Maintainers -- August Chat
 

Good morning! :coffee: Since it's been a little quiet around here lately, I thought we'd try a monthly thread instead of a weekly. I sure miss some of the old names and would love to hear from everyone again. :D But summers are busy times and a lot of people are going on vacation right about now.

Like my clients! This is going to be a much-needed quiet week for me, with about half of my usual number of appointments. Time to catch up on everything else! I sat DH down last night and asked him what he'd like for dinners this week - he had quite a list! - so I'll see about making something nice for a change. Of course, I always eat the same old stuff, so no surprises there. We are SO much on the opposite ends of the food spectrum that there's rarely any common ground. :lol:

Woke up to some VERY sore muscles today. My lifting buddy and I are trying a whole new workout routine. For the longest time, we've been doing one body part per day (five day split). The new one is two days of big, compound movements - your squats, deadlifts, pullups, pushups etc - and two days of intense supersets with virtually no rest. It's all in the 8 rep range, so I'm using heavier weights than usual. I think I pushed chest about as far as I could without destroying my shoulders yesterday! By the time I was doing the last set of the last superset (lat pulldowns and flat DB press), I seriously didn't think I could walk across the gym to the pulldown machine one more time. My oh my! :strong:

How are our mamas-to-be surviving in this heat?

Off to do much-needed cardio and start the day. :sunny:

Hi all:

Hope everyone is well.
All is good here. Recovering from Lasiks was a bit more than I expected but finally starting to see the light!!! Back to driving and work today. Eating is going well and exercise is still on hold, probably till Thursday.

COME OUT COME OUT WHERE EVER YOU ARE!!!
We miss our friends!!!

Take care,
Gina

Hi maintainers,

Happy August to you all! Gina, I'm glad to hear you're recovering. I know you'll be back on exercise in no time.

Meg, my muscles are cowering in the corner hearing about your new lifting routine. Come to think of it, whenever you describe a workout they cower, whimper, cry, etc. I can't tell you how much I admire your workout ethic! Enjoy your quiet time.

The weekend was stormy down here and there was no way I could run in the downpour Saturday or Sunday. However this morning I actually got up before work and went for a run (well, I had insomnia, but still). I think if I can make myself do it a few more times and it becomes habit I can keep it up. That's great b/c it's been too hot for me in the afternoons, hence I've been slacking on the cardio. Food over the weekend was ok in quantity but lacking in quality, due to eating out with the new BF. It was much better than last weekend with him, though, so I think I'm moving my BF-adjusted-routine in the right direction. The adjustments are definitely worth it for him. :) I'm also starting my SCUBA certification class tonight and am very excited!

I agree with Meg, it's been quiet around here (ya'll remember I lurked for about six months before I posted so I know!). I hope you're enjoying your summers everyone.

~Megan

Hi Meg and everyone! :) Seems like I've been mostly a gainer since around mid-May and haven't felt at all like a maintainer! I made three trips to CA during the last 3 months and each visit involved lots of restaurant outings and bbq feastings (and very little exercise). I'm finally back in my home state (hopefully for the year) and I'm SO ready to start feelin' good again. I have no idea what news the scale holds for me - thought I'd stay away from it for another week or so. My clothes are all uncomfortable and I'm definitely not reaching for my cute stuff lately. Know what I mean? I'm back to hiding in my looser/bigger clothes. Anyway, thought today would be a good day to get serious again since it's a Monday AND the first of the month! ;)

I'm a little down because, even after about 4 years of weight loss and maintenance, I haven't been successful at controlling my bingeing during vacations and holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas, mostly). Sometimes I wonder if I can be considered a maintainer because I'm always trying to lose my vacation/holiday weight. As soon as I'm down to goal weight again, it's time to go somewhere or it's time to cook a turkey! :?: Don't want to be a downer - just a tad frustrated - and I'm pretty sure some of you may know how I'm feeling. As far as my eating habits and exercise goes, I'm either really "good" or very, very "bad." :o

Thanks for being so inspiring! The information and support here really can't be beat. I plan to be around much more often now that I'm returning to loser/maintainer status. :D

Karyn -- Don't be so hard on yourself, those ups and downs are all part of maintenance .... Do you think that the rest of the gang here stays within 1-2# of their goal constantly...NOT!! Well certainly not me anyways. I fluctuate believe you me. The important thing is to realise it and move on to better eating behaviour... Hang in there and come back often it's nice to see you back, I always like your posts...

