Happy November, gang! How did everyone do with the Halloween candy ? Any leftovers? What are you doing to get rid of them? Did your kids bring candy IN the house? How do you deal with that?

We gave out bags of Doritos and Cheetos and have lots left over, but they don’t tempt me (too much ). DH and DS will take care of them soon enough. I’m happy to say that not one piece of candy passed my lips this year – only because I know darn well that one piece would have set off a binge that would have ended with me surrounded by a small mountain of empty wrappers. Better not to eat the first one!

One of my clients thoughtfully (?) brought me in a bag of homemade cookies and candy yesterday, but I even managed to drive home with that in the car and plop it in DS’s lap, unopened. It always baffles me when people give me cookies and candy as gifts, despite knowing my weight loss history. I know they’re just being kind and so many of our celebrations revolve around food, but seriously folks …

I’ve been quiet for the past month because I’ve been way too busy at the gym – I’ve been living in a fog of work and tiredness. But I’m making an effort to cut back my hours! I’m refusing any new clients (OK, with two exceptions) and am trying not to work after 7:30 pm.

Honestly, I've been struggling more with food than any other time in the past three and a half years of maintenance – and I know why. It’s stress and tiredness and I’ve come to realize that if I don’t start taking care of myself a little better in non-food ways, I’m going to put the weight right back on. Hence the attempt to get a better handle on my work hours, actually saying NO to a few clients , and getting back to the basics of planning meals and having it all ready in advance.

My toughest time of day is when I get home from the gym late and starving: tired + hungry = disaster. I can eat perfectly from 4:30 am until 8:30 pm and then blow it all in 15 minutes. Arghhh!

Anyways, enough about me – how are all of YOU doing?

Hi Meg,

I recognise a lot in your description about the effects of stress and tiredness. Yesterday I had a very frustrating session with my XH at the therapist, and I left literally crying with anger and frustration.
And guess what: I drove straight to the supermarket, bought some smoked eel, a whole grain breadroll, sundried tomatoes, assorted olives and 2 creme brulees ( a dessert). And realised halfway my lunch of smoked eel sandwich that I was literally chewing my anger away. And continued to eat the first creme brulee then, and the 2nd for dessert after dinner.
Fortunately I after lunch I managed to work off some off the frustration in my garden, but I still feel the anger surging in me. Luckily I have ordered a guided meditation CD earlier as a non food reward for living through these difficult times, and I am looking forward to getting it.

have a great day,
rabbit

Hi maintainers,

It was sort of a mixed blessing that we knew no trick-or-treaters would visit my house, this year. It would have been fun to see kids in their costumes but boy was I happy there was no candy around. Last week someone brought candy to work and I had 2 fun-sized candy bars in 2 days (1 each day), and that was it. What a victory. I drank a little too much (put me about 400 calories over my daily limit) at a Halloween party Saturday night but had a great time. Other than that food has been ok. I've been cutting back somewhat, but not as much as I should, and know I was once capable of, to lose the weight I'm trying to lose before the holidays hit.

I managed to meet all of my October goals. I lost exactly 5 of the 10 lbs "relapse" I'm trying to get rid of before Thanksgiving. I'm getting exercise back on track, running more than last month and more often. I'm nowhere near the intensity level I was about 4 months ago, but on the other hand I've made great strides since September where I worked out, oh, about a total of 10x all month. November: lose next 5 lbs., increase running to 15 miles/wk, keep doing cardio 5x/wk and weights/strength 3x/wk.

I'm still struggling to get enough sleep. I'm involved in a production with the local community theater and rehearsals are getting longer as we get closer to the performance, which is the weekend before Thanksgiving. My body is going through a lot of hormonal changes/issues/freakouts right now and I know keeping up on sleep, exercise, and eating will help me minimize crankiness and make better decisions about my health. I feel like I'm slowly crawling myself out of this little hole I dug...but my pants are still much too tight!

Meg, I can relate to the increased stress and lack of sleep contributing to bad eating decisions (as you read above), even if I'm sure you're much busier than I am. Good for you for recognizing what you need to do to keep yourself healthy. Kudos for delivering that bag of cookies & candy to your son unopened. You're a stronger person than I am.

Rabbit, hang in there. Good luck with the meditation CD. Let us know if it helps and how you are doing.

