Jenny38 - fingers crossed that you and DH will find the next place better than you can imagine.

I am on P3 today, rereading eve's post and trying to do this a little differently - slowly rolling off a P1/P2 couple of days rather than jumping to P4. I find that on my 'free' days, not only do I mix fat & carbs but I overeat. So if my daily goal is 1600 cals, I end up eating 3000. And 1 day of P1 doesn't make the 2.5 lbs I typically gain disappear. So I stay on P1 a couple of days then cycle off to P4 - which isn't working. The scales jump back and forth between no loss, 2 lb loss, maintained for 4- 5 days, free day - up 3 lbs, etc. I know I need to get a handle on the overeating, so that's job 1. I also know, based on what you guys have been saying over the last week, that I could be effing with my metabolic rate, so need to stop and regroup. Jeesh, this stuff is hard and complicated. I use a fitbit but the web app doesn't seem to allow me to set my macros so maybe I need to work with another program.

Thanks for all the info and encouragement and company on this journey.

E

Happy Hump Day Maintainers!

Mars: My daughter has been a bike only commuter in Portland for the last 5 years and builds bikes for fun. She has recommended Trek, Electra and Specialized. I have a great bike store here and will be going in after I do my research online to get measured and fitted. The knee feels a bit better today. The injection site still hurts quite a bit in my PES tendon. I'm going to give it few more days to kick in before I start PT.

Slip: How great is it that you have a family of people who can fix things! Including yourself. When I was married we did all of our own home repairs so I know my way around a hammer and sheet rock. But climbing up on the highest part of a snow covered roof, I would have called someone too!

Chip: Do you live close to Slip? Maybe her brother can come help you too!

Jenny: So sorry to hear about your husband losing his job. The North Texas economy is booming right now, especially construction. It would be a drag though for you to have to live apart. But you could always come to Texas!

So when I got on the scale yesterday morning I was up 1.5. I attributed that to the shots. I started the steroids yesterday and was very snacky. Not bad stuff, cheese & grapes, celery & cashew butter to the point that I was my goal of 1700 calories which I have been having trouble getting to lately. This morning I'm down 3.1. Even though I wasn't upset about the 1.5 I was stupid giddy about the down lbs. Sheesh!

Hi Maintainers,

I am 9lbs from goal and am starting to creep the maintainers thread in anticipation and preparation I too have experienced a bit of deflation in the chest area, and I also read that it can take months for your skin to adjust to the weight loss so I am keeping my fingers crossed for that, and I've ordered a new, hopefully proper fitting bra (I am unsure of my new size, I just know that I am still larger than anything available in my location) and I hope that will help with their display.

But I thought I would also mention something I read about. Wearing a bra all the time. I know! There is great relief and a sense of freedom that comes with releasing the girls at the end of the day, however if there is any chance of it helping...

Now, the only time I am braless is when I'm showering or changing. I'll give it a try for the 6 months anyway.

Happy Maintaining

Congrats Determined Dieter on almost being at goal!!!!! I have some "ahh bras" that I sleep in at night. Works for me!

Catlady.....I often would get a whoosh when I upped my calories....yehaw! Hope your knee is feeling better! I'm LOLing at you not understanding my CRAZY post, because I am really am confusing! Your numbers are falling where mine go.....for some reason I like meeting MFP EXACTLY (but I think I just need to chill on this!).

Jenny.....How stressful about your hubby's job. I'll be praying that things fall into place just as they need to.

ECDCSlim.....Egads, my posts are so confusing these days! I hope I'm not making you crazy, lol! It does sound like you are bouncing between a restrict-binge-restrict-restrict-restrict cycle. I'm wondering if you have more balance on your free day that you won't feel like you have to restrict the rest of the week. I have MyFitnessPal info imported into my FitBit account so I only have to enter my food once. It wasn't too hard to sync the accounts.

Hope everyone else is hanging in there! I've got to go pick up my son from the bus and run back to work....ugh.