Morning:

Nice to see you Karynlee. I remember you did very well with that last challenge to get the numbers down. I am sure you will get there again. Maintenance is always a challenge. My weight goes up 10 pounds when I book tickets, or just get the decorations out!!!

ILene, how is it going on your end. Still having those long drive?? Hope you are taking good care of you.

Off to work.

Gina -- Thank you so much for enquiring... We are all doing just fine. Do you know that my dad has only 5 treatments left?? I can't believe how fast the time has gone...

DH is off for the next 2 weeks, we have no specific plans.

Ilene - I am glad that you are seeing the end of your DF treatments. Hopefully they are doing what they are meant to do. You will have to think of something fun to do while your DH is off. On the other hand sometimes just relaxing at home is nice!

Karynlee - I think we all have our ups and downs. I am currently trying to get back on the straight and narrow after falling off the wagon due to a knee injury. When I get upset about the weight I put back on I just remind myself how far I still am from where I started. I know I am not going back there.

Meg - I wish I had your energy and determination. Exercise remains my biggest challenge. I would rather not eat than have to exercise more! I really need to find something I love that I can do without dread! I wish I liked to lift weights like you because I sure like the way my body looks when I do!

Gina - HI!

I am off to weed the garden before it gets too hot!

Sue

Hi, fellow maintainers,

Nice to read about all of your progresses!
Karyn - I am sure you will geet back on track like most of us!
Ilene - nice to hear it is only 5 more treatments left! Keep your hopes high!

My scale went up a bit last week but I hope it is down this week! We had a great long weekend here in British Columbia - one day we went to the lake and spent quiet time there - I guess all other people went to the camps or on vacation as beach was basically deserted.
Next day we went for a hike and my little daughter did it all by herself repeating all the time : "I am doing awesome job!" - it was so funny! She felt asleep in the car on the way back but woke up on the gas station with words - after awesome job I deserved ice cream! Yesterday we spent a day gardening and brought down one of our pine trees - we still have 4 left! it was very hard to bring the tree down, but I saw my weight training in action - after that I went to the gym and did some more biceps curls and felt like I am on the top of the mountain :)

My bike trip is this weekend so I did not bike to work today and asked hubby to adjust my bike and change tires for mountain biking tires. Will bike in tomorrow to check his work (he claims he can do bike tune ups but I decided to still have one more day for fixes if tune up by him does not work). I am very excited! I also will go to the gym today with my gym buddy who is also going with us on the bike trip and than we do triathlon weekend after!

Have a nice month and I will report about my trip and even probably post some pictures!

Sandy.

Boy, did I sure need to log on this morning and hear that maintenance is not always linear (just like weight loss? LOL). I've had a hard time lately feeling that 100% perfect is all I can strive for, even though I read over and over that it's what you do 90% of the time. Since hitting goal last fall, I've fallen more and more into this strict routine and it kind of sucks the joy out of life eventually. I've spent this week without kids and dh & I have really been reconnecting. I've also had time to de-stress and think about things and I'm really working to go easy on myself.

I guess, we all started this weight loss, working out, being healthier journey so we could enjoy life, not so we could have one more thing to beat ourselves up about.

Have a great day!
Brenda

I love the posts made in this forum. You all really humanize the whole process of losing weight and maintenance. I find that much more helpful than the more glamorous success stories that I read about elsewhere. It is great being given a realistic idea of what is in store for me from here on out.

