Hi maintainers,

Well, I've been more or less maintaining (originally between 133-135, now more like 134-137...) for the past couple of months, and it's been going pretty well. I think I still need a few tweaks to be sure my weight doesn't creep up, and eventually I'd like to get another spurt of motivation & actually hit goal, but for now, I'm feeling all right about things.

However, I'm going to have a major lifestyle shake-up next month. I am spending six weeks in Quebec for a French immersion program. I'll be doing homestay and taking classes at l'Universite de Laval.

So, what I WON'T have are my Bikram yoga (my usual form of exercise) studio or much control over my meals (breakfast & dinner are provided by the homestay). I WILL have access to the university rec centre (but I don't know how convenient it will be to get there & work out - my homestay is about 3 miles from the campus, and I'm not sure how frequently busses run) and some degree of control over my lunches. I HOPE the rec centre will have scales in the change room, but my current uni doesn't, so there's no guarantee that I'll be able to weigh regularly.

Can you guys help me put together a game plan for maintenance while I'm gone?

Hmm, a couple thoughts:
1) bring a scale with you, or buy one there, and keep it in your bedroom
2) hey, walking to the gym and back would be great exercise! Or if you could borrow/rent/buy a cheap bike, you could get there very quickly. Or, since you will be at the campus for classes, go between your classes instead to save the trip.
3) once you figure out what your breakfasts and dinners are going to be like, modify your lunch choices to make up for them.
4) If the food you are served is not very healthy, make a strict "no seconds" rule.
5) Find someone else in the program who also wants to exercise and be workout buddies.

Those are my initial thoughts. But then, I never do well at maintaining when I'm away from home, so obviously I can't follow my own advice!

I echo what Jessica said, and will add this. You're not on vacation, so try not to veer too far off your chosen path. Are you the only student staying in this home? In any case, I'm thinking that unless they're cooking for a large group, they'd be open to what you'd like for breakfast, and to some extent for dinner as well.

Walking back and forth was my first thought. 6 weeks is a nice period of time for a change of workout. You can go back to the yoga when you get home.

Don't think about what won't work, focus on finding ways to make your lifestyle work. It's easy to throw up your hands at the first little obstacle, but you can - with some creative thinking - make things work for you. It doesn't have to be perfect, just not falling back into your pre-weightloss habits.

Hi,
I’m brand new to this site & this is my very 1st post. I’m 37 years old, married, full-time working mom, & I have a 4-year old daughter. I’ve been maintaining my weight loss of 33 lbs (11 inches lost) for about 8 months now. I’m 5’3.5” & currently at 132 lbs. I’m still working on posting my own story on the maintenance introductions page but it’s taking me forever to edit. I saw this & felt compelled to post because I just got back from vacation myself so I thought I’d share my experience & tips.

Rather than being excited about my upcoming 10-day vacation, I was actually worried about being gone for so long & falling off the wagon. Then one of my girlfriends told me: “You already know what to do…just to listen to my body & eat only when you’re hungry.” It’s funny how you already know these things but sometimes you just have to hear it from someone else. After she told me this I finally relaxed & started getting excited about my trip & did some planning. I also realized how lucky I am to have a small support system of friends who believe exercising & eating healthy should be a normal part of their lives.

I started my plan of action my putting together my own “Travel Fitness Binder” separated by the following sections (bear in mind I’m a very visual/analytical person):

#1: Workout Schedule – I made an excel spreadsheet listing the different workout options I would have & back-up options just in case
#2: Workout Notes – I made another excel spreadsheet with different types of workouts I could do: yoga (maybe you could bring a dvd?), resistance bands workout, core workout, etc.
#3: Fitday – I wasn’t able to go on-line to track my foods on fitday so I wrote down what I ate on paper
#4: Travel Tips – I went on-line & typed “how to maintain weight while traveling” & it gave me a whole bunch of tips. I printed them out, studied & highlighted them, & stuck them in this section for reference.

#5: Motivation – I included whatever I needed to keep motivated
My list of why I want to maintain my healthy lifestyle
How I felt when I was overweight
Before & after pictures of myself
Extra blank pages so I could journal my thoughts

As far as food is concerned, even though it may seem you might not have a lot of options for meals, you do have options for snacks:
1) Healthy to go snacks that do not have to be refrigerated. Always have a few stashed in your bag: nuts, granola bars, fruit – apples, bananas, oranges, veggies – carrots, celery sticks, & a bottle of water
2) Cooler snacks – bring a small collapsible cooler to carry string cheese, yogurt, etc.

Other tips:
· Bring a calendar to hang on your room. Use colorful little stickers to place on each day you workout & use different stickers to indicate a different workout (i.e. pink hearts for walking, kitty cats for yoga, yellow happy face for strength training, etc.) I have a calendar at home & at work to keep me motivated.

Before the trip:
1) Practice other types of workouts such (i.e. resistance bands) to get comfortable with it so you can just jump right in when you get there.
2) Another plan of action is to fit in extra workouts into your schedule the month prior to your trip.
3) Make a list of everything you’ll need to pack before your trip: workout clothes, equipment, socks, shoes, etc.

Even though I indulged a little, we rented a condo with a full kitchen so when we went to the store we kept it stocked with the same healthy fare we had at home & hardly ate out. Furthermore, while my daughter & hubby slept in, my body was used to getting up early so I kept on working out with either my resistance bands, did some yoga, & I also discovered a nice running route. In addition, I also kept active when my daughter woke up all she wanted to do was spend time at the beach or pool.

Besides returning home with only an extra 1 pound (I lost it a few days later), I came back with increased confidence that I didn’t need to take a “break” from my healthy lifestyle because it was already a part of me. In addition, I know now that I can maintain my healthy lifestyle anywhere even on vacation.

I saw this on Shape.com the other day: “Set yourself up to succeed. Arrange your environment to support your desired new habit, and remove sources of temptation that perpetuate the old one. Do whatever it takes to stack the odds in your favor.”

Good luck & enjoy your trip!

workingmom1008!

Wow, you really know how, don't you? That's a great list of helpful strategies!

Jay