Good morning!

It's a gorgeous morning here and it was a perfect weekend. So I cleaned out the garage. I love the sense of accomplishment, not to mention being able to walk around!

Did you see that we have a new subforum in Maintainers? It's called Body Images and Issues After Weight Loss and it's a place to discuss all the physical, mental, and emotional changes that go along with weight loss. We get a lot of posts talking about still seeing 'fat' when we look in the mirror, excess skin, being cold all the time, changing relationships - and we thought they're worthy of a dedicated space. Check it out.

I had a bad eating day on Saturday - it was the first one in about seven weeks. The best I figure is that 1) I was very tired and 2) I didn't go to the gym. For whatever reason, the days that I don't exercise are my worst eating days. Am I weird or does this happen to any of you?

So I was sure to be at the gym this morning, bright and early! I did a half hour of elliptical intervals and chest and tri's. And I feel great.

How are all of you today?

Good Morning All. After what seems like two lost weeks I'm finally feeling like myself. It turns out the 'bronchitis' was pneumonia. No wonder I didn't feel well and had such a cough. The weather here was finally lovely which helped my eating. I find it much easier to eat healthy when the weather is nice. Stupid, but there ya' are.
Lily-hang in there. Alot of that weight could be water.
I hope all the others with various challenges are feeling better too. Let's hope spring's arrival means we all can start feeling better.

Lisa, sorry to hear yours turned into pneumonia. But, glad you are feeling better now. I feel like my head and sinuses and chest is finally clearing up. No more fever , which is great. But, still have the rash that is spreading.

Our weather is bright and sunny today. I'll be out working in my garden and flower beds some more. I'm gonna have DH start with planting my strawberries today. I really look forward to my fresh home-grown fruits and veggies. This is my very first home made garden and I'm excited about it. It sure took a lot of work, but I have enjoyed it.

As for my weight, I am staying off the scale til after my Dr. appt. on Friday. I'm keeping my eating on plan and trying to work outside and do some exercise on elliptical and treadmill. I may have some water weight as my rings that usually fall off are pretty snug right now. I'm over being depressed about my weight, now I'm just focused on doing something about it.

Meg, I had a bad Saturday too. I do notice that when I don't exercise, that my eating is worse. It's like the exercise helps keep me focused on the whole lifestyle change.

I'm gonna quit wearing the baggy size 6 Levi's that my son bought me. I had been wearing them thinking they were loose and comfy. Then noticed when I tried to wear my 4's again, that they felt much snugger. Well, it's snug again for me, cause I'm not going up a size. LOL. I know it's mostly in my head, but even this 5 lbs. has made me feel totally FAT again.

Does anyone know how I can change my avatar to just say maintaining? I've wanted to do that for quite some time now and to remove my wt. ticker.

Good morning everyone! I'm back from my convention and up a pound or so. The food was horrible--nothing but carbs for breakfast and very little protein at all! Yuck!!! We did sneak away one night for a steak dinner! Anyway, 3 dyas off of work and I am SWAMPED!!

Take care and have a great day!

Since I want to reinforce what I just learned from reading Thin for Life by Anne M. Fletcher, MS, RD I'm going to post each of her 10 Keys to Success on a daily bases. It's a good book and I know Meg has recommended it.

Fletcher interviewed hundreds of weight loss "masters" who've kept they're weight off for 3 years or more. She found out their tips, tricks, successes, and struggles. The book is an easy read with many references to research studies to support Fletcher's findings and theories. There are many individual stories of encouragement throughout the book.

Key to Success #1: Believe that you can become thin for life

In this chapter, she talks about breaking the rules or the myths of weight loss. Myths such as "If you've been overweight since childhood, it's next to impossible to lose weight and keep it off" and "If you do succeed at losing wieght and keeping it off you'll have to eat [almost nothing] for the rest of your life" and "It's really hard to lose weight once you pass the age of 40."

Fletcher found many masters that prove those myths wrong. In a section of the chapter marked "If you think you can, you will", she writes, "If you choose to become thin for life, one of the most important steps is believing in yourself" and "You can start to believe in yourself by accepting that your weight condition is not the result of fate: you can control it."