I am at a crossroad this week. I would guess that I have somewhere between 10 and 15 more pounds of fat to lose. I know exactly what has to be done but I am not so sure that I am ready to do it. I hate to whine, but I don’t want to knock off another 200-300 calories or do an extra half hour of cardio every day. I am content here. I could stay right here for good and I wouldn’t be miserable or unhealthy. Still, there is that nagging voice in my head that reminds me that I can do better. I know I need to listen to it. I know for sure that I will maintain what I’ve lost so far for the rest of my life give or take a pound here and there. I really, really KNOW it. And I honestly think that if I just relax a bit, not with food or exercise but with the weekly expectation of losing weight, that I’ll eventually get the same attitude with 145 that I did with 214. At some point, enough will be enough and I’ll buckle down and shed the weight. Still, it bugs me that I am having so much trouble talking myself into doing the right thing NOW. There is no reason in the world to wait except to avoid pushing myself out of my comfort zone. Interestingly enough, I’m not at all tired of the lifestyle. I don’t find counting calories or measuring portions tedious at all. Exercising is fun and feels good. But there is so much emotion involved with taking my body measurements, checking the scale and trying to tell if my pants are any loser. After 7 months, I’m drained. Please tell me this is normal. Oh, and if anybody has any tips for pulling myself out of this rut I would appreciate hearing them.

Have a great week. I hope it is a successful one for each of you!

Did I ever need this perspective! The things we forget. Thank you Brenda. I just might have to print this one out and hang it on the frig.

Anne

Jawsmom- Maybe you really do need to just try out maintaining for a while :) It sounds like you've got diet-burnout. Since you say you really do enjoy the lifestyle, and that exercise is fun and feels good...why not just keep doing what you are doing right now, but quit measuring yourself and expecting losses on the scale? I think if you start to live like a maintainer, you'll probably end up shedding a few more pounds without all the stress involved. Seven months is a long time without a break. I'm not advocating a nutritional or exercise vacation...just try and maintain where you are for a month and see how it feels. Then if you want to go for it and really push the last 10-15 off, you'll know that you are doing it because you aren't happy at this weight. I maintained about 15 pounds higher than I am now for 3 years before I decided I really wanted to get much leaner. At this point, you know the effort that it took you to get to this point, you've been reading this forum, and you know the pitfalls of old habits. I think you are well-armed to avoid a regain ;)

OK, that probably wasn't the motivational kick in the pants you were looking for :lol: but I think "resting" would be better than getting frustrated and going in the opposite direction.

Karynlee- Welcome back :wave: Hmmm....vacations seems to be a frequent trouble spot for you. Can you make sure you only stay in hotels with gyms? That's one of my criteria, and I make sure that I use it. I usually come home with a few extra pounds from eating out too much, but it helps.

I've been fighting the urge all day to eat anything that crosses my path, so I've spent most of the day either at the gym, or outside. I've been doing so well lately, I don't want a run-in with the peanut butter jar!

Mel

Jawsmom - Get out of my head! I really would like to be at least 5#'s less but at the same time I'm having a hard time motivating myself enough to actually do it. I have "let up" a little the last couple of weeks on purpose just to see how far I can go without gaining and to experiment with maintaining - not coincidentally the same time that I start lurking in this forum. Also about the same time that I realized I was becoming a skinny hermit just to keep from being tempted. And hey, I'm a single woman in my 30's - there's only so many Saturday nights I can spend at home alone without passing my last window of opportunity:lol:

I had a fairly radical lifestyle change a few months ago that freed up a lot of time (and mental energy) so that I could focus on losing but I know that realistically I won't always have 2 hrs/day, 6 days/wk to spend in the gym. Not only do I not want to go back to my old weight but I also don't want to go back to my old habits, so no fears there.
That's exactly what I had in mind and you articulated it very well, Mel. If (when?) I decide to lose the last bit, I know exactly what I need to do but for now I think I'm going to try maintenance mode for at least a couple of months before actively trying to lose any more (although it wouldn't bother me a bit if some accidentally fell off:p ).

Julia, I am so glad I'm not alone!

Mel, thank you for your reply. It wasn't until I read it that I realized I wasn't actually looking for a motivational kick in the pants. Rather, I was fishing for "permission" to give up actively trying to lose weight for a while. I felt so guilty even considering taking a break just shy of my goal. I think you are right though. Relaxing my expectations for a month or so will give me a chance to refresh my outlook and give me the mental energy to tackle the last few pounds.

I can't help but remember our vacation in April. I spent 10 days without access to fitday, a gym, or a scale. I was forced to find a balance between enjoying our time off by splurging a bit but still making the best food choices possible. I also had to incorporate plenty of activity without the benefit of a structured routine. I wasn't really worried about losing weight as I had been on a plateau for a while. I came home 3.5 lbs lighter and had a new affinity for my usual eating and exercising routines. So, there is something to be said for listening to your body and taking a break from the emotional rollercoaster that trying to lose weight puts you on I suppose.

