No, I was petrified to eat more. I was terrified I would gain weight. I upped calories very very slowly. Every week, I raised calories a little at a time. Starting at 1600 and working up to around 1900. There was a lot of backsliding, days when I didn't increase calories.

Even today, nearly 1 year from the day I started maintaining, 18 months from the day I started, I still struggle to feel okay eating "treats." That's my big thing now, eating one "non healthy" thing a day. Started with a low stressful biscotti (low fat! only 100 calories) and working up to a square of Trader Joe's organic dark chocolate.

Yep, that's my problem, too.

Isn't that funny, though? 2 years ago I wouldn't have thought twice about sitting down and eating an entire pizza. Now I have to fight with myself just to eat one piece.

But I'm not complaining. If I had 'adopted' this frame of minds years ago, I wouldn't have ended up weighing 220 pounds.

For me it was all about the exercise. I lost the last 10 pounds (even though I wasn't really trying to lose it) as a by product of adding in an extra hour a day of caridio when I started biking to work from the ferry.

I totally empathize with everybody who talked about how scary it was to up your calories going into maintenance or to zig zag while losing. I had to up my calories when I added in my bike rides, and it was really really difficult. It took me a solid month to get my calories up from 1600 to 1900. My biggest problem was over estimating and rounding up.

My weight has been stable for a month now though finally, so I finally got the hang of it.

Congrats on that weight loss, Tani, you did great!

When I plateaud, I switched food plans (still on WW, switched from Flex to Core). It made a big difference--5 pounds off pretty easily. Core focuses on whole grains, de-emphasizing processed foods and staying very aware of how hungry/full you actually are at any given point (i.e., assess hunger once you start eating, mid-way thru and later--try to stop before feeling overstuffed).

Making a few changes in what you eat might help. And I definitely agree with those who recommend more exercise. Maybe a Pilates DVD would keep things interesting for you.

I've got one :)

But I'm a lazy slob, lol.

Nah, I like walking. When the weather warms up some, I'll start walking again.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm still on my 'plan' where I'm not weighing myself until March 25th. I need to relax and stop worrying about numbers so much. And like I said before, since my weight loss is going much slower now, there's really no point in weighing myself every week. I think once a month will be better.