I went in today and lost 1 lb this last week. They said it was time to start my maintenance phase. I'm a little bummed because I'm still at 173 (a bounce from my very long absence/vacation). I guess I've been hanging out at week 6 for far too long. They're going to start me on Saturday. I'm trying really hard to resist the urge to go back to my green menu. I just need to relax and get through my Vegas trip & Christmas/New Year's. I'm really not comfortable in the 170's - much happier bouncing around in the 160's!

I'm just finishing week 1 of stabilization. I waited to start it until after we came back from vacation. I will WI on Thursday and hopefully start week 2 then.

That's great. What do you think of the add on's? Does it seem any different from the last time you went through this?

I never did stabilization last time as we moved back to England for a few years---then I gained all the weight back & more
So this time around, I'm thrilled to be able to complete the program. I just did the starch at lunch add on this week--I did animal crackers & graham crackers because I really wasn't that hungry! Actually, none of the starches at lunch really appealed to me--I guess that's a good thing!
The fruit at lunch seems to really fill me up. I got on my home scale this morning and I'm down but of course, on the MRC scale, I'll be wearing clothes so will weigh more

I'm curious to see what week 2 is!

Well, I won't ruin the suprise for you, but all the ad ons freaked me out at first. But they were right, I really didn't gain from the ad ons. If I had stayed OP during vacation, I would have been holding steady. Even with week 6, I've been shaving off 1 lb per week.

My favorite was the starch at lunch. You can now make a full toasted cheese sandwich (with the diet bread). You can make the apple bake with a crumb topping (melba toast). I have been falling back with the mini bagels with my salad. And sometimes, I just like having a bag of 100 calorie popcorn after lunch. They also said I could do the 100 calorie chips. Not sure if the 100 cal packet cookies would be OP because of the sugar.

Everyone I've talked to who have gained back the weight said they didn't go through stabilization. It's amazing the process our bodies need. While on the green menu, if I had one thing off plan, I would gain a couple pounds over night. It's still hard to believe I can have an occasional cheat and not really affect the scale.

I went to WI today--first time back since vacation & my first week of stabilization. I was down a pound which I'm happy with since I was up 4 when I got back from vacation!
Got week 2 menu and I'm looking forward to adding the fruit at breakfast. It wasn't busy at all this morning and I had a nice long chat with one of my favorite counselors who is also on stabilization.
Mentally, it IS hard to make diet changes--I've been on that green menu so long it seems like second nature to me now and I almost hate fooling with a formula that I know works! But I also know that you can't stay on it forever

I agree. I had the green menu memorized. Now I have to pull the food sheet out and check the selections multiple times a day. I can never remember what I'm suppose to have. I'm really curious to see how much different the menu for maintenance will be. Just a few more days.

I'm really struggling with feelings of failure this week. Every since they said I'm starting maintenance on Saturday. I feel like they've given up on me since I can't shake this 170 - 173 range. I'm 12 lbs above my set goal - even though I hit it on October 10th. Then I give myself a pep talk and remind myself how far I've come. I have lost 90 lbs, that's no small task! Then I do also say it's really important to have a new mental set point. I said I didn't want to see the 170's on the scale ever again. So I'm just baby stepping past the line I drew, but I'm still there. I'm sure that will be the key to keeping the weight off - not allowing yourself to creep past the set point. Just a lot of noise in my head right now!!

We've been on this plan so long - especially me . The green menu was such a nice routine and I think I just got really comfortable and didn't have to deal with all the emotional baggage for a while. I'm hoping I have time to have a nice chat with the center on Saturday. Every phase that changes seems to be scary to me. This one is the great unknown! I've tried to mentally prep myself for the last 6 months that losing weight is relatively easy, it's keeping it off that will be hard.

Meemo - I finally found steel cut oaks. Definately takes a lot longer to cook. I made a big batch and tried it in our favorite "oatmeal" recipe with cottage cheese. It did lend a completely different texture. I do like it a lot better than the standard oats - it seemed to blend in better.

I made copies of the week 1 & 2 additions to keep in my purse for when I go to the grocery store because I can't remember the choices
Gina, you can't beat yourself up--you have lost an incredible amount of weight and you have just gone through such a stressful time with your father's health scare. I think the holidays are just so hard to stick to a completely OP lifestyle, too. You're doing every thing right so try not to be hard on yourself!
I agree with you about the set point. Mine right now is 160, although I may reevaluate once I finish stabilization. I am almost at 155, which is a good weight for me. If I go a little lower, that would be OK, but I'm not unhappy at that number.
I'm excited about my 1/2 banana tomorrow!

