Isbel,
You look so lean - wearing a white suit which has no forgiveness in it! You have done a great job.

Exactly Isbel, that is amazing. Looks like you were having a blast. Very brave in such cold too.

Pat

Sigh, you're telling me that I won't ever be not-dieting again aren't you. I was really hoping that I would be able to control myself and not have to always feel like I'm dieting. Today it wasn't chocolate, someone put Ritz crackers in the lounge... I don't know how many I ate. Not chocolate, not that great tasting, but I kept putting them in my mouth. I'm getting so frustrated with myself. Today I asked myself "Would you rather be thin or eat that?"... then I'd put it in my mouth.

maile, chloe, patns Thanks, I posted it more because I was laughing at how dumb it looked (I like to laugh at myself and encourage others to do so too). Now, as for looking lean...if you open it up and look at it you can see Martha with a little bubble under the right elbow (muffin top). I actually think the white is pretty forgiving (not being sarcastic here). I also have long johns under it so I think that helps with smoothing things out. I do have loose skin but I also know it doesn't bother me very much. I don't 'hate' my tummy...I don't like how she looks when I'm in yoga doing downward dog lol...but generally it is what it is...it's the damage I've done to my body...and I own her it doesn't own me (hence the name). So far, I'm ok with 'Martha'...surgery is an option yes...but I've had bad experiences with surgery so I don't take surgery lightly.

I think my girlfriend managed to snap a good picture with the iphone. I skied with a warm up jacket but did ski with my white bottoms just to say I did. As for cold, it was only -15C and in fact the suit is quite warm but I'm on the hunt now for some proper gear that's a little more 'modern'. I did get quite a bit of fun and laughter wearing that suit. It truthfully isn't something I want to wear every weekend (I'm planning on going again next weekend).

Lorikay I don't find much of a difference between Phase 1 and Phase 4 in my mindset. I don't think I'll ever be "done" watching what I eat. Its just become part of my life now. I have changed "I can't have chocolate" to "I won't have chocolate". Just changing my words has helped me not to feel deprived. For me personally, I wrote down what it was like to be 313 lbs (my highest that I know of, it was a time that I wasn't weighing myself). I have promised myself I won't forget that E-V-E-R! It will come, you will be great!

Ritz crackers wouldn't get me going... but chocolate might. I'm still on P1 waiting until I lose at least a few more pounds for a 'cushion' before phasing out... but I think I'm going to have to resolve to keep chocolate out of the house during maintenance, and just treat myself to it on occasion.

I agree with your comments here. It is a mindset. Like you, I can't see that I'll ever be "done" watching what I eat either. Ignoring what I ate is what got me much too heavy in the first place, and if I go back to those ways I'll just repeat the experience - which is not the answer this time around.

I also feel that the fact that it has taken me as long as it did to lose my weight is a benefit. My average weekly weight loss was low, but as a result I've had longer to adapt a different, healthier way of eating. It's become second nature to fix a salad, eat lots of veggies, etc... in general I'm happy with a healthier way of eating and see no reason to fall back into my previous bad habits. It almost freaks me out when I check nutrition labels at the supermarket - there's so much crap on those shelves. And there's no way I want to put it in my body. I know better now. This weight loss has resulted in much less arthritic pain, and I just plain feel so much better. I also like the way I look, and am proud of my appearance again. There's no way I want to re-gain any of those hard-won pounds! I know I'll add back in some healthy complex carbs (probably mostly fruit), and dairy soon and I'm looking forward to that, but I really have no desire to buy any of the processed/packaged stuff that I used to buy fairly regularly. I've been a bit experimental through this dieting process too, using alternative products and sometimes creating my own 'home-made' versions of low carb mixes, etc., and these are all things that I'll continue to use, in moderation, as I maintain this weight. This will help keep me on track too, as I won't feel deprived. Why buy a high fat/calorie/sugar muffin when I can quickly and easily make one that is equally delicious and so much healthier?

I was commenting to my sister recently that with most of my past dieting experiences, once I got to a reasonable weight I'd think 'ok - I'm done with the dieting... now I'll enjoy whatever I want!' Not so this time around. It seems to have finally sunk in that I'll have to continuously monitor my eating. And weigh myself regularly (something I never did before) in maintenance... so if 2-3 lbs do creep on, then I stomp on it - immediately.

I've been reading the recent entries with great interest. Do any of you here actually use the "cheat" day, followed by phase 1 day, regularly or semi-regularly or even occasionally, or have you decided it's best to forgo it?

I have a fun day weekly (refuse to call it cheat day as I'm not cheating and don't consider myself on a diet anymore even though I watch what I eat very carefully)...always on a Saturday and always followed by a Phase 1 day. I answered fishette on this one in Vol 9, post #517 I think. Check out the last part of the conversation(s) within Vol 9.