How do I relate this chapter to my own situation: I know in the past that after I've stopped being on a diet, I've always regained the weight. This time I am eating healthy food rather than dieting. I am keeping track of my food in a journal and will continue to do so.

Also, in the past, I have given up on exercising after 2-3 months. Usually it happened because of a minor injury or strain or boredum with the exercise routine. Again, I am tracking my exercise in the journal to make sure I do it daily.

Healthy Eating + Exercise = Weight Maintenance.

I believe I can do it.

Do you?

Hi everyone,

It is beautiful here, too. I was out on the boat today (field work for my job) and will be out most of the week too. My play was this past weekend and it went well. I love doing it but at the same time I'm relieved I'll be able to sleep more and have more free time now. I spent Saturday cleaning out my entire 30-gallon fishtank and gardened outside, too. My veggies are starting to grow but they've got a ways to go before I can eat any of them.

After only a few cardio sessions in the past 3 weeks, I think I'm going to start re-introducing it this week and see how my tendonitis-y foot feels. I've barely felt it in the past few weeks. I'm also excited that I'll have time to cook real food again. I've eaten a lot of Lean Cuisines lately!

I know Easter is past, but how did I miss all the Easter 'smilies'?!

Meg, I do the same thing - if I don't exercise, I tend to eat worse. I guess if I go to the gym after work I usually feel so good when I get home that I want to put something else good in me. Then I want to keep being good to myself, so I go to the gym the next day. Exercise and healthy eating are always positive reinforcements for each other, for me. And the opposite is true too. It seems the less I exercise, the less I care about eating healthily.

joyofsix, I hope you heal quickly. I also feel like eating "lighter" in the summer (minus the ice cream that I also associate with summer...). I don't want cold salad as much in the winter, but raw things sound much more appealing in the warm weather.

Lily, mmm, strawberries. Be sure to put up something to keep the rabbits and deer out, if you have those creatures near you! If you go to "Forum", "User CP", and "Edit Profile" I think you can change the text under your Avatar there.

alinnell, I hate food at conferences. You're right, it's always so unhealthy!

clvquilts, yup, I've been maintaining for 2 years now. I still keep a detailed food and exercise journal. It's definitely key for me.

Hi to everyone else! I hope everyone is having a good week.

Morning all. We too had lovely weather all weekend. Not as warm as the rest of you, but bright and sunny! Snow is melting fast.

Alison - I know what you mean about conference breakfasts. I go to one every Oct where the breakfast is always sweet rolls - and not good tasting ones even - and fruit. After the first year I began bringing my own yogurt and hard boiled eggs, and just eating their fruit. I suggest different breakfast on my evaluation every year, but it gets ignored. This is at a hotel at a ski resort (off season) so there are no other places to go for breakfast.

Lisa - Glad you're feeling better!

Lily - Your attitude is great. And I'm glad you're enjoying your gardening. It'll be another 6 weeks before we can plant, but DH is getting ready to do some starts indoors.

I've been slowly decluttering my house. The kitchen is done except the spice cupboard - that's one for when I have LOTS of time! The living room is done, and my clothes closet is half done. Progress in small steps....

Megan, we put up a small 2 foot high chicken wire fence around my garden to keep all the rabbits out.

Thanks Pat. I'm trying to stay focused and trying to be positive. It's hard. I hate that I gained but I'm not giving up.

I've been obsessed about my perceived slacking off the past month or so. I got on the scale yesterday ready to face the music and....128, just like I should be. Still, trying harder to be more focused with eating!

Hi, everyone! Monday went by so quickly. I've been at my new job x 2 months, and it's hard to believe.

I'm glad some of you got a chance to enjoy the nice weather. I spent a couple hours outside on my balcony reading the newspaper, and it was great! I hope everyone who is feeling poorly starts feeling better soon! Best wishes to you.

Well, I think my eating pattern may be heading back to what I did before I took time off work (prior to last July). I would eat low cal during the week, and then eat more calories on the weekend. When I stopped working, I decided that I should eat around the same calorie level every day because of the risk that I might start overeating during the week since I didn't have the structure that a normal work week provides. It definitely kept me from gaining weight -- I actually lost about 5 pounds since I stopped working.