What an interesting ride these first few weeks of maintainence have been!

First of all, I weigh myself each morning. Partly because seeing 135 or lower is still very exciting for me but mostly just to keep everything in check and learn what my normal fluctuations are at this weight. The problem is that as soon as my brain registers that the scale hasn't gone down I get a jolt of disappointment. I have to remind myself that I'm not TRYING to make the scale go down. I imagine that just about the time I've gotten used to not seeing a loss each week will be when I decide that I need to tackle another 10 pounds or so - and the cycle will begin again!

Secondly, it is an odd feeling to meet new people who have no idea I've ever been overweight. A new neighbor is in the process of moving in and our children have been playing together at our house while they get some work done at theirs. She stopped by this morning while I was getting my breakfast and noticed how meticulously I was weighing and measuring everything. I mentioned that I am trying to lose weight. She is obese and her response was an annoyed, "You don't need to lose weight." Of course I told her that I was over 200 pounds this time last year. Being a thin person, even if it is only on the outside, has really changed the dynamics between myself and overweight people who didn't know me before I lost weight. I've said things that I realized, after the fact, probably came across very judgemental. For instance, I took my children to McDonalds for lunch and invited a new friend of my daughter's and her mom (who is overweight). We were talking about fast food in general and I mentioned that it is a really big deal for my kids to go because we so rarely do. She proceeds to tell me that they hardly ever go either, just once a week of so. Of course, I say that we only go a couple of times a year because I worry about my weight and don't trust myself around the french fries. Inoccent enough on the surface but I know at my heaviest those kinds of comments from a thin person would have stung at least a little. It makes me wonder how many times I misjudged a thin person complaining about needing to lose 5 pounds. Surely some of them were where I am now - at the end of their weight loss journeys. I swear, it makes me want to wear a sign around my neck that says, "I used to be fat." Maybe even tape a "before" picture to it.

All in all, though, I'm really excited to be here. I think I am beginning to settle into my new skin. I'm getting comfortable in my new clothes that at first I couldn't stop adjusting because they touch me. I guess after years of wearing the biggest, baggiest shirts I could find left an impression! So my question is, does the new EVER wear off?

I bought the H. candy WAAAAY too early this year. Was trying to be organized and avoid a last minute rush to the store. I kept it sealed in its bags and put away, but of course since I actually did know where it was I ate a couple of mini Reese's bars each night all the way up to Oct. 31. Then ate several pieces of my kids' candy and felt like absolute crap (physically and mentally).

The most pathetic part is that I actually don't like candy all that much (I'm a salty food gal myself), so I wasted a lot of empty calories on a food that doesn't really float my boat.

Action: more exercise
shopped at Trader Joe's to get more interesting food for around the house
baked a very healthy apple crisp (whole grain, soy flour, unsweeetened applesauce instead of oil, blackstrap molasses, etc.)

Ready to move on from this and do better in November.

I didn't do well on Halloween at ALL!! Grrr it makes me angry that I let myself fall for those "candies" , some years are better than others, some like this year are BAD. But I'm over it and it's time to PLAN to succeed for Christmas. I planned well enough this year, I didn't buy the candy, but when IT came out I had the dreaded "just one" and then 5 later I was kicking myself for doing so. THEN the "all or nothing" mentality kicked in for some reason and I had popcorn at the show that DD and I went to see on Halloween night. It was fun though, we went to see "Saw II", I don't recommend to see a thriller like that before bed it just stimulated me so much that I had a very hard time sleeping, that and the fact that DD came to join us in our room because she wasn't able to fall asleep DH ended up sleeping on the couch that night Thank goodness the guy has patience!

So plan, plan, plan, is my motto from now till Christmas!!!!!

TTFN

Hi All:
Good to see everyone.
On the straight and narrow here. Been doing well both food and exercise wise.
I just read the Thin commandments and would like to tell you guys it is for us.
The diet section I would rate it as poor. No exercise focused on. The psycologicaly stuff is fantastic.
I will never even lend this book out. How's that for a testimonial...
Rabbit be well.

Thanks Gina, I am still hanging in.

Hello Everyone,
I would like to jump over to the Maintainers forum and join you folks. I've been posting at 3FCs for a couple of months, and I'm close to my low weight. I was so glad to find this site, I feel as though I have been a "Maintainer" since I was about 18 years old (About 30yrs now). It's been much more of a struggle the last 5 years.