Hi everyone!!

ecdcslim; I hope you get it figured out! We are all different in our maintenance journey and it isn't easy! I need to work at having more greens, keep my portions small, drink my water, get my exercise in, take my vitamins, and try and stay away from sugar most of the time! Yes, its hard! But, its worth it. You will do it!

Catlady; A person never stops having that giddy feeling when they see that scale go down! Its a great feeling! I hope that you get all healed up, no fun dealing with pain!

Determined: Welcome! You are close to goal, good for you!

Eve: Nice to read your posts. You always have good suggestions and info.

Jenny; I hope that your hubby gets work closer to home. My hubby is not too sure about his work right now either. Stressful!

Slip: I'm glad that you got everything fixed! And I'm hoping the weather settles down for you. It looks to be warming up here but more snow in the forecast!

Hello to the rest of you maintainers! I'm having an ok week calorie wise but need to work at eating more vegies! I need to do a grocery run. I think in the winter I crave comfort foods which aren't vegies! So, I am working at that the next while. TOM wiped me out this time but am going to get on that treadmill today and see how I make out. I am going to a dietician tomorrow to talk about ibs so it'll be interesting to see what she has to say. Have a great day everyone!

Hello everyone,

Jenny- hope the perfect job comes through for your DH. Hope you can focus on having fun in Florida. My medical insurance company was hacked, big concerns about the private and financial information that was accessed.

Welcome Determined Dieter!

Hawaii, I want to go to Hawaii! I am totally sick of snow and cold. Hope your snow is light.

Andrea, yay for your whoosh!

Ecdcslim, I need to restrict less too in response to free day. This discussion has me thinking about my metabolism. Thanks for sharing.

Interesting about the bra. I know when I was pregnant my doctor told me to wear a bra all the time, even to bed. It was so weird but I got used to it.

Thank you Eve for the supportive comments!

Slip I'm glad you have someone nearby to help.

Jenny, I hope that your husband is able to find a new job close by.

Catlady--congrats on feeling better and the bike.

Everyone--Happy Wednesday and Happy Maintaining!!! Thank you for the comments about metabolism and constricting calories or not after treats. It is all an experiment, and this helps me to read about everyone else's experience.

Went to coach for official WI and measurements after first two weeks of maintaining--as I thought, up 3 pounds due to glycogen. All the stats were good though, and my measurements were all the same except my waist went down 1/2"--go figure.

I'm gearing up for a group trip to Chelan this long weekend including wine tasting and cross country skiing (if there is enough snow).

Everyone in the big snow zone, stay safe and keep your roofs cleared off--ice dams and wet snow can get very heavy.

Eve: I have MyFitnessPal info imported into my FitBit account so I only have to enter my food once. It wasn't too hard to sync the accounts.

Ok, how do you do that?

Jenny38 - sending happy thoughts your way, I know some people dealing with unemployment and job changes right now - sometimes it's for the best, but it's never fun to get through.

ecdcslim - In MFP, under the .../more button, it says "steps" - when you click on that, it asks you to choose a device. You hit the + to add a device and login to your fitbit account. I think pop ups come up asking if you give the app permission (can't remember), but then it finds your fitbit and syncs. Hope that helps!

catlady - if I saw a loss on the scale, I'd be crazy giddy too!

DeterminedDieter - congrats, you're almost there! For me, the last 10 lbs came off painfully slow, but they came off! You will love this board, it's a wonderful resource and thankfully there are people here who are committed to helping others, so when people like me *cough* drop in to cry occasionally, they've always got a shoulder to lean on.

Hawaii - I'm with you, veggies are hard in the winter. All I want is baked mac n'cheese with bacon and gluten free breadcrumbs galore (even though I haven't had it in over a year - wow!). Roasted veggies - especially cauliflower - have been my saving grace right now.

Slipfree - we were also part of the hack. I'm hoping nothing bad happens. Between Target and Home Depot, we've had one too many hacks of late.

murrcat - your trip sounds so fun, have a great time!