Others have opted to not have one. It's kinda what your comfortable with apparently

Thanks so much, Ishbel! I'm going back to read vol. 9. I agree, it's not a cheat day, as it is actually ok to follow that format per maintenance protocol. I don't know why folks call it a "cheat" day! I won't do that again.

LOL, you can I just find 'reframing' my thought processes around food has helped me significantly. So much that when I work on myself in other aspects of my life I naturally go towards Cognitive Behaviour Therapy help books. (check out Beck Diet Solution on facebook...or online...her daily motivations helped me through Phase 1 and help me now)

Don't forget you have to kinda decide on your own...I don't think there's anything wrong with how anyone is keeping their weight within their range. As long as it works for you...than you're doing something right.

LoriKay, it's a hard realization to come to that we won't be able to ever go back to nonchalantly & mindlessly popping snacks, munchies, etc. into our mouths without regard to the consequences. BUT - this is a GOOD thing! Ishbel is so right - it's all in how we think about it, re-frame it in our minds. You can do this, one step at a time.

I agree it is important to be able to laugh at ourselves sometimes! And, I'm trying to train myself to re-frame how I look at things as well. "Won't have' vs 'Can't have' - so much more empowering!

I actually wish it had taken me longer to lose my weight last year. For the most part, it happened so easily (exceptions of a couple of 'stalls' towards the end) that I didn't feel like I had to make any effort to succeed. Now that I'm really struggling with choc addiction, I'm not handling it very well. Need to get my head back in the game and give it up completly...

I'm going to check out the Beck Diet Solution. I've seen others recommend it, just haven't take the time. Thanks for mentioning it again.

Thanks for the advice. Today was much better... there wasn't anything in the staff room to eat!! I also decided to log in to MFP again, I had been neglecting that. It helps when I know I have to write down every bite, to not take so many! I'll keep trying, I've maintained since the middle of December but probably not in the most healthy way!

Good morning everyone! I just posted this on the Fab 50 thread, but knew it needed to go here too. Last night VIP & I discussed me going back to P1 for a month. Seems like almost overnight I've put on another 5 lbs over where I had been for several weeks. Monday morning I had trouble finding slacks to fit around my stomach, where last week everything fit ok. Weighed myself this morning, first time in several days...yikes! Just reinforces that I do need to re-boot. Will begin on Friday (Mom's surgery is tomorrow & don't want to be at the hospital all day with headaches, nauseau, etc), and hope that the worst symptoms of getting back into ketosis will be over by Monday. Want to lose at least 10 lbs, and may try for 15. Wish me luck!
(I know I should go to the "Reached Maintenance, need a Reboot" thread, but the only time I read through it I got depressed :/ so will probably not go that route for now...)

Hope you all have a great day!

Ah hun, rebooting is part of maintenance...I don't understand why people won't post in here! I weigh in daily..and I still track what I eat as I conviently forget what I've eaten sometimes. So I track from Monday to Friday and fun day is on Saturday and Phase 1 day is on Sunday (so I take the weekend off from tracking). I also track my daily weigh ins AND the ipad ap that I use gives me a dot chart so I can see almost a year of daily fluctuations. (I weigh in on funday to confirm a lower weight and don't weigh in again until Monday morning - day after Phase 1).

I'm confident that one day I will trust but I also took a year to take this weight off...so I have given myself at least a year to be comfortable in maintenance. Granted, I can still see myself forgetting what I ate LOL so I may track like that for a while, or just decide one day to track again. I know my chart gives me comfort that what I'm doing is right though. It also keeps me accountable to 'light' days where I'm 1200 instead of 1500.

You'll be great, you're 'reboot' may only be 1-3 days to knock off the 5 lbs. I find the quicker you jump on it the quicker it goes.

You are such a fantastic role model for making this plan work! I am just about ready to phase off (I'm 0.8 from my goal weight but my measurements haven't changed much in the last 3 weeks so I'm not going to push it much further) and I know I'll be leaning heavily on you and so many others here to be successful through maintenance. I love your approach to maintaining!

Ishbel,
I went back and read the last 3 pages of vol 9 (covered before 517 and went to the end). Do you have a fun day or a fun meal, if you don't mind my asking? I realize we all have to find our own way, just was interested in finding out how many can do a fun day, with a 100% phase 1 day, and then go back to P4 and work maintenance that way.

Congrats for catching the weight gain and jumping back in! You are a good role model for we shall all have the ups and downs on the scale and tightness in our clothes and its what we do about it that matters, not that it happens. But you're here and catching the weight gain, so congrats!

I was within 2 pounds of goal last summer, drifted away for 4 months, gained 15-16 pounds, came back to IP, and lowered my goal weight by 5 pounds for extra leeway in maintenance.