Hello ladies,

The River cruise sounds amazing Bubble blower. I'll have to check it out on line. DH and I were given a bit of $ from my parents when the cottage sold so we are thinking of a 4 day trip to New Orleans next fall. Has anyone been or have recommendations? Looking for a long weekend getaway flying out of Buffalo NY. We've done Vegas and NYC.

My indulgence meal of a lovely peppercorn steak, cease salad and bread is slowly coming off and I'm back today with in range. I did mostly p2 and that seemed ok and added extra patience.

Liana - dad seems better this week and they figured out if he naps lots that helps. So whenever they go overnight somewhere or there is a transition he sleeps first. How's your mom?

Hey Jenny we loved NOLA in November. The locals are just so much more relaxed when it's not Mardi Gras time. DH & I stayed in the French Quarter right next to the Convent. I will grab some info for you. Since it was off season we had an amazing deal. We didn't prebook the whole trip. First few days in the Garden District we booked ahead then just picked up deals at the Jackson Square tourist info centre for French Quarter. Then we stayed right in town at a very fancy hotel for our last couple nights. Met "The Donald" while we were in the rooftop pool. He truly IS an ***. We pretended we didn't know who he was. He never said his name lol, just told us he was from NY and talked at us some.

River cruises certainly aren't inexpensive. That said, the better ones (e.g., not Viking) are all-inclusive and have wonderful tours, food, and wines. We took our first one soon after I retired and then scheduled the one we're going on this year since we enjoyed it so much. At this point we've decided to live while we're living. To be honest, I've traveled extensively for decades and haven't once regretted spending money on travel, which is more than I can say about some of the "stuff" I've bought. LOL.

I'm kind of trying to reboot my reboot since I seem to have lost my way after getting half way there. Seems like things keep cropping up that throw me off my routine. I'm just thankful that I never got too far off track!

Hope everyone is doing well!

Happy Friday Maintainers!

I'm plugging along on my reboot. Just about out of my Nashua Nutrition order so will be moving to P2. Still not where I want to be. So will keep at it until I am. Is it unreasonable to want to get back to where I was when I first entered maintainence? Otherwise I see an insidious creep of a few pounds here and there and the next thing you know my new "scream weight" is 10 lbs over my last scream weight. Any advice?

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Hey Andrea... I know the feeling. I DON'T think you are unreasonable. Right now I seem to be stuck at 139ish which is still just above my scream weight and I definitely don't fit all my favorite clothes at the moment. But I am also working on bursitis of my hip (so inflammation) and still won't be sure what is up with my autoimmune thyroid issue (high antibodies) until retests in Oct. But I also don't seem to be very motivated to buckle down right now. I know I can do better.

Bubbleblower, I too have never regretted spending money on travel. My parents got me started when I was quite young. Dad had 8 weeks of paid vacation and we used it all! And not only during school vacation times. My first major trip was when I was 7 - they took my brother & I to France & Italy (friends & family in both places). We went to Europe a couple times for 3 weeks in Sept and in March when I was still in elementary school. Any extra money now goes toward funding travel. We live in a very modest home (albeit fully paid for) and we drive older vehicles and never buy new, only well loved used, lol. We don't change our furniture every 5 years, (we have judiciously bought antique pieces and second hand solid wood vintage pieces early in our marriage). Money goes to travel (and jewellery - my secret vice, lol). I don't want to wait until we are retired and then possibly too decrepit to enjoy it.

Liana

Thanks Liana. I'll keep plugging away. I've been able to walk past the donuts at work each Friday for the last 7 weeks (that's how long I've been rebooting and I'm down 7 lbs)!
I hope you get your bursitis and autoimmune issues under control soon.

Travel: I have also never regretted spending money on travel. Those memories can never be replaced. I was born in Germany and have lived in Ireland, but I have not been back since I was 6. I would really like to do some extensive traveling and not wait until I retire when my knees won't be able to handle it. Travel wasn't big on the agenda when I was younger simply because I had 2 kids to raise and those little buggers are expensive!

My daughter has had an amazing summer in Paris. She got an internship at the OECD (policy making) and has been there since 6/1. She finishes up next week and then she goes to Bali for a week and a half with friends she has made while in Paris. I am living vicariously through her travels right now. Last year I joined her in New York City after her internship was done and that was amazing. I have always wanted to go to Paris, but it just didn't work out for me this summer. I'll get there eventually and my daughter can be my guide to all the best places. But I am going to Mexico (Akumal) with both my son and daughter over Christmas and I'm really looking forward to that.

BTW I tried the Quest Salted Caramel protein powder yesterday and it was so good. I also going to try the new Oatmeal bar today. It seems to have gotten very good reviews on the Facebook page.

Yaaay, Andrea! My husband tied me down & fed me tortilla chips with salsa & old cheddar tonight Well, not really, lol, but he did suggest the snack and 'Dummy Me' agreed it would be perfect. SIGH! I think I may be coming up to a TOM, my obsession with cheese this past few days has been a bit much.