I wish I could tell you all I'm doing better, but I'm not. Boo-hoo, blah, blah, blah. After 2 weeks on P1, the scale hasn't moved. I'm beyond freaked out. I'm afraid that I now have to live the rest of my life in P1 as it's only maintaining my weight right now AND I dropped down to 850-1k calories this week and did super strict P1. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. I'm almost thinking about just phasing off again and going back to maintenance, where at least I was losing weight. I'm going to see if our insurance will cover a visit with a nutritionist. I think I seriously damaged my metabolism, or something.

Any advice for Valentine's Day? I made reservations at one of our favorite places a couple months ago and I was really looking forward to a nice meal and a couple bites of dessert. But I know there's no cheating on P1... except that I'm not losing ANYTHING on P1, and I'm kind of at the point where I just want to scrap the whole thing. We're going out for sushi, so that's easy enough for me to do without rice, etc. - but they have one of my favorite desserts which, if I'm lucky, I get to eat maybe once a year - if that. On the fence whether or not I should be strict, or relax for a night - worried that relaxing may do more harm than good. Gah. I really wish I could stop obsessing about my diet. I got the Beck book - it's probably time to crack it open.

If you find a way to break your stall, please let us know! I am in the same boat but have yet to reach my goal weight.

How do I integrate Fitbit with MyFitnessPal?

Your Fitbit stats and dashboard can integrate with MyFitnessPal by exchanging data.

To get started with MyFitnessPal, you'll need to create a MyFitnessPal account at http://www.myfitnesspal.com. Next, link that account to your Fitbit account. To do so:

Log into MyFitnessPal and click Apps.
In the App Gallery, find Fitbit and click Connect.
Click Allow to give MyFitnessPal access to your Fitbit data.
Follow the instructions provided.

Thanks ladies for all the support for DH. Andrea I hope your DH finds something to. I broke out in a horrible rash this morning which was so unexpected. Just finished my antibiotics so don't think it was that and can't think of anything new I ate or washed with. Scale is up 2Lbs above scream but I am going to focus on eating clean and strict P2 and 3 while away.

Darthkitten - sounds like your body may respond better to P3 for losing, maybe it's time to add more calories and see what it does? You can't live your life on P1 it's not enough calories and so restrictive.

DetermindedDieter - congratulations on almost reaching your goal. You've done amazing. It will be great to have you join the thread.

Happy valentines to everyone.
What are you all doing for Valentines this weekend?

I was struggling with major cravings while back in P1 trying to get off the up pounds and a few more, reading all the posts about messing up metabolism and that P1 isn't the only way to lose so I switched to P3 yesterday. I forgot how time comsuming it is to make those breakfasts! I'm also giving up wheat this time since I know it leads to inflammation for me. I will still have it for a fun meal in future.

Im hoping the variety of food will be enough to keep me focussed. And the extra calories will keep my body happier.

catlady Hope your knee is coming along and not slowing you down too much. Sounds like you will have some fun bike-shopping!
You mentioned yoga and I wondered if you are familiar with Iyengar yoga? It incorporates the precise use of specific props/supports & modifications so that anyone can get into a pose safely. The trick is to find a good teacher, preferably trained at his institute in India. A good teacher is key to avoiding injury. That, and not letting even a good teacher push you past your own sense of limitation. I absolutely have loved this style of yoga--very precise instruction so that you know what each part of your body needs to do to get the full benefit of a pose. It's subtle and powerful.

pishposh, hope you are feeling better.

I've begun the second week of my experiment with upping calories and carbs. Instead of 1300ish, I'm ranging from 1500-1800, and carbs from max of 50 net to 120ish. My mood, mental clarity, and energy are definitely improved. Weight is the same. Fear of regain has driven me to the gym, and with all this energy, I'm enjoying it. I have some hip issues that limit cardio choices a lot, but I am cautiously & gently trying the elliptical for 5 min--I would rather spend 45 minutes on that thing than eat a box of Quest bars

Have a great weekend all!