Glad you like them - I need to make another batch soon. You can let them sit overnight & they'll cook a lot quicker, I need to find my recipe for doing that. Some people even cook them in a crockpot overnight.
Oh, and don't make me come over there & give you a - feeling like a failure indeed! No way, no how!

Thanks Meemo & Finz. Don't you find with great success it's hard to let your vulnerabilities show through? I wouldn't have the heart to post my inner battle on the main thread. I feel the need to be strong and supportive - which I am 98% of the time. Body distoration issues and momentary laps of self-confidence will be something I'll continue to battle. Sometimes, my self-confidence can be my greatest weakness. I don't notice the gain until it's too far gone. This time I'm trying to keep it in check. I have stopped weighing everyday - now that I'm no OP, it was just making me nuts. Twice a week is fine now. And the clothes don't lie!

Finz - How was your banana??? I still savor that taste! That was my favorite part of stabilization!! I give the other half to my DH right away, that way I'm not tempted to nibble.

The banana was wonderful! That was a nice change. I do feel like I am struggling a bit with the whole program right now. It's just my mental attitude is a bit different--I think it's a combination of the holiday season (parties,special foods,etc) and a bit of battle fatigue after being OP for 11 months now. I find myself indulging in BLT's where before I was strong enough to resist. And I have to struggle with compliments and not them make me over confident and think that I don't have to pay attention to what I'm eating and drinking. I think I'm seeing a lot of people that I haven't seen since last Christmas season so I'm getting a lot of notice on my weight loss and that can be a double edged sword.
Gina, I'm with you--there are some issues that I will always have to battle and some of those are starting to surface again. I need to work very hard to keep in mind all I learned at MRC over this last year.

Finz, I understand completely. I think it is a battle of the fatigue of being so strict for so long. I've been on this plan since the end of Aug . . . 2007! And the length is completely my fault. The plan works when you follow the plan. The end of this plan has been much harder for the same reasons you mentioned. During stabilization, your not in the chemical burn phase anymore so my BLT's started creaping in and all the compliments do get me a little over confident too.

I went into my maintenance apt this morning and asked for a strong counselor. I requested one of two people that I knew have lost a significant amount of weight and have kept it off. Then I just had a heart to heart. I just didn't feel good about starting maintenance when I'm carrying this extra weight. I wore in normal dress pants and they are tight and I've got a muffin top going on!! When we went through my chart, we realized I hadn't been measured since the 23rd of July. That's when I started my "6 weeks" of stabilization. I really felt like all my trips just messed up my stabilization phase. I hadn't filled out my testimony yet because my heart just wasn't in it. How can I tought how good I've done when I've mentally fallen short of the goal. To make a longer story a little shorter :grin: I re-signed to take 16 more lbs off. My sister-in-laws wedding is in Vegas next week, so I'm officially back in pre-conditioning and I'll start again on the 26th. I feel so much better!!! This gives me until the 8th of March, but they predict it will come off really fast. Then my year of maintenance goes from March on. It feels weird, but I'm actually very relieved and excited. I feel like I can complete this task correctly. Plus, I'm doing this above board. I told them I was flirting with the idea of starting back OP by myself the 1st of January.

Gina, I think that's a wonderful idea & I'm really glad you did it. I'm with you-- I don't think I could start maintenance until I was where I wanted be. And you're not! You know the program inside and out and you'll be able to get right back in the groove and drop those 16 pounds. So much of this can depend on the timing --what is going on in your life and things like that. And you were gone so much, coupled with the worry about your father, that diet just took a back a seat for a short while. Anyway, I think it's great that you've made that commitment & I have no doubt that you'll shed those 16 pounds quickly.

Ditto what Finz said - timing is everything - like I said, I thought I could lose 15 lbs in 17 weeks with NO problem, in fact we set my goal weight 5 lbs lower than I'd gotten the first time around just because I had so long to lose them. Then the timing thing - having my daughter here, then just when she left my knee went out so no exercise, then just as my knee got better I had a couple of basal skin cancers that had to come off & I couldn't take any of the vitamins or herbs for 5 weeks. Of course my biggest obstacle was my brain. But all those other things made it easy for me to slack off and not eat right. Next time I go in I'm telling them I want to change my goal - honestly all I wanted to lose was the 15 lbs I'd gained - the extra 5 would've been a "cushion", and mentally, a cushion isn't a good thing for me anyway. So really (once I recover from this weekend's party) I have about 5 lbs to go. Which will be easy - except for the stinkin' Christmas parties. And the stress of my in-laws probably coming for Christmas. And, and, and...see how my brain gets in my way???

Anyway - - glad you're going to lose those lbs that are bugging you - you'll feel much better in the long run, Gina!