These suggestions are very helpful. I don't eat meat or poultry very often, but I think adding in a turkey slice would keep me fuller. Today I ate a sweet potato at an 11 a.m. break, then had a black bean enchilada topped w/ff plain yogurt at around 1:30.

Now, I am not hungry at all. Will try to "drink a full glass of ice water" trick for the drive home, and fit in a walk while it still light out. I have lots of busy mom errands this afternoon, but I can actually walk to all of them so that should hit the spot.

My maintaining turned into gaining on my vacation. I gained 9 lbs in 8 days. This is pretty typical for me - I tend to retain mucho water when I eat outside my box. Even though the number is high, I'm proud of myself! We were VERY active in Hawaii (snorkeling, kayaking, hiking, etc.), I chose meals that were on the lighter side, and I didn't engage in my usual mindless "vacation" bingeing in between meals. I allowed myself to enjoy my food without giving myself permission to get out of control. That's a huge feat for me!

The challenge right now is that I'm SO tired. I'm getting back to my workouts tomorrow and hope that will help. It's amazing to me how much it takes to recover from a vacation!

Coming back to this forum will definitely help me get back on track. Thanks to you all for such wonderful information!!!

Karyn Lee

Welcome back, Karyn! It sounds like you had a wonderful vacation and that you handled it very well -- lots of activity, lighter meals, and some treats. You'll be right back on track tomorrow and those pounds will be gone in no time (I bloat up that way too).

Karyn we wanna see Hawaiin pics!!

Sure!! I'll get to that today.

My food looks a lot like Meg's with the exception that I haven't banished cottage cheese or peanut butter

Mel

Well, you have SELF-CONTROL when it comes to peanut butter. I don't!!

Hello, my name's Meg and I'm a peanut butter addict.

I have to WEIGH peanut butter -- even after almost a year I can't guestimate a 2TBSP serving.. I haven't banished it - I have it almost every day to up my good fats, but I have to be really anal about my servings.. Or else I'd probably eat the jar. :P

You're a better woman than I! Oh, I'd weigh it all out, but then I'd blob a little extra on for good measure, lick the spoon, lick my fingers and probably lick the scales. For now, I'm better off without it in the house.

LOL @ Meg

I've read some articles on sleep. I have always been a really light sleeper who takes a long time just getting to sleep. There are certain foods suggested to help one sleep better. PB is one of those foods...of course along with milk. So I have a tbsp of PB and a cup of milk about an hour before bed some nights. It does seem to help. I get my tbsp and put the jar back away. It's like cashews with me. In my sight and they're gone. So I get a handful of cashews and put the can out of sight.

Maybe I should banish peanut butter, too. I did eat the jar last night.

Well, if a T of PB helps almostheaven sleep -- YOU must have had one heck of a rest last night!!

When I dont actually measure my portions, they slowly increase over time. A guestimated 1T can become one and a half. A cup of something can be 25% more. 4 oz of meat can turn into a third pound and so forth. So I am back to weighing and measuring almost everything except veggies and fruits. Right now I am assuming I probably should do this for the rest of my life, unless I get too thin, LOL. In truth it really doesnt take all that much more time, and it does keep one better focused on serving sizes. The downside is there are afew more dishes to do, small enough price.

Happy Halloween , Jan

Jan ~~ I truly think I will always have to measure ! I must have terrible depth perception because as soon as I don't measure I gain weight ! Now along with the measuring I have Fitday and 3FC, and those are 2 other lifesavers!!

I agree about the measuring being helpful. I am back to doing it for every single item, to help me get back on track with the weight I need to lose. I think for dry cereal, peanut butter and other nut butters and pretzels it's an absolute must for me. I also am portioning out small amounts of food to bring to work--1/3 cup servings of dry cereal, dried fruit in small boxes, the 6 oz. containers of ff plain yogurt.

It WILL work!