The glass of wine was fabulous! Felt a little bit woozy afterwards. Came home, ate my sandwich that I was meant to have for lunch (last minute change to eating plan as the boss took me out to lunch), drank some water which I managed to spill over myself and then promptly fell asleep in front of the telly. It was not even 8.30pm. Thank goodness I stuck to just the one glass. Imagine the state I would be in if I'd had two!

Slipfree - I like to color too, something very soothing about it. Glad you are in better spirits.

drd - Glad your recovery is doing well and good for you on keeping the pounds down - that is marvelous!

rosie - I found any alcohol hits me harder than it used to. One glass is usually enough.

I had a really busy week. Didn't actually get to take a lunch hour and just ate at my desk while I worked. I find weekdays to be much easier to stay on my maintenance plan than weekends. Things never seem to go as planned on weekends, but I try. It helps to keep things prepped in the fridge but sometimes hard when I'm out running around.

Slipfree:I am glad you are feeling better and that you sold some things. You are right, stress is not good for the scale! I will bet you feel better when the clutter is gone. I am going into my room this month and doing the same. I need to get rid of things for a new common core curriculum in reading.

Canadjineh: That music festival sounds so fun. I am sure you are going to dance off anything that you consume! You are being very proactive, taking healthy supplemental food.

DRD: isn't it nice when the scale cooperates and your maintenance is going well?

RosiePosie: Have a great time in New York. I would love to have a personal shopper give me ideas on clothes. How fun. That is smart of you to take IP food with you in case the food options are limited at your trainings. Wine does affect you more, especially when you are eating low carb and are thinner.

RuthAnn: You sound busy with no lunch break. It does help to have things prepped in the fridge..but often weekends are spent catching up and running around.

Well, we got 4 salmon. It was a better trip than the last one in terms of rolling boats. I have to say that fresh salmon is incredible. The good news is that despite the lack of exercise being on that boat and in the car, I did not gain any weight.

Hi all: I'm back, much dirtier, and way more tired and dehydrated than expected . However, I actually did have a good time. Will weigh myself tomorrow morning and check the damage...
My NSV (sort of, lol) was having all these youngsters age 20-25 congratulating DH & I on attending and asking all the time "how did you like the music?" Like we are some dusty ancients who only like opera (which I do like as well hahah). It was all done honestly though, so we didn't take any offense, and just snickered to ourselves that they will realize in a few years that you aren't dead after 25, in fact life has just begun!

Liana

Welcome back Liana - sounds like a great & exhausting time - glad you had such fun with the youngsters

I was away helping my son & soon-to-be DIL revamp their new back yard - lots of digging, weeding, pruning, building, lugging - you get the picture! Sweated out anything I may have taken in - stayed pretty close to plan. We had Chinese food, which wasn't exactly OP, but I chose carefully & ate only 1 small plate - very freeing to feel I could be in charge of the amounts!

And I will see how my weight is in the morning, too. Hard to tell when it so hot here!

Tonight I have planned my first official Maintenance day for tomorrow - TADA!!

I don't know how to get the food diary over from MFP with the values, so here is the general plan:

Breakfast:
Cereal - Kashi Puffed Grains 1/2 cup
Kashi Go Lean Crunch 1/4 cup
2% milk 1/4 cup
1 scoop whey protein powder
fat-free yogurt, plain 1/4 cup
1 cup blueberries
coffee with 1/2 cup almond milk, unsweetened

Lunch:
Salad, with 2 cups lettuce, 1 cup cabbage, 1/3 cup yellow pepper, 1/3 cup cucumber, 8 grape tomatoes, 1 tin tuna
Renees Pear & Blue Cheese dressing 1 Tblsp
Guacamole (95% avocado) 6 Tblsp
celery with 2 Tblsp full-fat cream cheese, herb & garlic
(feels scary, having all that fat!)

Dinner:
Chicken fillets from frozen (Costco) 8 oz
Swiss chard 2 cups cooked
Ancient Grains rice blend 1/4 cup cooked
butter, salted 1 tsp

Snacks:
1 hb egg + 1 mini cucumber
1 Simply bar cocoa & raspberry

It has taken me forever to plan this out!! Will it get easier??
I think I have the calories within range, I am over with the Protein & the Fibre (don't care - but it helps the net carbs)
I think I have the approx 3:1 fat:carb at lunch & the reverse at dinner.

Is there an easy way to get the MFP food diary to show here?

It's a good exercise to fiddle with the amounts to get the right balance, but I won't be able to sustain this amount of 'fiddling' over the long haul. Trusting.........

and oh shoot! I should probably have posted this on the other Maintenance thread rather than here - oops! Next time

Welcome back candjineh - glad you had fun! I totally get you on the music - I like some of most everything and enjoy good performances of any kind. My nieces and nephews think it's hilarious.

westwillow - it does get easier doing maintenance meals. Once you get the hang of it, the ratios make more sense and it gets more routine to put it all together.

I just copy and paste my diary from MFP and add some spaces between meals.

It's cooling down here some - yeah! I like the nice weather but we really aren't used to a lot of 90+ days in a row. Kind of zaps me.

Well, I am quite pleased with after-fest weigh in... Only up 2 lbs, and that included a rather large amount of Salted Caramel Chapman's Ice Cream (those of you in Western Canada - moan now...) and tequila with fruit juices, etc.
P1 day today... Vega Berry protein breaky shake and 4 cups of veggies with lean proteins - you guys know the drill...

