I was drinking my coffee and skimming through all the pages of New Posts this morning, and thought "wow, wouldn't it be cool if every new member at 3FC reaches his or her goal and joins us here in Maintainers?" We'd be the biggest forum at 3FC! Seriously, even if a new member lost "only" ten pounds and stopped to maintain it, how much better than the constant cycle of lose it - regain it - lose it - regain it? I did that for several decades! And lost (and regained) the equivalent of myself several times over.

I wish I knew a way to get the message out that focusing of maintenance from the beginning is the key to permanent weight loss. Most of us don't have a weight LOSS problem, we have a weight loss MAINTENANCE problem! As ambassadors from Planet Maintenance, is there anything we can do to spread the word?

Gack, pour me another coffee! I'm thinking too much this morning.

The gym was packed this weekend, but I'm hoping that 5:30 am deters most of the newbies this morning. I have this weird thing about MY elliptical. Then groceries, then cleaning. Christmas is all put away but an awful lot of pine needles got left behind. And the cats are carrying them all around the house in their fur and depositing them in obscure places. So a good housecleaning is in order.

After a water weight blip Christmas week, my weight is back to where it was before the holidays. Whew!

How is everyone this morning? Pat, is it still as insanely cold in Alaska? Ever think longingly about Florida or Arizona?

Good morning!

I am afraid my gym is going to be packed this morning. I want to go to a class, and I hope I can get a spot. They don't do sign-up sheets, so it's every girl for herself and it can get ugly. I heard from one of the trainers that they had "record sales" at the end of the year. It's sort of a good news/bad news situation.

The kids are going back to school today. I am looking forward to some quiet time after the gym.

I'm back to a full work schedule but it doesn't feel like Monday due to the dog sit. And I'm back with him starting this Friday.

I gained 3 lbs. over the holidays, almost all after Christmas.
I didn't write down my calories or measure or do any of that fun stuff over that period.

Back at it. This year I will get to goal and then I will maintain within 2 lbs. of goal. It's my mind that's not co-operating. My body does cartwheels every time I get thinner but my brain is not wholly on board yet.

This year I work on the mind. The body is already there.

Dagmar

Good morning!

Meg - I'm still laughing about the people on the track with Starbucks from you post on last week's thread. Our gym doesn't let you bring in food or beverages because they want to sell you their own. Plus, in any case, you're only allowed to have water on the track -- that way there's no nasty spills to clean up!

I'm not sure what the best way is to get the message out about maintenance. For myself, I learned it from reading so many posts from maintainers on the support forums.

Dagmar - I love your dog stories! Then again, I am a major dog lover. Speaking of dogs, mine has been licking his paw like crazy. Not all his paws, just one. This is the same one that he licked and chewed until his nail started bleeding the other day. He won't let me look at it to see if there's a cut or anything. I'm not sure how much time I should give him for it to heal on its own before making a vet appointment for him. I think if he would just stop licking it it would get better, but he doesn't listen when I tell him!

I didn't do too badly at our cooking club's meetup last night. Ate and drank a little more than I should have, but I didn't eat too much else that day in preparation. I haven't tallied my calories for it yet. I overdid it on exercise Friday, then was too exhausted to work out over the weekend. No excuses, I'm doing my run as planned this afternoon.

Hi everyone. Kids are back to school after almost a month of sickness and holiday home time. Ahhhhh!

Still working the Beck Diet stuff, which is more about the mental habits to be successful and my weight keeps moving in the right direction.

And DS has weaned after his illness. I'm a little sad about that, but now I'm free to do things like take actual Excedrin for my migraines, drink a 3rd cup of coffee if I want to (or indulge my new Starbucks habit), or reduce my calories to a level I couldn't before. Not sure I want to do any of these things, but it is nice to have the option.

Meg, I don't think we're going to have too many people still in the losing phase coming here as long as they make a distinction between losing weight and the rest of their lives. How many "I'm not a maintainer yet..." posts do we see? Perhaps a change of title/section to "Keeping it off..." or something? Personally, I'm here for the "Living" part of "Living Maintenance" because who here actually maintains?? I don't think it happens. I think 90+ percent of us are up and down in a managed weight range of about 5 pounds. "Maintenance" just has this mystique about it, like we know what we are doing. I don't know about you all, but even after six years of this, I'm still learning new things, and still need support when the scale isn't cooperating. I just learned I've been neglecting the effects of meteors from BillBlueEyes over on the Beck thread, which explains a lot, LOL!

Sometimes I think the only way I'll be caught in a gym is with a Starbucks. I'd just rather be outside running, or lift at home.

Wardhog, I hear you on the school thing!! Hope you get/got your bike for your spin class.

