Seeing if there are others out there in the same situation.

Lost 83 pounds starting September of 2010...all off by May of 2011. Maintained 100% until Christmas of 2011 then gained about 5 pounds....took it off and was at my maintenance weight when summer started....today...up 15 pounds.

Not sure what happened....I have been eating all kinds of crap....things I haven't touch during the two years...

Well, the plan is to maintain at this weight for 3 more weeks until I get back to teaching. Then going 100% phase 1 on September 3rd. Hoping it takes me back to my low weight.

The longer I am on maintenance...the harder this gets and I thought I was changed forever. Wow!

My coach said it's totally normal to regain in maintenance, which is why she stresses that the yearly reboot is so important. She has us on a "lifetime maintenance" schedule - the 1st month of the first year we meet every week, 2nd month, every 2 weeks, then every month for the rest of the first year - and more if we like (at no extra charge). After that once a year for life for our weights, measures, and BF% (at least) - and she stresses the "face to face" time with your coach is important, so you are truly accountable.

I'm still a newbie, week 1 of Phase 2 - but she really helped soothed my nerves about maintaining knowing that Phase 1 is still around if needed, and that gaining is totally normal, since maintaining for life is the war, losing it was the battle.

Hay darbs! I was wondering how you were doing!

I didn't quite lose 50 pounds, but I am really finding that I need my daily weigh in to keep myself under control is required. I am about 3 pounds over my good range, but am headin on vacation again tomorrow. I plan to bring ip food with me and try to stick to a phase 2 diet until those pounds are gone.

School starts here on the 29th. I plan to reboot to my normal low then. I can see January and the end of summer will be the real challenge times to ensure I stick within my range. It took me 8 weeks to lose the 12 pounds I gained in December. I don't want to get that far off track again!

she sounds like an amazing coach! Great idea!

Hey you....... we know each others story well by now eh? I did not reach goal in 2010, but did lose 57 lbs and was only about 28 from GOAL.... that is when I got lazy... shopping was fun... compliments galore... and all my previous 'skinny' clothes buried in my closet were falling off of me... I HAD IT MADE or so I thought.... I will NEVER let myself gain again.... hahahah life happens... and I promised myself to STOP THE MADNESS as soon as I see I am up 5 lbs... well that 5 is now 18 since my lowest weight of 163. I did maintain for a year or so...at about 166-167 which still looked good... now I determined to get this extra 'fluff' off this bod!

I have been in maintenance for 15 months and have done the reboot several times to maintain. I also have kept off 65 of the 83 so not too bad. I have no intention of gaining it back. I have spent alot of time on the maintainer thread. Just wondering if there were others like myself that are in the second year of maintenance and struggling...most on the maintainer thread are so new and I maintained perfect for 8 full months, then okay for another 4 and then downhill the last 3. But it is still only 20% gain of what I lost so it is time to get back to my low. I feel that the real test of maintenance begins the further and further you get away from that day you reached goal.




I know the feeling....I have come to the realization that I may go up again in another year, but I just have to always be aware and reboot and stop before more comes on. Looking forward to phase one in September...until then...NO MORE GAINING

YOU GO GIRL !!!!!!!!!!!!!

I started a year ago, lost around 35 in 10 weeks and maintained. I ended up around 10 pounds up so went on phase 1 for two weeks and am back in range. I really like knowing what works to get it off when you add a few. I must admit my maintenance is watching calories, I don't follow phase 4 although keep an eye on carbs. I think I'm going to add back in one phase 1 day a week though. I don't mind it and it is good to burn out some of what's stored.

I am in the same boat. I got down to 130, I really wanted to get to 125 to give myself some leeway but body didn't co-operate and just wouldn't go lower. So I phased off. I stayed between 129 and 131 with no effort from end of March to end of June.
Then all the retirement parties and celebrations at the end of the school year happened. I was supposed to retire too but a colleague is battling a serious illness and I said I'll stay on till she can come back.