However, now that I've quit eating the peanut butter, my weekday calories have gone down considerably -- I've gone from a lunch that was 560 calories to a lunch that's around 300 calories.

I'm wondering if there's anything wrong with eating low cal during the week and higher cal on weekends. This Sunday I indulged in LOTS of cornbread and vegetarian bean chili from Whole Foods. I ate about 2 1/2 cups of the bean chili and probably the equivalent of 3/4 of a square pan of cornbread. The bean chili and cornbread were eaten bit by bit between 12 and 5:30, so they ended up being my lunch and dinner. In the end, I think my daily calories were somewhere between 2000 and 2200 calories, so not too bad despite my engorgement.

Since my social life is really nonexistent, I have a lot of time on weekends spent at home by myself, so I did enjoy having something yummy to nibble on during that time. I don't think about food when I'm at work because I'm busy, so I don't feel like I need more food on those days.

If the calories even out over the week, is there anything wrong with the low cal weekday and significantly higher cal weekdays? Anyone heard anything about this?

Tara, that's called calorie cycling or zigzagging and a lot of people thinks it helps with fat loss. The idea is that it keeps your body guessing about how many calories it's getting each day so it doesn't get stuck in a rut or plateau. So long as your total calories for the week stay about the same, it doesn't matter how you spend the calories each day.

I haven't done much calorie cycling but have done carb cycling (low carb and higher carb days) and thought it worked well for weight loss. It also keeps things a little more interesting.

Try it and let us know how it works for you!

Hi everybody,

Meg, I have at least one bad eating day a week. Being tired is a HUGE contributor, but with the toddler, the job, the husband, the racing, it happens. Here's to you staying on track for seven weeks!

Lisa, pregnant and pneumonia. Oh man! I hope you are feeling better soon.

Lily, I'm a sucker for comfortable pants myself, but if those smaller ones help keep you on the right track, wear 'em! Don't sweat the water weight too much--it comes and goes.

Allison, yucky carbs and a steak dinner and only one pound. Wow! It is so nice to be back to where you can control your own food.

Carolyn, TfL is such a great book. There are a bunch of stickies over in the Maintainer's Library if you haven't checked them out yet.

Megan, what do you do again that you get to go out on a boat? Sounds like it could be a lot of fun to get out on a nice day.

Pat, since you are on that cleaning jag, are you interested in a free trip to Tucson??

Glory, you always seem to do so well with food, so disciplined, maybe you aren't cutting yourself enough slack. Sounds like you are right where you should be, weight-wise. Just because we don't do it perfectly every time, doesn't mean we've let it all go either. It is so hard for me to tell the difference with that. Maybe you are there.

Tara, my eating tends to go up and down like that, but sort of opposite. I do better on the weekends because there is less work food (all high cal, no nutrition, and not even that yummy) staring me in the face. It seems to be OK for maintenance. Now if I could get the week straightened out, maybe I'd lose another 10 or 20 lbs. Not holding my breath.

Last week on vacation was interesting for me. Because of the schedule and the hassle, I didn't actually journal my food for the first time in about 5 years. I took one meal at a time and tried not to overdo, and it forced me to think about what I was doing in a way I haven't in a long time. Has the journal become a crutch? I wish I knew how it would have turned out, since I got that nasty GI bug, and was stuck in the bathroom most of the trip. I lost 10 lbs by the time I got home, but that wasn't the kind of weight loss we are shooting for of course, and I'm almost back to where I started now. I may try to repeat the experiment in a month or so. Right now I'm just too scared to think about going it without the journal.

How is everyone else doing?

Anne

Hi everyone. I know I said I wasn't going to weigh til Saturday, but I felt so much thinner when I woke up that I went ahead and weighed. I'm back down 2 lbs. to 148. Which anything in the 140's sure made me happy. I am eating only 1200 calories daily now to try to get these extra lbs. off. Plus getting my exercise. I'm very determined to get back to goal. I had to reevaluate my reasons for wanting to be at goal. I firmly decided that I need to stick to my plan and keep this weight off. I know that 1200 calories isn't enough for me for the long haul. After I'm back to goal, I'll slowly go back to my usual 1500-1600. I really think that with switching from Atkins and starting calorie counting, gave me so much more food choices and I let it get out of hand. I don't think it's all water weight. My big Goal is to be back at 145 by July 5th, my one yr. anniversary for Maintenance.