Like you, Julia, I won't expect to see any weight loss for a while - but I won't be upset if I happen to shed a pound or two either.

Hi -

Thought I'd crawl out of lurkdom!! I have 2 mins. to spare - I'm leaving for Chicago today.

Karynlee - Don't fret. You'll get back on track, your post could have been written by me. In fact, I'm trying to stay in control til I get home from this trip then I'm really cracking down. My cute stuff is a little tight lately, too.

Meg, Mel, Sandy, Gina, Ilene Anne & all other Maintainers - Hope you're enjoying summer! I'll post again on Thurs. Miss you all - it's been crazy with the new job. Working in Corporate America is like riding a bike - after 2 years off it only took 6 weeks to be out straight again. No time to think. But guess what? I'm loving it! :)

Hi Group:

Hope everyone is enjoying summer!!! Remember our winter post when we wanted SUN at all cost!!!! I love the summer.

Still recovering from my lasiks sugery. I've had some minor complications but I am on the road to recovery. It is nice go to the bathroom without looking for my glasses.
Food is on track. Exercise is on light duty but I am easing back in.

wndanne: How's that baby cooking!!! I know it's hot in AZ. Hope all is well.
Anne: Nice to see you pop in. Glad you are loving your new job.
rabbit: I know your on vacation, but if you pop in we miss you.

Take care,

I'm gonna post here for a change. Hello Maintainers!

I guess I didn't quite learn maintaining last time. It's so funny, I actually remember posting that I was afraid I couldn't stop losing, that I was going to become too light.

I had a big perk this morning. Had a weight drop. It increased my optimism I guess. So I came here. Oh I've been reading here all along. Just not posting until I got closer to maintainance mode.

I'm moving into that weight zone. You know ... I'm OK here and maybe 120 lbs was too spindly. I am working more regularly with weights this time and using more vigorous cardio. So maybe (with added muscle) I won't get down to 122. But back into my size 2's and 4's would be fine at any weight.

I read "Thin for Life" and reread many parts. My daughter has it now. I think I'm more close to really knowing that I have to make changes that last a lifetime. I think I thought I knew that before :?: Does that make sense?

So I think my goal is to get under 130 lbs and see what happens. I like eating clean and I enjoy most of the exercising that I do. If I steady out (and fit back into my clothes) at 128, that'll be fine. I want to feel good and not worry about what I can wear lest some fat hangs over the waistband :D

Thanks for being here.

Hi, maintainers,

I also had major weight drop today - I guess Mel was right and my "gain" was water retention due to heat and vigorous exercise, anyways, today scale was nice and I dropped 4# from those 8# I gained after my mountain bike tour.

I have triathlon tomorrow and even though I am having second thoughts (aren's we all) about my own sanity, I am nevertheless excited. I figured out that even attempting it is a HUGE step in the life of the person who is severe asthmatic and even if I will be the last one to finish, it will be still a milestone in my life. Of course, yesterday I biked to work and than came back home and found out that it is recommended NOT to have vigorous activity the whole week before event. Well, I can not change it now, next time probably? Which is again a clear indication that I am not a pro, but first time is first time, what do I expect?

Anyways, I currently changed my diet to have a bit more protein - so far I am at about 25-30% and I find it hard, so much I am a carb person. However, I feel more filled with food and rarely hungry. Of course, before major competition they recomment high carb diet, so 25% of protein falls nicely into it and after the triathlon I will try to top it up.

Hope everybody has a nice weekend.
Sandy.

Sandy, I just had to post a big kudo for you. I'm so impressed with your triathalonning. A few years ago I watched the Iron Man on TV with my sis' BF and we both decided that dammit we were getting off the couch and gonna start training to do it someday. Went out the next morning for a run and after about a quarter mile the cold made my ears feel like they were bleeding. That was the end of my Iron Man ambitions.:o

Good for you for sticking to it and getting over such a huge milestone!:balloons:

:grouphug: Sandy have fun, you will do fine for your triathlon...:grouphug:

It's funny that our local triathlon is this weekend too. I've been wanting to do it since I was a spectator last year, but because of the drives out of town for my dad and also this weekend being my nephews wedding weekend well it just didn't happen... But I just may try it next year, but I have to learn how to better my strokes that's something I MUST work on for next year...