Westwillow, I copy & paste from MFP right down to include all the totals then delete the big spaces between meals before preview. Just experiment a bit to see what makes sense to you, I'm sure we'll figure your diary out. Niiiice lunch BTW - good use of fats.
Isn't it great to have the ancient grains or pasta or rice or quinoa again at your dinner?

Liana

Today's weigh in 133.4 lb

Canadjineh:Your festival sounded fun! You will get those 2 pounds soon. It is cute that the young people were glad you were there! I am a pound up and am eating low carb today as well.

Westwillow: That looks like a good meal plan. I like all of the variety that you have. Have a great first day. It does get easier, especially when you find yourself eating many of the same foods often.

RuthAnn : I am the same way. These high 90s and 100s zap me also. A couple of outings in that heat, do me in!

I have settled in a nice 2 pound range. I usually am closer to a 4 pound range. I am thinking yoga is helping. I am going to have trouble when I go back to work in two weeks getting my yoga in.

I was reflecting on maintenance. I realize that in my previous maintenance attempts, I was what I call a frantic maintainer. Although I was pleased with my weight, I was never happy with my body and was constantly worried about regaining. I was also still bingeing on old trigger foods.

Now without the addictive bingeing and eating sugar foods, I finally can enjoy being thin. I would not use the term serene maintaining..because maintenance is a daily effort. However, I am a confident maintainer and I love having muscles!

Maile, I think that is the big trick to maintenance - realizing you have to do something different from what went before, for the rest of your life. There really is never going to be a time when we can go back to old habits. Eating the trigger foods, soothing with food, etc.
It's like walking along a road... we need to take the road that's at right angles to the one we were previously on - so we never stray onto that old road again. If you take the frontage road alongside the busy highway (because let's face it, most people are on that road) you just end up peeking over the fence all the time, and veering back onto that 'bad eating highway'.

I like the term 'confident maintainer.'

Liana

I have been on maintenance since May, 2014, so what is that - barely 3 months. I have recently gained 5 pounds and I am not happy about that. How have you all been so successful - at goal or below?? I have not seen my goal weight since I hit maintenance!! I cannot believe how hard it is to maintain my weight loss. My coach talked to me this morning about being able to have the things I like/want on my cheat day - just not every day! Geez, it that how it works, haha. Do you all have any words of experience that can perhaps help me understand what I should be doing - I would greatly appreciate it.

Do you follow the P4 guidelines everyday? Do you track your food? Do you have a P1 day after having a fun day? Are you only having a fun day once a week or is it becoming 2,3 days in a row? Are you exercising?

I agree with drd1961 - it's very important to follow the guidelines every day and weigh/measure your food especially at first...perhaps some of the gals who have been maintaining for a few years don't have to weigh or measure much anymore, but I bet they did for a long time. I am coming up to my 6 month anni and still log every day (except when out of electronic access on vacation) and I measure, especially with stuff I really like that it's easy for me to overdo like cheese, or brown basmati rice. I will admit that I really like vegetables and they are a huge part of my life, lol. I don't worry about measuring the veggies, since it's likely not the extra cup of cauliflower during the day that causes the gain.... Hopefully you will be in that place as well, because it's the only way to make this maintenance plan work. You cannot do a 'planned cheat' of stuff you know is bad for you (although a favorite from the 'old days') - thinking it's just a teeny bit today and then it becomes several days in a row, because... you know, you made it to maintenance, so you 'deserve' a treat. If your tastes haven't changed somewhat at least keep it to the one day a week or even just one meal a week and you must do a strict P1 type day after it.

Yes, maintenance can be difficult! For a bit more helpful information I would go to the beginning pages (1st 6 or so) of the Maintainers What Are You Eating thread. Lots has to do with your height (shorter persons will need to take in fewer carbs & calories) and your exercise plan - a must in maintenance. I've been re-reading that thread and am finding it very useful still.

Liana

I guess if I answered NO to most of your questions, that could be my problem. I have had too many distractions this summer - family visiting, vacations, etc. I know what I need to do and I am determined to do it. Thank you for your advice and recommendations. I do believe that I really need to "pay attention" every day, because when I don't, then that is when I get sloppy. I will let you know how my week goes!!

Ahhh, Mareeree, you got this! You know what to do, you just needed a little butt kicking, lol. I'm sure things will be better this week now that you are back on track... and 5 pounds will come off fairly quickly if you are paying attention !
I will have my own issues the rest of this month - as there is a big 'family meeting' we need to travel for (unfortunately just time for an overnighter after 5 hours drive each way) - my DH's mum is 88 and the siblings all agree including her, that it is time to hash out future care plans, etc. This will be somewhat stressful and I will not be in my home environment with my own comfortable kitchen and foods. Then she and my DH's sis & BIL will be coming back up to our place for a 6 day visit. At least I will get to choose foods, mwahahah! and just get help with cooking and cleanup. Who knows, they may even lose weight a bit while here, lol.

Maile - I love your distinction between versions of maintaining. I am definitely at the anxious stage & could easily be frantic in short order. Serene would have been my goal, but you are wise to note the work & diligence necessary, so I will scrap the 'serene' expectations & work my way toward 'confident'.

Liana - love your 'highway' analogy - easy to pull that up as a visual reminder!

Thanks, you wise maintainers