LOL, congrats on your loss!! :)

skelley-depending on what plan you've been on there is a 3 or 6 week plan that begins to reintroduce foods. Then after that they give you a recommended calorie range (which from the experience on the boards is right on for some people, off for others).

I've been on the green menu for awhile, started with the yellow 1-4 days then the blue 5-11 days and then the green menu, i've lost 34 lbs which is what they wanted me to lose, my body fat is still 35% they want it at 34% or less but i didn't want to pay for 10 more wks so they said i could start stabilization next sat when i come in, well they said they will set up my appt for it, not sure why i just can't come in. I'm looking forward to it. oh my bmi is is 24.6, thanks for the response!:)

I know at my MRC, there is a monthly stabilization "party/meeting" for everyone that has made it! Check with your center and see if that is what they do. I was on stabilization for 6 weeks. You and I are pretty close in starting/ending weight. Congrats to you and everyone else.

hey yes we are pretty close, didn't notice that before, congrats to you also. I hope they can do my appt during the day, evenings are not a option for me. I'll have to check with them. thanks :carrot:

You'll have a 6 week progression since you were on green (I had moved to metabalance which added in dairy and a little more starch already, so that's just a 3 week stabilization).

Patsy, just wanted to thank you again for getting me through my down week when I didn't lose anything. The week after that I lost three and a half pounds and this week I lost 2 and a half. I think my body just stalled for one week and then I started losing weight quickly again! Hope to be where you are soon and then I'll need advice for maintaining...I don't want to ever gain this weight back..I'm feeling great now!
Congrats on maintaining! You're doing great!

You are more than welcome. You will be fine.. Just say you can do it, and you will, I promise. It is a challenge, but one worth doing. I am glad you are back to motivation, as that is important. We all have our ups and down, and when we do,most of us come to this forum and talk..This forum is what got me thru to maintenance.

Patzi

Hi ladies:). I am struggling...and hope it is ok to vent. I gain a little then maintain for a while...and so the cycle goes. I remain 3-4lbs up from my goal, and have been going on 6 months now. I am baffled that I could lose 50lbs....and then get to a point where even losing just 1lb in a weeks time seems hopeless!! I am serious that this is a huge struggle right now and I am so upset with myself over it...I often just feel like crying and saying "screw it.". Please pardon my choice of words:(. I guess the only answer for me is to go back on the green menu and stay there...even once I am back down in lbs...stay there with a little tweeking. Going into full blown maintenance has been a mistake for me. Problem is I have gotten comfortable in it...and absolutely don't know how I am going to get the motivation necessary to get real strict again...but I need to while I still am only within a few pounds of goal. Imagine if we let these little gains add up?! That scares me very much. I guess I just thought I could lose a few while still on maintenance...I am disappointed a bit because while I love my counselor, I think they are great at helping clients lose weigt...but not real helpful with how to maintain it. Likely because it is so individual. She keeps telling me that I don't need to go back to green...but every tip she shares that I try isn't working.
Does anyone relate to what I am going thru? I thought maintenance was going to be easy...what a misperception!!!!

Tami, I absolutely relate. I can't seem to get 4 pounds off and I'm afraid of the holidays coming. I have quit going to the center because it was so far away and the counselor I always saw left but I am finding that accountability was more important than I realized.

Anyway, the green menu is too low in calories for you to stay on forever. What if you tried MetaBalance combined with an increase in exercise? specifically, more strength training. What if you focused on staying right where you are rather than losing that little bit? In the end, you do have to burn more than you eat, or you will gain. I am not saying this from the perspective of ultimate success, but I am reading a lot online about all this and trying to find my way. I'm trying to eat about 1500 and burn 500 everyday I can.

Hang in there.

I'm with you both too!! I only need to lose 6lbs to reach my goal weight and i've tried everything to get there and it just seems impossible, i've been researching onine for answer also! The center has been great up to now but i feel they leave you hanging after we have spent all our money there and are at the end of our contract. I'm hanging in there and trying to get to my goal weight myself by trial and error! We can do this ladies:carrot::carrot:

I can relate as well. I went into maintenance hoping to lose the last couple of pounds to meet my goal, but that hasn't happened. I seemed to have developed a pattern..........gain a couple of pounds over the weekend and lose them during the week. This puts me between 161-163, which I am okay with but I am afraid with the holidays coming my weight may creep up more. I haven't been going to the center either up until last Saturday. I do think the accountability helps me, so I am going to make an effort to go every other weekend. I REALLY don't want to go back on plan.......so sick of chicken & salads!

I understand the frustration with wanting to lose the last few pounds (whether you stopped early or a few pounds crept back on...) and not knowing what to do. Either what worked in the past isn't or you can't bear another day of hunger (that's where I'm at, I know if I went back strictly OP for 2 weeks I'd be below my goal-but I can't handle the hunger right now...I want to, but I'm not mentally ready to just put my head down and go for it). I've been an at home client and my contract is up and for now I'm not renewing, and so far I'm doing great with weighing in on my own. I really had been weaning off using the center as accountability the past few weeks knowing the time was up (although someone from the center said I could still call in/order for a year). Here's the funny thing, I has been at the upper end of my "happy" (155) but wanting to get to the lower end (151/152) before the holidays and try and stay there. I think vigilance is key to allowing those pounds not to come back.

But the past few days we've been moving and I've been eating stuff I don't normally eat...like a corn dog. But I've been trying to make sure I track the calories and stay at the low end of my range (around 1400 or below I lose, around 1700 I maintain). I so did not want to step on the scale today thinking it would be up, but I knew I had to face it to keep me accountable or there would easily be 10 more pounds come January...and guess what? I was down to 152. Happy dance. The calorie counting is working for me (not to mention painting and cleaning carpets). Now I'm not going to start eating corn dogs regularly, when we're finally moved it will be back to more veggies. I'm going to try to stay at the lower end of my calories except for Thanksgiving DAY, Christmas DAY...not the full month in between:) I basically use the preconditioning menu idea (a protein, 1 starch, and fruits and veggies at each meal) and adjust serving sizes.

Awesome and congrats! I'm at 155 myself and have struggled trying to get to 147 which is what the center tells me to be at, i'm going sat to the center to weigh in and they are setting my appt up for stabilization, i'm so ready to move on, i'm actually happy at 155 so if i go down to 151-152 like you i would be estatic. We'll see!! Thanks for posting and i have been using myfitnesspal to track my calories and love it. :carrot:

I just started using my fitness pal also. It's really great. Have you heard of Fitbit? It's a monitor that you wear and it tracks steps, stairs, calories burned, etc. well, I was excited to read that you can link it with my fitness pal to get a total picture of whether you are creating a calorie deficit rather than just record your estimated calories burned. So this week I went to Best Buy, shelled out $79 and got it set up on my computer. Wouldn't you know- the thing came unclipped from my bra (where they recommended women attach it) and I lost it the very first day. I can't believe it.