I just read an interesting article in the paper about barging on the canals in France, with 6-20 persons. That would be my style...
Found a website that has me intrigued: http://www.gobarging.com/our-cruises-page/hotel-barging

Haven't checked out prices yet, but timing of cruises would be a problem since our busy season is summer and we only really have time off in the winter...

Liana

My DH lived in Germany until he was in high school, and we were able to go back to Heidelberg with his brother on last year's cruise on the Rhine. It brought back some great memories for the two of them from decades before.

Since so much of my travel has been dive-related, I'm thankful I didn't wait until retiring to so so much active travel. I'm not planning to stop diving anytime soon, but I don't see myself doing a lot of the rigorous diving I've done in the past - like to the Galapagos, and some very remote locations where conditions can be very challenging.

What a great experience for your daughter! And I'm sure she will love Bali! I'd go back - particularly to Ubud - in a heartbeat!! What a special place.

We're still doing a lot of dive-related travel, but have already started booking accommodations for a trip to Tuscany next year. Italy has been on my list for a long time.

I just got a shipment from Quest two days ago with the same items and love them both! I've also tried the Chocolate Chip powder and the PB powder but think the Salted Caramel is my favorite so far. And the new Oatmeal bars taste just lot chewy oatmeal cookies! Yum!

Hope everyone's Monday is off to a good start! I'm hitting the gym this morning and I'm going to be try to be good at least until I get on the plane on Friday. Looking forward to the Cayman fresh fish and jerk chicken!!

I've yet to delve into any ALT products, but this might have to be my first! Sounds amazing! Thanks for the tip!

Liana!! Hahaha, I love that meme! I will print it out and stick it to my monitor to help with will power! That barge thing looks amazing. I recently read(but didn't get to finish) a book about a bookseller that has a book barge and goes down these very canals in France. It called The Little Paris Book Shop by Nina George. I had to turn it back in to the library before I finished reading it so now I'm waiting to get it back. I'm kind of obsessed with all things Paris/France right now. I bet those chips and cheddar were tasty! But back on the band wagon today...right?

bubbleblower: My father was in the Air Force. I was born in Heidelburg but we came back here before I was 2 and have lived all over the US, Ireland and Panama. I would love to go there some day and meet some cousins that still live there. I'll tell my daughter about Ubud. She doesn't scuba, but it looks lovely. She is going to the pink beach on Lombok.

The new formulation on the Quest bars is much softer so I took a chance and bought a box of my all time favorite double chocolate chunk. They are pretty good. I'm just waiting to see if they go all hard like the first reformulation did. The oatmeal chocolate chip was a real winner. I'll get some more of those.

No .lbs lost on reboot last week, but a couple of measurements went down. I started Sprint 8 last week so there may be some inflammation. So far my knee is holding up so I'll see how it goes. Also adding in strength training a couple times a week. Everything is very soft so I need to toughen up. I found a website/Dr. that seems pretty reasonable, Dr. Mercola, he has a lot of good things to say about food and exercise. He kind of reminds me of Mark's Daily Apple, the Paleo site I was following before I did IP.

Hi Ladies!
Just thought I would check in and say hello. Things here are pretty much status quo. I seem to fluctuate between 136 and 139 most days. I have popped into the 140's a few times and have immediately done some P1 days to get me back into my comfort zone.

Count me in as not being able to be 100% compliant on P1 anymore. After being on maintenance for so long, it is REALLY hard to do a true P1 day. I don't know why it is so hard, but I can't seem to find the gumption. Maybe it is because I am only doing it to lose 5-6 pounds now, and not 20-30. I have found that I can get away with eating 75-100 TOTAL carb grams on a reboot (or a string of P1) days and still have a good loss.

RE: Quest bars. I am also enjoying the new formula. I thought the Oatmeal CC were good, but not great. It tasted like to me that they just took Cinnamon Roll and added CC to it. Another good bar I have found that would be P1 compliant (restricted item) is No Cow Bar. They don't have nearly as many flavors as Quest, but I like them a bit better.

Happy Weekend Maintainers! Hope everyone is doing well.

I had my second week with no weight loss and now no inches as well.
But...no gains either. I've been doing the Alternate P1 for a few weeks and losses really slowed down. Now nothing. It's disappointing. I can't go back to strict P1. It's just too hard. So at this point I'm thinking I'll just stay at P2 until I get back to my happy place. I looked back at my records and it turns out I haven't been at 140 since I originally phased into Maintenance. I seemed to have settled in around 143-145 since then. So that will be my goal for the time being.

Off to see the new Star Trek movie. Live long and prosper!

Hi Andrea: DH & I loooved the new Star Trek movie - we saw it in 3D, they did a nice job of that. It was interesting because it was filmed not too far from us (approx 3-4 hrs driving - near where we used to live). It's always fun to location spot in movies we know are filmed in the area. I belong to the Vancouver Film Commission and Okanagan Film Commission facebook pages and keep up with what's happening where.



