That is neat about the pig. I followed a blog once of a couple who lost tremendous amounts of weight, he through diet and exercise, she through gastric bypass.
They bought a hobby farm and ended up doing lots of physical exercise and also raised two pigs at a time. They have a "fun"type day on Sunday and make things they can't eat normally. But they have one serving and everything left after the meal goes to the pigs.So man and beasts all all happy. I thought that was a great maintenance trick.

Hey Maintainers!
*
I did not get my fatsecret check-in done yesterday, so I’m going to do it here!* I went to a weekend wedding and then had a houseful of guests (six extra people including two little girls), and basically I was off plan for 10 days.* My scale is up to 130, where before I was 124.5ish.* I did get several workouts in (some of them in my closet!!!) during that 10 days, and I feel like I was OK there.* A few more rest days than normal, but my muscles were sore and that was a nice treat.* * I don’t know if I read anything specific about nutrition except for here and another forum I frequent.* And a People Magazine article about someone from Beverly Hills 90210 who lost 30 pounds (Jenny Garth?).*
*
I am on 10 days of Phase 1 to get the bloat off.* Yesterday was the first day (after saying goodbye to company at 5AM), and it was a bit rocky.* I ate a few more packets than usual, but I didn’t eat anything “illegal”.* I poured the rest of the wine down the sink and I tossed a bunch of dessert.* There is still a lot of bread on my counter and there are other sweets and fruits, but I have moved these all out of sight until I get back under 125.*
*
I am going to Jamaica for a week on October 28.* After I get back from that trip, I expect to be in the same place as now…and back to Phase 1!* I will try to eat Phase 2&3 on the trip, but I know I will drink alcohol.
*
Cindy, how is your mother doing?* Thinking of you….

Patns: That was too funny about getting rid of extra fun day food by giving it to the pigs. That is an original way of maintaining.

Locopollo: You are making good choices with throwing out wine and desert..and keeping other food out of sight. Your Jamaican trip sounds fabulous. I would also want to try those exotic rum drinks.

It is cold here this am!

cap Grew up around farms, didn't have a pig but did have a pony and numerous dogs lol...then we moved into town and it was just 'a' dog. Now I only have cats. But I still like farm animals and since I like to name EVERYTHING (reference Martha)....did you name the pig??

loco I love Jamaica!! I would go back there in a HEARTBEAT, would love to take the VIP! My gf is from there and her mom frequently makes (and has taught me her family recipe – had to sign a contract not to share it lol) jerk chicken. I love it so much I've asked her mom to help me with the day after the wedding for 'extra' food for people to come over and mill about (mmmm jerk chicken). Also, her dad (when he as alive) made me Jamaican rum punch for a Jamaican party I had one. BEWARE (no one told me this), it's made with 150% proof rum....4 drinks in 45 minutes (not knowing it wasn't just a punch with a bit of rum)...yup, turned into a fantastic story of my trip

Darbs I agree with you, this site is most definitely part of my maintenance plan and a huge part of me not feeling as 'alone' when I'm at a table and the only one making the choice to NOT have something.

SO, this morning I'm 162 and I'm officially 6 months into maintenance....the anxiety has lessened on the scale but it's still there. Some days it comes back with a flash other days I go "meh, I know what to do". I'm hopeful in the years to come I will have more 'meh' then others and my lifestyle will just be what I do. Maile, your quote really struck a cord with me "I choose to believe"...it really is a choice and if you had told me 2 years ago I would be running consistently, eating healthy and only eating out once a week...I would have laughed at you.

Cheers to all of you and the continued posts to make us feel like there are others like us, even if you can't see them when you're actively making good choices. (awe, I'm mushy today!)

Good morning all!

So today is my first official day in P4 and honestly, I'm scared to death! Although my coach has tried hard, I still can't get the whole "fat is ok, as long as it's good fat" into my brain. I'm afraid my belly will bloat back up if I eat any kind carbs and I'm afraid my cravings will come back with a vengence!

Jeez - I sound like such a wimp today!!!

Ok - time to suck it up and move forward!

Loco - have fun in Jamaica!!! I'm in love with Negril but also enjoy Montego Bay ..

cap - I want to know the name too .... Charlotte?

Maile - thought of you yesterday, I made an appointment to get a consult on Sculptra ... Did you set your dates yet?

Ishbel - I hope my anxiety goes away, I will use you for inspiration!!!!!

Healthy Angie
The anxiety will lessen. Consider reading gary taubes why we get fat. It is an excellent book and by the end you will probably be comfortable that fat is good. And I mean all fat, but definitely so called healthy fats!

My advice is to have your fun day/meal, do a day of phase 1 and weigh yourself the next day. If you are still up consider the balance between fun and regular eating. My weekends are fun ish, so it takes a couple days of phase 1 to counter them. I like phase 1 and its easy, so that's my plan. You will eventually figure out yours! It seems we all do something slightly different.