Anyways, good luck Sandy, think of us, because we'll be rooting for you!!

Go, Sandy!!! :cheer: :cheer: :cheer:

Be sure to come back and tell us all about it!

Go Sandy!!!! Go Sandy!!! Go Sandy!!!
We Are All Proud Of You!

Hi maintainers,

Sandy, congratulations!!! How did the triathalon go? What an accomplishment.

I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off for the past month, and I've used my busy-ness as an excuse to snack too much and eat more "treats" and plain ol' junk that I should be. It's only showed by two pounds on the scale so far, but I'm quite annoyed with myself b/c the scale is not what I care about (that much). I finished my SCUBA class this weekend with 'real' checkout dive trips on a shipwreck Saturday and Sunday. There are no words to describe how awesome it was! The good news is that I'm done with having 5 hours of class every night after work. I tried to pack dinners on my class days but I always ended up eating extra besides what I packed. The people I was carpooling with never brought anything and always stopped at McD's etc. I'm unhappy to admit I had a few (small) milkshakes, and cookies, crackers, chips etc. that people around the office have been sharing.

Exercise has been crap too. I know diving is a good workout, so I've been burning calories, but my running lungs and lifting muscles are getting out of running shape. And it's only my own fault. Crap crap crap. :mad:

I still haven't adjusted to fitting a BF into my schedule. We've been dating for a month now and it may be time to explain my "food issues" in a little more depth to him. How do you tell someone you're an undiagnosed (self-diagnosed?) compulsive eater without scaring them off? It also means I'm busy, and home less. He eats pretty healthily, so when we eat together it's easy to stay on track. The trade-off is worth it for sure though.

How is everyone else's August going?

Hi,

Well, I had quite a cheering team - all of you! I just logged in today to look what's new and I am all over maintainers forum!!! Thanks, I really felt like somebody supported me :)

About the event... I did it with my gym buddy and early morning her hubby and she picked me and my bike up... Her first questions was: remind me again why are we doing this??? I had to tell her that it was all HER idea, but she did not agree :?: . Anyways, it was early and we were sleepy and we had 130km drive ahead of us. Then we arrived and registered, got our numbers... Waited for everybody around the lake where swimming part was supposed to happen. Watched how they put those big inflattable yellow balls in the water (I am still wondering how do they measure the distance? :dizzy: ). Anyways, there was not too many people and the first part was for those who did it before, we were in "first triathlon" and started 5 min after veterans :)

Believe it or not, but I actually passed some people while swimming ;) ! I with my breast stroke :D ... The transition from swimming suit to the biking shorts was a pain, as I had sand in my shoes and I thought I will have problems later, but it went fine. However, people who had friends helping them beat me up with changing into biking attire, so I was a bit behind on start of biking... However, I passed some people during 20 km bike ride ;) .

Running was a pain. i felt like I have sand bags tied up to my ankles... It was 30 degrees C in the shade and 59% humidity and I thought I will never finish... But I did, I even went ahead of one women who was constanty going ahead of me and we were like buddies at the last 2km of the run - one of us always ahead of another one. Anyways, I finished :cb: and even timing was UNDER 2 hours (my goal number one was to finish, my goal number two was to finish under 2 hours) - so here it goes, I DID IT :balloons:

The only thing I would change is to have swimming part int he swimming pool as it is way to easy to get off the straight line when swimming in the lake... Also, I would do it in fall but not in summer when it is so darn hot around!

Anyways, it was a great experience, and I will post pictures as soon as my friend's hubby uploads them.

Thanks for cheering, you are great support team!

Sandy

Wow Sashenka, you are my hero. I can hardly wait for the pictures. :bike:

Good for you for finishing in such good time Sandy!! :cheer:

Congratulations!!!!

Great accomplishment.

Hi maintainers

Sandy Congratulations !!!!! :cheer::cheer::cheer:I think it is absolutely enourmous that you finished AND in under 2 hours.

Hi to all the others.

Gina, glad to see you posting! I take it as a sign that you are OK and doing well. I thought about lasik surgery but i did not dare to do it.

have a great day,
rabbit

Glad to see you rabbit, how was the vaca.
How are you doing! We missed you.