I have not been eating properly, just feeling a bit frustrated and burned out re: health issues for self, hubby, and all three parents. A twenty pound box of tree ripened local peaches doesn't help either. That, and it IS bloody TOM - every time I keep hoping it's the LAST one, and a few months later, another 'pleasant' surprise. In the meantime I overeat on cheese and whatever goes well with it from the fridge. Back to P2!! I need to time my eating better as I have been doing more eating while at work overnight, and mindless munching while driving is NOT conducive to weight loss even if it IS on plan. Still maintaining between 139-143. NOT where I want to be, but that is of my own doing. Kind of waiting on those update tests in Oct for thyroid issues. From studies I have been reading, I have likely had hidden thyroid issues for several years since I have also been dx'd with fibromyalgia for 6 yrs now, and they are tied.

On a different note: I am planning a meet-up with murrcat (some of you may remember her - longtime maintainer) as she will be vacationing with her hubby fairly close to my area. I will drive a couple hours to meet and enjoy the day where they are camping. Hoping to take along another friend, or hubby if he is off work that day. This Thurs or Fri.

Helloooo, jennydoodle, Lynn Margaret, Jenny38, bubbleblower, any lurkers, lol.

Liana

Hey jenny, good to hear from you. And great that maintenance has been working so well for you.
I'm planning a P1 week or so sometime in Sept (too hard to try in the summer). I'm maintaining pretty well, more than 5 months now, but would like to drop about 5. I'm thinking, like you said, it's going to be hard, Even the P1 post-splurge day is a challenge and hard to do 100%
I haven't seen the No Cow bars, but thanks for the tip, always good to find some new options. I still have a small stash of the old formula Quest bars, but I guess I'll have to try some of the new ones soon.
One thing I have found lately is Halo Top ice cream. Low cal/low carb, not P1 compliant of course, but a pretty nice treat

Great to see some of you other maintainers still around.
Liana, how nice to be able to arrange a meet-up, hope you both have a fun day!!

Jenny - glad to hear maintenance is cruising along & I love No Cow Bars too! There is something about the soft texture...but they are really pricey.

Andrea - Maybe mid-140's is your body's happy place?

I am up in the mid-150's now (last Friday's 'official' weight was 158), but per calipers, bf% has dropped from 32% at phase off last October (done on an Omron scale so +/- 2-4%), to 24% and skeletal muscle has increased from 29.5 to 32. I technically hover around an 'overweight' BMI now but all my skinny clothes (6's & 8's) fit perfectly I'm using clothes, calipers, and pictures, rather than being a slave to the scale anymore.
I've really gotten into weight lifting over the last 3 months & DH has turned our guest bedroom into a gym, with an assortment of dumbbells (10 - 40#'s), a bench, and a rack for squats. I just started working on bench presses (3 sets of 8 at 55#'s) and have worked up to about 85#'s for weighted squats.
I am working on having a decent looking rear-end and my chest looks better than I can ever remember.
I also feel comfortable enough in my skin now that I've gone out, in public, in a 2 piece swim suit, for the first time since I was 14!
I am also still running 4 days a week, maintaining right around 25 miles per week.

All this has allowed me a measure of freedom with my eating habits - but I really strive for 90/10. Breakfast is generally 2 eggs (or a Quest shake), 2 slices light wheat toast with nut butter (I don't measure it out), and coffee. Lunch is 4 - 8oz protein (higher on lifting days) with an avocado and a couple baby carrots. Snack is a Combat / OatMega Bar or Oikos yogurt with a spoonful of PBFit. Dinner is 8 oz protein and I add a carb 2 / 3 days a week with my veggies. Evening snack is my bane...some nights are no issue and I'll have a protein bar, or make a mug cake, or have a serving of Halo Top and go to bed...other nights (once a week usually) can go more like:
a Yasso's bar, then digging into the pantry for the granola and eating it out of the bag, a couple handfuls of nuts, and then a couple spoons of nut butters. Can you say 'binge eating'? I'm not diving head-first into a pint of Ben & Jerry's, but the nut butters are equally as bad. I'd love to clear my house, especially of the granola and nuts, but DH really needs them around to pack in his lunch (he works construction), so it's up to me to keep myself in check.

I thought I had the binge eating sorted out for awhile - I'd been following P4 to a 'T', having my splurge day (Friday night or Saturday) and following with strict P1 - but found on Monday's &/or Tuesday's I was binging, hard.

I started talking to the guy who manages the gym I go to who also knows a lot about nutrition for athletes and he suggested that I stop P1 and start keeping it low carb the day after a splurge...it's helped, but obviously, something is still missing...or I'm eating something that is setting me off...or I just need to suck it up, buttercup I try to overcome the evening hunger - hot tea, celery, cucumbers & sometimes it works, but a few times I've gotten up at 1 or 2am, starving, and can't go back to sleep until I get something in my stomach it's crazy and a little scary.

So, that's my tale 10 months in. Amazing to believe it's almost been a year.

Also, fwiw, I don't fool myself and say all 10 pounds of the gain is muscle - I know its not, and would like to work on getting down a few but right now have no inclination to P1 for any length of time.
1. I'm not cutting back on my running - We have 2 half marathons coming up in September
2. I am making huge gains with my lifting
3. Summer fruits are still fresh
4. Darn-it, I like to eat