SallyE - Congrats on staying on track!

catlady1981 - WTG on the loss! That is exciting!

Hawaii69 - I think this is a hard time of the year to get any exercise in. It gets dark early and there's so much to do it's easy to just put stuff on the back burner. By the time I get out of work, run a few errands, get home, get set up for the next day, do dinner, etc. it's time to get to bed so I can do it all over the next day.

pishposhappelsauce - Hang in there! I think just the fact that you are aware of what you're eating and it's values is awesome. That awareness really helps, although I'm with you, those "in the moment" decisions tend to get us. Nuts are hard for me - if I have a package, I will eat a package. No self control. Took a 2 oz package to work with me thinking to eat 1/2 one day and the 1/2 the next. Nope. Ate them all at once.

TeagsC - You got great advice from Scorbett!

vachinyc - Sounds like the holiday season is hard for a bunch of us! For the 1st time I'm glad we haven't been able to get to a bunch of holiday parties - we have the family Hanukkah party next week and then people over for dinner for New Years. Now if people would quit bringing stuff to my office....

Kristin135 - sorry you're having such a hard time. You got great advice, they pretty much covered everything I would say!

So glad it's Friday! I usually take the week between Christmas & NY's off but some stuff came up this year so I'm only working two days next week and three the following week. Looking forward to some down time. Someone gave me a whole bunch of books that I am itching to get into.

Have a great Friday everyone!

TGIF!!!!!!!!!!! Hello Maintainers!

I cannot say HOW HAPPY I am that is Friday today......... I should actually be at the start of my Christmas vacation, but I ended up having to do some scheduling shifting and have to see clients on Monday before we leave on our trip.

I have been missing everyone here! I did just get a quick read in, and I'm giving everybody a virtual hug as we traverse this tricky tlme of year. It's amazing how much food is an intergral (seemingly) part of the holidays!

With my sitter out sick, this week has been CRAZY! I worked the equivalent of 36 hours in 3 days this week and am exhausted today. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I was so tired when I got home from work that I skipped my planned dinner and just grabbed a protein bar. Tsk tsk. I ended up dropping a little unintended weight from several days of lower than normal calories...but I don't want to get into that all or nothing thinking we've been discussing: restricting if I feel out of control. That's DEFINITELY not the path to a healthy metabolism.

Yesterday, I had an unexpected lunch brought to me from Panera: I had half a turkey sandwich and also a cup of baked potato soup. Definitely not following the carb/fat separation rules! So I made a new plan for dinner of P1 type meal with little fat and carbs only from veggies. I am up a pound from high sodium but I am not going to do a P1 day today as I have just been too low calorically lately and did not go over on my calories yesterday. Trying to not be too reactionary!

Even with P4 being a struggle....I am THRILLED for all of us who get to finish out this year in such a different place than were we started last year. For long-term maintainers, you have ANOTHER year under your belt of living this new life! For new maintainers, we are started out 2015 with a BRAND NEW spirit!!!!! We rock!

My weight and unhealthy eating was on my mind CONSTANTLY last year at this time. I had lost my ability to make smart choices, and my body self-esteem was in the gutter. How freeing it is to shed that burden!!!!!!

It is so worth it to me to keep up the "good fight" because the alternative is a dark place that I don't intend to visit again. If I can get through another few years of healthy maintaining, I would LOVE to use my job as a counselor to help others with successful weight loss. I hope this will be yet another incentive for me to keep on track.

In the long run, nothing I have EVER TASTED has made me feel the way I feel down over 45 pounds! It's not about "being thin" for me, it's about the food guilt that I bathed in daily when I was shoving my feelings down with food. I hope that everyone here can give themselves credit for their journeys and know that it is worth all the trials and frustrations.

Take care all!!!!!!

THIS. This resonates with me so much. There are certain points in the year that I use as deliberate moments of reflection. New Years Eve in the moments before midnight is always one of them. Most years I've had a sense of regret and thought, "maybe this will be the year I get it under control." This year I've actually done it. It's so empowering to know I took hold of an aspect of my life that made me miserable for so long and turned it around completely. I feel this empowerment trickling into other aspects of my life as well—my overall confidence, my job, my relationships. Several people have commented to me recently that they see a "sparkle" returning in me, which they haven't seen in a long time. So, looking forward to spending New Years Eve with no regrets and plotting what I'll make happen next year!

Good morning Maintainers!!

Its been a bad week as far as exercise, its that time of the month and along came a migraine which I haven't had for awhile but that put me out of commission. So, I keep working at my eating. I agree Vachinyc that we just keep trying each day. I am aware of what I eat now and how much. I certainly can't eat the same amount as I used to. That is a good thing. And I feel awful if I do eat too much of something that isn't healthy. So, I keep working at it daily and am happy with the changes compared to what it was like before IP.

Ruth Ann; I agree, its a struggle at this time of year with the long dark days and trying to find the time to exercise. But, at least I am able to do so much more than last year and I can feel the toning. The exercise helps me get through winter and feel better. As I've said before, its my therapy.

Eve; You'd make a great diet counselor. You know so much and are very upbeat and positive. And you have lost weight so you know the struggles and challenges. I'd go to you!

Pishposh; You are very right in that a year ago, although I had lost quite a bit of weight at this point but was still losing, I feel more stable and knowledgeable in keeping this weight off. I'd lost 30lbs on another program years ago but had no idea in how to keep it off. This time is different, even though things aren't perfect, I have the skills to maintain or lose. And I have a good exercise regimen, when I'm following it. Some weeks are better than others. I won't give up though.

Hi to everyone else. I love all your posts. Keep them up and have a great day!

Ooops . . . The magic limit of 500 posts is exceeded.

Would some kind soul start vol 17 of this thread?