific response! As you'll see from my sig, I've got a ways to go to reach maintenance, but in lurking here and doing research elsewhere, I've come to fully expect to have a little trial and error at that point, as you did. My hope is that I can respond as quickly and wisely as you did in identifying the cause, coming up with the solution/modification, and then implementing it quickly.

I think you're doing beautifully, and while I completely understand your frustration, I warmly suggest that you're doing just FINE and will be back down to your goal weight in a jiffy.

Thanks to all for the encouragement. I made an absolutely fabulous dinner (if I do say so myself)--haddock fillets baked in foil pouches (flavored with dill and lemon slices), sweet potatoes and spinach. It all tasted great, and ofcourse it was very healthy. Good to remember that the nutrient-dense food is what I actually prefer. i think my biggest challenge will be stabilizing my daytime eating at work so that I get home not starving. The after-work eating has been spiraling out of control.

So, I am satisfied from dinner and am done eating for the day. Ice water will carry me thru til tomorrow. I will try out my new hot cereal tomorrow.

Thanks again. This forum is always helpful.

A bit late on this thread - but as has been said, I think the important part about maintaining is to be diligent and if you gain a few pounds - NIP IT IN THE BUD, but GOOD. It's easy to become complacent and before you know it, the 2 lb gain quickly becomes a 10 lb gain. IMO it's FAR easier to maintain a weight than to gain 10-20 lbs and have to work to lose it all over again!

Yay! I love to hear from our expert maintainer (is it 15 years now, Karen? ) and she's so right about falling into the complacency trap! Karen wrote a wonderful post about complacency last winter -- if you missed it the first time around, you might want to check it out here: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37148 .

Yup, been 15 years since I lost the big chunk o' weight and again, I have to stress that it DOES get EASIER over the years, with diligence - making efforts to change those bad habits, then it becomes more natural. I don't ever forsee myself, say, eating half an extra-large pizza or a quart of ice cream in one sitting ever again!

Elana - I would totally suggest that you read (if you haven't done so already) the book Thin for Life by Anne Fletcher. Key to Success #5 is titled "Nip it in the Bud: Break the Relapse Cycle" and the chapter on this key begins:

What I do these days - I weigh myself once a week. (I had been NOT weighing myself at all, but this summer I started weighing myself - on Wednesday mornings - just to keep track - I do NOT advocate weighing every day - for me that would freak me out!) If my weight goes up, I bring up the water, salads and veggies in my diet, switch up my exercise a bit, and write down everything I eat in my journal at night, every night, until those couple of pounds come off!

That book sounds like exactly what I need--I'll look for it today. I have definitely made the mental shift into "I am losing weight now"--it's a better way for me to think about it instead of "Well, I have failed at maintenance. This is bad." I tried to reframe it into a statement I could live with. After all, I know I can lose weight because I just did it successfully. Maintenace is a new skill for me to learn, and I've learned plenty of new skills before. And all of them took practice, so why shouldn't this one.

Onward and downward! (Well, I thought it sounded funny so I hope others do too).

As I read this thread, I had a major lightbulb moment. This is exactly what I've been doing over the past two years, without putting a name to it. Several times, I've noticed the "weekly treat" turn into the twice per week treat, then the three times per week treat, and when I realized that I had gained a bit, I would look and realize that several different small treats had gone from "occasional" status to almost daily status. I just can't tolerate that without gaining. It is amazing how insidious it is. I didn't realize how much it was happening until I stopped and took a good look at things.

I wish I could say it happened once and never again, but I've gone through the same process several times. Perhaps this is simply part of the maintaining process. I do think I am quicker to see it starting now, reign it back in to manageable levels.

I really do enjoy my treats just as much, if not more, on an occasional basis. They really don't satisfy me any more when I have them more often. At that point, they become less special and really aren't worth the calories.

Dawna

That is soooo true... *I* just got the light bulb moment from reading that!!

Thank you!

Elana: planning out my eating day has helped me loads. Even if I do come home hungry after work, I am usually not starving and can feel satisfied with say an apple until dinner comes.. geez, now I remember my mom suggesting that exact same thing to me when I was in my teens, yet I'd still go and make myself a can of Chefboyardee or have half a dozen cookies. If I had only listened.

I still have about 7-8lbs to go until I am where I want to be (maybe more today, I am bloated since TOM should be visiting later this week), it's harder but now I am deliberately going slower and catching myself when I slip. No more binging because I had one cookie. I just keep going. I also stopped eating after supper. Evenings were my week point and I eat late anyway and this has helped me loads.

Dawna: yup, treats are just that... treats. A sometimes food as they called it on children's education TV and in elementary school.

Cheers!

Ali

I started the day off with an exercise video at home, ate a healthy breakfast and brought lunch to work. Hit a trouble zone last night when I ate a 2nd slice of pizza (which I wasn't truly hungry for, but hey, it was right there), so dipped way into my Flex Points for the week.

I have tried pre-planning the entire day of meals/snacks and putting it in my journal ahead of time. For some reason, that doesn't work well for me.

After school snack: an apple, cut up, with a very little bit of peanut butter.

Thanks, as always, for wonderful encouragement.

Elana,

The only thing that helps me when I don’t plan out my meals is the fact that my pantry and fridge are stocked with healthy things to eat. Plenty of times when I haven’t planned my day’s food, I still end up eating the right amount of calories simply because whatever I grab is good for me. So, for instance, I might grab a pack of instant oatmeal and a piece of fruit for breakfast. I’ll then grab a 2-cup container of homemade chicken soup I’ve made and put in the freezer. I’ll take some of those small, pre-peeled carrots and a piece of fruit for snacks. Even if I haven’t planned this, when I add up all the numbers at the end of the night, my calories are right where they should be.

So true--that is something I have gotten vigilant about again. I bought lots of fresh produce, washed and chopped some veggies so I could keep them at work. Also bought plain nonfat yogurt in the 6 oz. size. I had kept a 32 oz. tub of it; half of it spoiled in my fridge at work. Aggravating. I keep mini packets of instant oatmeal, Grape Nuts, small boxed dried fruit, Wasa crackers, a jar of natural peanut butter and some Odwalla bars in a mouse-proof container in my classroom. Somehow it really helps knowing it is there--even if I am too rushed to pack a lunch, I have what I need to eat healthily during the work day.

I also made and froze some lentil-eggplant dip and a miso-barley-mushroom soup.

So, I'm sure all these good intentions and actions will translate in weight loss this week. Or at least stabilizing without continuing to gain. Either one would be fine!