Dagmar, it is the after-holiday stuff that usually gets me. I think it's over and ..WHAM! Be careful!

Jessica, have you tried spraying bitter apple on the foot, or putting an elizabethan collar on your dog? You might be able to see if there is an issue if he leaves it alone a bit. My dogs lick for wounds, chronic pain (arthritis), and well, fun or boredom. You may have to muscle in there and get a look. How goes your tri training? I've kind of fallen off that thread. Sorry.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Anne

Meg, loved your post this AM about mainataining. That is my story. Gain, lose, regain, lose, etc. , etc. My problem wasn't losing ,it was keeping it off. When I was near goal a year ago I asked those who had lost a lot of weight and maintained that loss for a significant time how they do it. I was shocked to learn that you keep it off by doing the same things that you did to lose it. What a revelation!

I was a saint over the holidays and then last night I had crackers and cheese dip....seriously! The minute the holidays are over, and BAM!

Yep, I'm happy.

I don't know what on earth was going on yesterday. I had no desire to do anything. I was so tired--I wanted to nap but couldn't fall asleep. I just vegged all day. And then we ordered pizza for dinner because I couldn't get myself psyched to fix dinner (I did make a wonderful salad).

But, this morning I was up at 4:10 and did a 5k, 45 minute walk/jog cross training circuit on the treadmill. I feel great!!!

And, I have a nifty notebook on which I will track both my daily exercise and food so I can track those darn calories! (So far, 10 calories ingested and 340 burned--why can't they make fish oil that has no calories?)

Anne~you'll lose so much quicker now with no breastfeeding. I know I sure did after DS was weaned. It's bittersweet, though.

Jessica~my gym? It serves BEER and popcorn as well as "nutrition" drinks. I don't stop (although everyone has to pass it to get from the front door to the weight room). They actually hosted Monday Night Football this season with one of the local radio stations (one of the reasons I stopped going on Mondays). I'd try to look at your dogs paw--he probably has something stuck in it.

My mom called yesterday from SLC where it started at 3 degrees and warmed up to about 20. I'm so glad I moved away from there!

Good morning everyone!
I love to log on Monday mornings to get my week revved up. It certainly helps to get me in the right frame of mind!

I am back to work today but I have to have a liver ultrasound this morning. I am grouchy about it because, 1. I am worried about the results, 2. I have to fast-- grrr---out of my routine!, 3. I will be late to work and will be behind all day. I wish I didn't worry so much. I hope I can extract some info from the tech and not have to wait to hear from my doctor.

Yesterday was my dd's 18th birthday. I also can't believe I am old enough to have an 18 year old. I had her when I was young, but not that young! I feel much younger than I am..... We had a very bad dinner and I did indulge and the scale shows it, but our last relatives left yesterday (except dd who is here for another week before going back to college) so I am going to get back on schedule!

Allison-- beer and popcorn at the gym?!?! That is crazy! We have no rules at my gym that I'm aware of. I stick to water....

WardHog-- I'm also contemplating a class tonight but wondering how crowded it will be. I went over the weekend and the gym was crowded but it wasn't ridiculous. I have a feeling the class may be packed though.

Hello to everyone else. I am off for my ultrasound. Wish me luck. I also have an appointment Wednesday with a surgeon to see about having my swollen lymph node biopsied. I hate the waiting with health stuff and I pray all is fine.

Isn't that the truth!!!!!!!! I find it much harder to maintain than it was to lose.

Well, I found out what's wrong with my dog's foot. I managed to get a good look at it (with him raising his lip and growling at me the whole time, but that's another story). A few weeks ago we had his nails trimmed at the vet while he was sedated, and they trimmed them extra short (they suggested trimming past the quick and cauterizing, and I told them not to, but I think they did it anyway). A week or so later, we caught him licking his foot and his nail was bleeding. We used that powder you get to stop nail bleeding and put it on his foot and he seemed better. Well, after a few more days of licking, when I got a look at his nail, it is completely red on the end. His nails are black and all the others are kind of blackish-tan-white on the ends, but this one is bright pink.

I think I might call up the vet to see what they suggest. I don't know how serious an injury it is -- he's not limping or anything, but I'm pretty sure it is hurting him.

Good morning everyone!

It feels a little weird to be back at work with a full day ahead of me. Most of the last two weeks have been off days, half days or on the road between restaurants days....
Meg - I hear you about the maintaining concept being a difficult one. I posted several 'not quite maintaining yet' posts myself a few months ago looking for insight from you guys! It is a different mindset once it locks in that maintenance isn't much different from losing. Was a hard one for me to adjust to - DH is still waiting for me to stop weighing my food every meal I think.