So then everyone celebrated my 65th birthday instead of my retirement. I was getting all the "you have got to stop losing weight, we are really worried about you talk". I can't see how 130 at 5'1" sets off alarm bells but somehow it did.
Anyway after those celebrations and the total exhaustion of the end of the year I was up to 133. I thought I'd get that off easy over the summer.

But old habits kicked in, mainly a glass of wine with dinner and snacking on fresh berries.
I also added in some exercise, about 45 minutes of walking and very light weights. Today I am up to 135! That is danger time as I am getting closer to 140 than 120.

So have to regroup. I really have been following P2 except for the fruit so that will have to go.
We are going to Toronto this week for 5 days. Actually when traveling it is easy to go very low carb and we walk a lot so I hope I won't gain.

When I come back I will have to reboot with totally phase 1 until I get the 5 pounds off. I had hoped to avoid doing this as my first week on phase 1 was horrible as I was desperately ill with migraines. Hopefully it won't be as bad this time but I will need to do my first week as soon as I get back to get it over before school starts again.
Good luck to everyone one else who is in this boat with me.

Pat

Don't panic...I think just the fact that we are aware and weighing in means that we are in control. I knew all along from June that I was going to do all the activities I planned all summer without restrictions and whatever the scale said it would not stop me....well I never imagined it would be 15 pounds up, but it is. So phase 1...100% for me....need to lose the 18 (actually)...then another five and maybe another 5 to have more wiggle room.

I was able to stay in maintenance 100% for 8 months by going to phase 1 every week once a week. I was able to be somewhat in maintenance for another 4 months with longer bouts of phase 1 because I had bigger cheats (vacations). But the last 3 months...threw everything out the window....hello 18 pounds. But phase 1 ....100% in two weeks when all these darn events are over....in the meantime...no GAININg....I have been adding phase 1 type days so that I don't gain any more for the past two weeks and its working.

Hey Darbs,
I feel your pain! I've had a rough go the past 6 months! I was hospitalized for a month in winter and I'm a week away from havin a major surgery. I think I've gained back a few pounds I can see it in my stomach. I'm hoping it's not more than ten. I'm afraid to step on the scale but I'm also afraid of falling back into my old habits. I will be getting weighed by the Pre op nurse on Wednesday...yikes! Hope we can all get back on that journey together!

Ok, I admit, I lurk in most of the threads as I think I can learn from others and use some of their methods in my maintenance plans. In fact, I lurk a lot in the 100% just so I can keep focused 100% on maintenance.

Your comment about "most on the maintainer thread are so new"...to be honest with you...it's like that because very few veterans are posting in there. I force myself to post because I need a home now and I promised myself I WOULD post so that others who lurk in the maintainer thread could see that it's a struggle and the work isn't done after Phase 1.

Your comment makes me feel like I need to prove something to you...it's like I'm at a family thanksgiving turkey supper and I've been told that I can't sit at the big people's table.

I don't have this Darbs, I don't feel safe...and although us newbies may annoy you, we could learn a lot from you...and MAYBE you could learn something new from us.

Maybe don't put yourself in a corner (no one puts baby in a corner ) cause I think we could all do this together? As maile posted this morning "Weight is managed not cured"

The one thing I have done is step on the scale faithfully every week. It was tough to watch it go up 6 weeks in a row while I lived wildly, but it kept me honest. This is a tough journey. Good luck with your surgery. Be well


As with anything typed...trust me...I did not mean to offend. I was just looking for other people who are in there second year of maintenance to see what they are doing or if there journeys are different. I was very successful in maintenance for the first year, so not sure what changed for 5-6 weeks this summer that sent the scale up 15 pounds (I am still down 60 so I do not feel like I failed). It just reminds me how important that phase 1 day every week is. Also I feel like I ate every naughty thing I avoided for the last few years during that time. Maintenance was a piece of cake for me the first 8 months, but it has been the last 7 are more of a struggle. I am facebook friends with many from when I lost a few years ago and so many have put all the weight back on...I do not want it to be me....ever. It is amazing how the longer you are in maintenance the difference it is. I am sorry....I was just looking for a few who might be experiencing what I am. I think I am one of the only people left on the thread from a few years ago (except...LOSINGFOR GOOD)