I haven't had any huge amount of weight loss recently but I'm thrilled that I've been able to maintain. We were traveling all last week, eating out almost every day (long story, it wasn't planned but due to DH not being able to stay at my mom's house due to sanitary/allergy reasons we couldn't even go there to eat). During that time I had to deal head on with one of the biggest reasons that I'm prone to gain weight easily... my mother.

Growing up she used to feed my sister and myself a whole carton of Ben and Jerry's + cherry coke so we'd get up enough energy to clean the house for her (she was a SAHM but was always too lazy to do it herself). Every celebration and frustration was met with food. She was also always on some crazy diet to fix everything but than she'd eat pop and sugar to compensate for it. Binging was the NORM in my household.

Thankfully, I was always in sports so despite all this I never reached huge sizes. At one point before HS I was about 15lbs overweight but lost it on my own and then some. In college I stayed pretty much at the higher end of a healthy BMI also due to sports even though I had HORRIBLE eating habits.

The summer after college I gained like crazy because I didn't have the fitness facility on my college campus anymore AND I actually had a bit of money so I could afford unlimited sweets. I eventually lost most of it again before DH and my wedding and stayed not to far above a healthy BMI until get pregnant with DD. Then it all went downhill from there due to being put on semi-bedrest for awhile and stress eating. I gained 65lbs and here I am today.

I say that all because even when I was at a much lower weight and even when I lost before my head wasn't where it is today. A trip home for me would've definitely led to binging on comfort foods that I could only get there. I would've certainly caved to my mom constantly offering to go to DQ or buying pie for dessert. I would've spent my time watching TV instead of hitting the hotel's gym every day (serious props for me on that one ). Then I would've wondered why I got off plan afterwards and why I had such a huge weight gain!

But instead, I'm just am up a pound, which is most likely water weight (I weighed the day after a flight, which normally puts me up a few pounds at least) and I'm already planning my workout for tonight. I didn't give into the junk food and the binging (ok, I DID have a bite of DH's pecan pie but just a very small bite and it was waaayyy too sweet for me anways). I ordered healthy meals when we went out and always split them with DD so they'd be even smaller. That in and of itself is a HUGE victory for me and I'm still a bit stunned that I was able to pull it off! Now that we're back home I ate extremely well for breakfast/lunch and it's like a huge sigh of relief to eat these delicious meals that I was able to prepare on my own instead of relying on restaurant food that doesn't taste as good and is prepared with ingredients that make me shudder. Everyday I was there it was constantly tempted. Waiters/waitresses were always asking if I wanted dessert or fries or larger portions but I just kept saying NO and every time I did it got a little easier. So I'm giving myself a big pat on the back now and am looking ahead to see how I can push myself to finally get out of wonderland ASAP!!

Running- your doing great!! That is a lot of weight lost you should feel so proud of yourself!
During the Holiday it was very hard being around all that food. I tried to have self control. It sounds like you did very good. I finally weighed this morning and it showed a gain of 3 pounds. Instead of being really bummed I've decided to use that and step it up on my calorie intake and exercise.

Thanks! Good luck getting back on track, part of that might be water weight too from all the sodium so it might be easier than you think. I'm also working on cutting back on what I eat for the new few weeks because I'm so sick of seeing 2 as the first thing on my scale!

So initially I went without ANY sweeteners for about a week (basically no fruit either) something similar to the south beach diet but with still eating bread and minus the artificial sweeteners. The hardest for me was coffee but I just forced myself to get used to it (and now I found that I really enjoy the flavor and if anyone accidentally puts sweetener in it I can't drink it at all). I then started eating fruit again (but always in it's pure form, no juice, for instance). Mostly I would take apples or berries and mix them up with yogurt.

Eventually I've started baking with artificial sweeteners and have had a lot of success with that. I use agave nectar, 100% real maple syrup, and honey but in much lower amounts than the recipe asks for. For instance, I make this: http://www.cooksrecipes.com/bar/swee...rs_recipe.html recipe often but I put in more sweet potatoes and only use about 1/2 cup of agave nectar instead of the 1 1/2 cup of brown sugar that it asks for (I also use just whole wheat flour and extra cinnamon). Then I make cream cheese frosting using light creem cheese and a bit of real maple syrup.

Another recipe I make for special occasions is a crustless cheesecake I found on here with agave nectar (I can find you the link if you want it) and I've made apple pie using honey and sliced almonds as a crust on top (with a normal flour crust on bottom) but I don't make that as often because DH doesn't like it.

We also make a lot of smoothies/"ice cream" in our house: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/dess...-icecream.html

The biggest thing for me was getting rid of the sugar taste. Once I detoxed I found that I had more energy, felt infinitely better, and started losing weight more quickly. I had to admit that I was addicted to sugar and treat it like an alcoholic would treat alcohol. Food tastes so much better now without that sugar background and if I do try something on accident that has sugar I can taste it immediately and it just doesn't taste good to me (for instance, I had ordered sweet potatoes at Cracker Barrel and asked for them without sugar but it clearly was not the case.

I do sometimes use artificial sweeteners (for instance, I got the sugar-free apple pie at cracker barrel for thanksgiving since I wasn't able to cook for myself then) but it's pretty rare and I try to avoid them because I've found that many times they have the same effect on me as sugar.


I hope that helps and if you have any other questions about it feel free to ask!

Thank you! I will check into some of these sweetners. I wish so much I could drink my coffee without the sugar (I use dry creamer too )I know I'm bad. If I could learn to drink it black I would save so much on my calories. And that in turn would make my weight loss not as slow. And I could use those calories for more healthy choices.
You give me hope that I could learn to drink my coffee black and learn to enjoy it as much as I do now. Well gotta go...all this coffee talk has made me want a cup. Have a nice weekend!

That's huge! You're really in control, well done!

FWIW, DH still uses one packet of sweet and low in his coffee but otherwise goes practically sugar free with me (he does occasional cheat but he doesn't struggle with a sugar addiction like I do. Could you try and cut it back slowly? I'm someone who does better with cold turkey but I know that doesn't work for everyone. Oh, and one thing that helps is buying high quality half and half to go with it (I buy the fat free organic one from Trader Joe's) because that makes a huge difference with the taste AND buy good coffee (I can't stand cheap or weak coffee at all now). Good luck! And, yep, I'm total coffee addiction too.

Thanks!!!!