I exercise at home, so I don't have to worry about new people, just an increasingly crowded workout space as I buy new stuff. Eventually, I would like to think DH will start exercising again but for right now he still isn't interested so there is no competition for any of the stuff!

WardHog, good luck finding a space at the gym! And, I hope you enjoy the quiet time with the kids back in school!

Anne - It would probably take Starbucks to get me into the gym right now, too. I've gotten spoiled to my own stuff.

Alinell - your gym serves beer? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of the gym somewhat?

Dagmar - I didn't track well the week after Christmas either. I exercised according to plan - I think that is the only thing that saved me.

Jessica - my mom and dad's Rottweiler is having trouble with her back foot right now - she actually had to have surgery to remove one and a half of her toes where she chewed into them. The vet couldn't find where anything was wrong with the foot before she stared the chewing...

It is currently 61 degrees here, though raining again. I got out at the park to run yesterday afternoon during a small rain break. I think it is supposed to rain for the next several days...

Hi all,

I had a busy weekend. Some friends were in from out of town (the daughter/SIL & kids of the older friend who died a few months ago) so BF and I spent time with them, and I went shopping for a dress for the wedding I'm attending at the end of the month in Boston. Dress shopping was not fun. I had to accept the fact that I'm a solid size 8 - there is no "sometimes 6" anymore. I found a black cocktail dress but I'm not sure if it's appropriate for the wedding. Need to have fashion show w/ my girlfriends and see what they think.

Worked out Friday & Saturday at the gym and boy am I out of shape. Amazing (and terrible) what 12 days of vacation can do.

I'm not sure how to "get the message out" about maintenance either. As we've talked about before here, there's tons of info about weight loss out there, and not much about maintenance. When people ask me about my lifestyle, most seem to get discouraged and even upset/angry when I try to tell them that I eat healthily and work out often - I guess b/c they don't want to hear it's about hard work and there's no magic pill? I love to talk to people who genuinely want to change their lives, but get frustrated by all the people who just don't seem really ready. Maybe the key is to play up the "lifestyle CHANGE" idea to people the moment they start a "diet". That this is a way to be for the rest of your life, not just a little while.

Jessica, you should make the vets tend your dog's toenail at no cost to you, since they clearly didn't trim his nails properly the first time! Cutting dog's nails too short can cause permanent damage. Poor thing, no wonder he's fussing.

Michele, I hope the ultrasound is painless and the results are good.

Allison, glad you have more energy today!

Midwife, I've done that - gotten through a business trip or vacation staying as OP as possible, then on the way home go on a fast food bender or whatever. I think it's when I let my guard down. Keep that guard up!

I've got to get to work... have a great day everyone!

Jessica, the last time I had Lucy's nails trimmed at a Dog Grooming business they split one of her nails. I could tell she was in pain when she would try to scratch, but acted fine when walking on it. Yesterday I bought a Pedi-paws thing to try to do both dogs nails with it. I'm a little scared to try it, but DH will give it a try tonite. My dogs are both mad at us right now cause they both had a flea dip, shampoo and worm medicine last night. Even though mine are labs and love water, they hate to be bathed.

Meg, when I started my weight loss journey, I couldn't fathom sticking on plan for the rest of my life. Still have trouble with this concept. But, from my wide experience, I do realistically know that if I don't eat right and exercise , I do regain! Sadly enough after my first 6 months of maintenance, the rest has been a yo-yo of about 10 lbs. I refuse to quit or give up!

Michele, good luck with the liver ultrasound.

It started storming here at 3AM and Molly head-butted our bedroom door to hop in bed with us. Of course, Lucy followed suit. That was a nice smell after our fresh dog-dipping last night!

Maybe someone will know the answer to this. My workouts now have consisted of 30 min's treadmill, 10 min's stair-stepper, 10 min's rowing machine, 10 min's elliptical and I'm doing 3 sets of 15 reps each side on the weighted machine for "love-handles". Both hip joints are really hurting again now. I'm wondering if it's most likely the elliptical (on weight loss mode) or the weight machine that is causing my pain?

My girls went back to school today and the house seems blissfully quiet!

Yep~beer at the gym. Insane, isn't it!?!

Jessica~if the entire nail is red it might be infected. Poor doggie.

Lily~I don't have a pedi-paws (I use a regular dremel tool) but I really doubt you'll hurt your dogs with the pedi-paws. They're designed to only take a little off at a time. Even with the dremel tool I've never cut into the quick.

Megan~I attended a wedding a few weeks back and wore black pants because I had no dresses that fit. I was one of two people wearing pants and one of two people wearing black. I think a black cocktail dress is fine if it is a dressy wedding, but this one was outdoors so everyone wore flowery stuff.