Hello ladies!
Well, believe it or not, I haven 't fallen off the face of the earth

I visit occasionally, and continue to be truly inspired by those I am familiar with and those that are new here!
I am maintaining...I have my ups and my downs, but by WI day, I am where I need to be most of the time. I WI now every other week...I really believe having these regular check ins keeps me on track, so I will continue to go...
I have managed to figure out what a "lean & clean" day means for me..and so if I have my fun, and follow those days with a couple of stricter ones, I drop back down to where I need to be. In fact, I don't even bother weighing myself daily anymore, and especially when I have had days of eating a little crazy...because I already know I will be up! Seeing the number just stresses me out, so I wait to check on myself after I have had a "correction day."
I discussed recently with my counselor about a concern I am having though...When I have a successful WI, and I know that I won't be back for 2 weeks...I sort of let myself go a bit. I could gain up to 5-7 lbs and a few days before my scheduled WI, I have a plan on how to get it off in time...and it is not starving myself by any means. If I eat high protein those days, then calories don't seem to matter. But if I eat equal protein to carbs, then lower calories those days is necessary. I just wasn't sure if this pattern is healthy...She thinks it is keeping me from feeling deprived, and that if I can reel it back in, shouldn't be a problem.
All of this is an experiment...maintenance I mean. What works for one doesn't work for everyone. I think I am just grateful that I may have found what appears to work for me...I feel like I can relax, know that if I do eat that hot fudge sundae today, I know what I need to do tomorrow to counteract it. Make sense?
It continues to be a journey...and words can't even begin to describe the freedom you feel once you identify what seems to work....My greatest fear continues to be that feeling of hopelessness when your weight goes up and you can't figure out how to get it back down....I have been there.
My new motto? "Lean & Clean...NOT GREEN!!" LOL (because I don't ever want to be told I need to go back on GREEN MENU ever again!!)