Hope everyone has a great day. I know that physically I am feeling better now.

Hi everyone! I missed checking in yesterday because I was so busy at work. I have a deadline every Tuesday at noon (which of course means that after lunch on Tuesday I am always screwing around for a little while!).

Things are going pretty well over here. Saturday my fiance and I went to on a garden tour at the art museum, then looked at the special exhibit they were having (which was super-weird, I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of modern art). Anyway we got some activity in walking around there. After that we went to Barnes and Noble and looked at the travel books, trying to pick a destination for our honeymoon. Right now we have it pretty much narrowed down to Australia, Tahiti, or Hawaii. We were also considering Crete, but we'd like to have a stopover in LA for a couple days and the exchange rate with Euros is not too hot. Sunday we took a nice long brisk walk in the morning since it was so beautiful outside. Very refreshing!

Anyway I'm glad we took that walk Sunday since we skipped the gym yesterday. I don't know what happened but my stomach was really upset pretty much the entire time I was at work (it was to the point where if it had gotten any worse I would have just gone home). After having plain spaghetti and a bowl of oatmeal for dinner it felt better though. Today I'm planning on trying my gym's pilates class. I have to admit I am pretty nervous. All the classes I've taken in the past have been the kind where you sign up for like a six-week session, not where you just randomly show up whenever you feel like it. I'm also hoping that it will be similar to pilates I have taken in the past and not involve much that puts pressure on my wrists.

Anyway if the pilates class goes well I may check out the hip hop dance class next week. That's even more nerve-wracking because while I love dancing, I totally suck at it and look ridiculous!

Meg - I also eat better when I go to the gym. The less I go, the worse I eat!

Lisa - Glad you are feeling better!

Allison - Why is it that work functions always provide unhealthy food? The dumbest part is that around my office there are signs about their corporate wellness programs all over, and at the same time there is a bake sale nearly every day.

Megan - I hope your foot is feeling better!

Pat - What part of Alaska do you live in? (Why do I feel like I've asked you that before?) Lately when I think of Alaska I think of the Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Catch"!

Tara - I always eat more on the weekends. Like Meg said, as long as your calories on a weekly basis are ok, you shouldn't gain. Be careful with cornbread though, it can be super-high-cal since many people put lots of butter and/or oil in it as well as sugar. When I make it at home I use yogurt instead of oil and IMO it still tastes yummy (though not quite as decadent). Whole Foods sure has some delicious prepared foods though. I heard WF bought out Wild Oats so I am hoping the Wild Oats near my apartment turns into a Whole Foods. Wild Oats is pretty inferior IMO.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Jessica, I love in Palmer, which is about 50 miles NE of Anchorage. Let's see if I can make this map work. It's in photobucket, so you can click it to enlarge:



Look at Anchorage, then the numbers above it. Palmer is located about in the space at the top between the o and the r in the word Anchorage. You can look at out website - and webcam - if you're interested in more. www.cityofpalmer.org

Tara - My eating tends to have more calories on the weekend too. Though at times I'm where Anne is - too much junk food at work. Lately it's been Good & Plenty, and I love licorace.

Anne - hmmm, much as a free trip to Tucson sounds good, I'm not that fond of cleaning. In fact, I'm decluttering more to keep peace in the family. My DH is the neatick in our family. I can live in lots more clutter than I do. In fact, my office at work is out of control, even for me.

It's been nice and sunny here - in the 50's which is great for us. DH planted seeds for starts last night. I'll have to tend them next month while he's off visiting his 94 year old father. Hope I don't kill them! I do fine with the garden outdoors, but these little starts are very sensitive.... I can also tell it's spring - and getting lighter - because my cat wants to go out around 5 am now Good news is that she's given up her litter box now that the snow is retreating.