Thanks for the input! I will definitely look up that book as I'm an information junkie and I really do need to get some facts straight in my brain.

I really thought I was better informed on healthy eating than I really was. This diet has been a real eye opener for me. Now I understand how I gained the weight and why I couldn't take it off ....

I loved Phase 1 for the simplicity - except for the no wine I'm glad I have a tool to balance things out ...

Gary taubes is amazing. His original book good calories bad calories is even better, just longer.

As a start go online and google what if its all been a big fat lie. An article he wrote for the ny times. It'll give you an idea of his views. They completely make sense to me as I gained most of my weight following the Canada food guide and exercising regularly.

I also think maintaining is more straightforward (almost said easier, but that is never true) if you have chosen a realistic goal weight. I seriously have tried to get down to 140 and have never been able to, and I have enough trouble maintaining at 145 that it would have been hard. My coach indicated it is people who choose a reasonable goal weight who seem the most satisfied.

I have been a master lurker lately! My son is doing a speech therapy group mon-thu, 9-11:30am and of course its across town 45-60min 1-way. Then trying to squeeze in work in the off hours, etc and its been a crazy couple of weeks, but worth it as he is getting excellent treatment. Needless to say this new schedule is posing challenges trying to get in good meals and exercise in. I have been maintaining through the past few weeks of appointments, evaluations, etc, 143 this am...1lb more than i would like, watching my meals as no time to workout today - i need to think about morning runs to squeeze in weekday workouts...but i am NOT a morning person!

Got in 5.25miles yesterday at a brisk 8:20 pace, i am officially signed up to do 13.1miles on Nov 11th in San Antonio so i need to work on my training now that i have a "goal".

I also got Gary Taubes on my to-do list...which never endss!

Hey all! As of Saturday, I am phasing back out, reboot has come to an end. It is just really hard sticking to P1 when the scale is back to normal, your clothes feel great and you are feeling good all around.

I am so glad that I did my reboot and got back to goal, and I know I will have a couple more in the near future. But for now, I am going back to living in maintenance.

Great job, Jenny!

Jenny: Great news. You are back at goal. That is wonderful!!!

Lizr: Your schedule is busy. I hope all of these sessions are helping your son. You are maintaining despite the hectic pace!

Momto2: I am a big Gary Taube fan also..excellent book.

Healthyangle: I was scared of Phase 4 also..feared any carbohydrate would cause me to gain. You do get used to it. I used the i/2 cup Gary Taube idea for carbs at dinner. I am holding off on the lazer until next summer..paying for my son's college this year..sigh. Yours is coming soon..exciting.

Ishbel: It is a matter of choosing to believe that we can do this! I also tell myself I choose to eat mindfully. I choose to exercise.

Here is the irony in maintenance. When you are overweight, you feel abnormal, that you are different. You think when you reach goal, you will be normal like everyone else and will not feel different. Then you discover that when you are thin and making healthy eating choices, you are NOT normal. You are very often alone and the only one in the group making these choices.

That is why this site is valuable. It is very supportive to have others here who are following their own healthy path and who can support each other!

Morning everyone! 100-degrees here yesterday in San Diego, so glad I'm not lugging around 50+ extra pounds of fat anymore!
It's been awhile since I checked in. Still figuring this Maintenance thing out; for me it's a Phase 3 clone thingy that works, having extras like avocado and nuts as grains reallllllly don't agree with me!
I must say, I miss Phase 1. Once you get through the first few weeks of adjustment it's pretty much just coasting through. All of my aches and pains virtually disappeared, actually looking forward to a little reboot at some point down the road for that reason alone, crazy huh?
Keep up the good work; you are all so worth it!

Barbara
__________________

MaMaZu - interesting reading your post. I'm only in Phase 4 for 3 days and I've totally chickened out! Today I'm doing a P1 day because I had pasta last night (all of about 8 pieces of penne) and a piece of garlic bread. The big thing is I don't feel as good! I'm staying away from gluten because in P3 I realized I don't tolerate it well but even regular carbs are making me feel bloated and just plain yucky!!

So I'm hoping 1 day of "clean" eating will at least help me feel a little better ...

Maile, you are so right. I was never really big, in fact, I never really noticed how much weight I had gained as I did look and eat pretty much like everyone else. It too some really bad Christmas pictures for me to realize how much I had gained. Those 40 made me look much older.

Now I am usually the thinnest and fittest person in our group. And the most food obsessed and difficult...people comment on my willpower, but I know that if I lose focus on my weight that I would be inlined to let myself eat like I used to, which was not necessarily unhealthy, but it didn't work for me. It can be very frustrating and mentally challenging.

When dh embraced ip and low carb eating things really became easier for me.