Halloween was okay for me, but only because I have been sugar free for the last 3mos. As long as I don't eat it I don't crave it.

Exercise has been awful. I have tendonitis in both ankles and return to the Dr. next week. Hopefully I won't have to give up impact cardio. and resistance machines. I have been doing Ballet core floor exercises in the meantime. Good news is swelling and pain are gone.

My toughest time of day is still 8pm-midnight. I plan a SF dessert and decaf coffee, and as long as I am doing 5-6 small meals a day and no sugar I'm okay.

I'm beginning to stress about holiday eating though, Trying to balance being polite to those who say "But you are so thin" and true to my body that says "If you eat that you'll crave more" or worse "They're right you are thin go ahead and indulge" is difficult.

I'm at that place where I'm adding back more calories and good carbs and still maintain. Why is it that it is so hard to make yourself eat less, then after losing it's so hard to make yourself eat more??

Thanks for letting me join in

I've been having a hard time with this too. I have this irrational fear that an extra 100 calories each day is going to pack all 79 pounds back on over night. I lost weight on 1500 calories and I've gradually bumped that up to about 1700 and I'm still losing (very slowly, of course, but still losing all the same). I have wondered if my continued weight loss isn't a result of mentally letting go of the "diet" idea. Now that I'm not concerend about losing weight I've relaxed and my body doesn't have to fight me anymore, if that makes any sense. I keep expecting my body to settle into things and then I'll stop losing. I sure hope so, anyway. I feel like I can get the body that I want at this weight with a little more focus on strength training and I won't have to bother with getting all the way down to 120. Time will tell, I suppose.

Had an interesting mixed bag this weekend. I've been watching my calories again, sometimes watching them go through the roof, but on the whole not too bad. I finally started losing weight again, about 3 lbs in the last week or so, putting me down about 5 for the month. Hooray.

Then today I went shopping for my post-maternity-leave but not-yet-back-to-pre-maternity clothes, since I go back to work on Monday (gasp). I'm now a size 16. OK, 16W. Ouch. I mean, duh, I'm up now 30ish lbs from January, of course I wasn't going to be a 12 again, but still ouch. I know it is still early, and I'll get back, but ouch. I'm trying to remember when I was THRILLED to be a 16. Way better than a 24.

Food is OK, exercise going pretty well. I'm having a few more off days than I used to with the exercise, but there must be some concessions to the sleep deprivation or I just won't survive.

So I'm going back to work. Scared to death to leave the baby. My mother will be with her the first two weeks and then she goes to the nanny. I'm only part time for the next few months but it is still stressful.

Hope you guys have a great holiday. In the name of sanity I ordered my dinner from the grocery store, much easier, but obviously less control over calories. One day, one meal, I can deal with, I just have to remember that it is just one day, one meal.

Anne

Anne,

Good luck on your first day back to work !!!
It probably will feel awfull at first to leave the baby in care of someone else, I know it did for me, but this will wear off. How nice that your mother can take care of her the first time. Will the nanny be at your place or do you have to bring the baby to her ? It sounds really luxurious and grand, a nanny.

Again, Good luck on your first day and remember...it takes longer than you think to get over the whole pregnancy business but alll the changes are perfectly reversible. Except for having a baby now of course.

Have a great day,
rabbit

Jawsmom & 2 bt mom,

I know exactly what you mean. I upped my calories last week to the 1800-1900 range and I'm still a pound down from the week before. I'm going to stay at the same range for at least another week though, because I'm worried that it's just a fluke.

I think that my bike commute must really be keeping my metabolism revved up. Prior to this I never got any morning exercise in.

Hi everyone!
I've officially been off the bandwagon for 46 days. About 5 lbs worth But that could be much worse. I've been eating terribly and not exercising one little bit.
The fact that I was letting myself down has always been in the back of my mind, however, it really hit home at work on Saturday. The girls have made a WW group. A bunch of them were after me for tips ... I responded from my vaste reserve of knowledge whilst munching on my second donut of the shift. Hypocrite!
Today I've been much better. And now that I've drifted back to you folks (again) it can only get better.

Susan Welcome Back