Very quite week around here. Hope everyone is having fun.
End of summer is sneaking up on all of us so its time to do the things we dream of doing during the winter. For me that means squeezing in some beach time, as well as a round of golf. Need to reinforce some exercise goals. Morning is the best time for me and I need to make it a priority.
Take care & Pop in.

Hi,

Yep, it is quiet here. I am off the track with my exercise - after triathlon I haven't been to the gym at all - decided to take week off I guess, just beeing lazy.

Actually, beeing busy that's it. My old clunker Toyota wagon with 364000km on it started to leak ALL the fluids a week ago and sometimes just stopped on the road. Like not moving forward. So i decided - what the heck, I am driving all my kids to their activities in this old junk, but I really do not like the car my hubby driving - it is way too big for me and I am not coomfortable driving it, even though he always offered me to switch my clunker for his shiny almost new car. I just could imgagine him driving on the highway with 60 km/hour and occasional stops :rofl: So this week i was busy picking my new shiny car... I am not sure how are we going to manage payments, but here it goes - I (and mostly bank) own it now :cp: So that's what I was doing the whole week, as well as forgetting my bike and DRIVING TO WORK :fr:

I still hope to bike next week - I guess 1 week rest after triathlon is enough and here it goes... I did my triathlon in 1 hour 53 minutes - even better than I expected :cb:

Hope to hear some news (of course if I ever get out of my new car to do anything useful). The wisdom is - the longer you drive a piece of junk, the more you appreciate your new car :flow2:

Cheers,
Sandy.

Sandy -- 1 hour 53 minutes :fr: that's awesome time... You deserve a week of rest enjoy it, you are NOT lazy... I've read somewhere that you should take a break after an stressful competition like that... Enjoy :beach:

Sandy- Congratulations on the TRI and the new car! You got a lot of miles out of that car...I was the one driving my dh's Toytota with 140K miles on it when all the fluids started erupting, so of course, I killed the car! He thought it would go another 100K miles. My theory is once you let the orange foamy stuff out of the engine, it never works again :lol:

Mel

Hi Everyone--I had a very exciting July (son's Bar Mitzvah and a family trip to Toronto); August has been hot, humid and stressful. My daughter (age 8) is in day camp and loves it, but my son is hanging around bored and driving me crazy. Plus I won't be teaching this fall (was teaching middle school half-time last year) and I have very mixed feelings about not working.

The good news is that I am not using food to deal with the stress. I am occasionally exercising--not as much as I would like but I can increase it once the kids are back in school. Tomorrow is a workout day, so that will feel good.

Have a good week, all.

Respect!
 

Sashenka - congratulations on the mountain biking and the triathlon and your photos are great!

Hi all,

I am having a terrific summer! I have found out that I am in terrific health after being under the threat of surgery for the past six months (I don't even have anemia anymore); my basement is recovered now from the flood we had in April; I am happily training for a half-marathon with my FH; and now we're probably going to go and get married this fall instead of in 2007 wooohooooo (and making the wedding ceremony tiny which suits me just fine)!!!

My goals right now is trying to drink more water and less soft drinks (I am a diet coke addict)... so it's slow oing, but I am working at it.

My nutrition has been great too! Lots of good wholesome carbs, good fat and lean protien yummy! The way I am eating is just so sustainable too, not a diet, just a great lifestyle... I do attend WW,, but that's what got me to goal in the first place. The running and hill training have made my legs super-defined... I gotta kick my rear into more weight training though.

All in all, a great summer!!

Cheers!

Ali:)

Hi guys,

Had a bout of pre-term labor, which got stopped at the hospital before anything too drastric happened, but don't know what's happening next. Just wanted to let you guys know in case I disappear for a bit. At this point in the pregnancy everything would be OK even if she comes right now, but it'd be better for all concerned if she cooks just a bit longer. I'll post when I get a chance.

Tip of the day: do not weigh yourself soon after coming off an IV! I guess, duh, but some days I just ain't 'tall that bright.

Belated congrats on the tri Sandy! Awesome job.

Anne

Anne! I just thought of you yesterday! You have been missing! I'm so glad everything is fine. Rest, relax .... cook that baby just a wee bit longer. And keep us posted!