Your right Darbs, there is more to everyone than that number... I was told to wear jeans, if they start getting too tight you know you have to cut back... Owner of my clinic, said walking daily, lots of water and wearing the jeans will tell you how you are doing.

yes the pants I have chosen are a pair of white jeans with no give or stretch to them at all....I will wear them once a week.

I am walking every day...that is why I am up at 4:45...getting ready for my walk. Yup...water is key...try to still get 100 ounces a day if possible. Plus...it is really easy for me to eat close to phase 2 Monday-Thursday, but close to impossible to be good on the weekends.

Good to hear from you.

Hey girls! I am still hanging around, lots going on in my personal life, so I haven't had a chance to get on here.

I have been following CSP / Ph 3 loosely. I have been having fruit with breakfast and have upped my fat intake and it seems to be agreeing with me. I am at 134.2, which is the lowest I have been in a long time.

I have found that fruit, corn and potatoes do not seem to bother the scale. I just kind of found out by chance, not really doing anything special, but I have had them fairly consistantly and have not had bloating and the scale hasn't fluctuated too much.

I am also trying to stick to 1-2x per week on the scale. I definitely need the accountability of the scale, but not every day. Hopefully with time, I will feel confident enough to go by my clothes. But if I don't keep tabs on my actual weight, it is very easy to get out of control and dismissive.

My quest to eliminate packets is on going. I am still using left over packets as a post work out protein shake and I am eating the Simply bars as snacks. But other than that, I am on all real, whole foods. I feel like this is not too bad of a compromise. The Simply Bars are pretty good and they at least have whole ingredients.

I have also upped my fat intake. I am eating more almond butter and having some almonds as a snack. I feel like fat and calories over carbs is the way to go for me.

I'm still trudging through phase 1.. but I continue to stall.

5/11 I was 145
6/5 I Am 141

3 weeks with a 4 pound loss is so frustrating. I've tried cutting out bars 1 week and bringing them back.. eating more salad etc.. just not a big difference anywhere.

I wish I could cut back on the scale.. but it keeps me in line.

Jennydoodle- that's awesome that you've figured out some carbs that you CAN incorporate. And that you've come so far in weaning yourself off of packets to whole foods... And of course your weight drop!! Congrats!!

The scale is THE tool in maintenance. You don't have to use it every day but every second day is pretty much requirement for me at least. Because I have now tried it every which way. Weighing every day. Weighing once a week. Weighing once a month. My discovery? If I weigh once a month it gets pretty out of hand... And I'll procrastinate stepping on it even further making the situation even worse... Once a week is essentially the same... I end up procrastinating getting on it and inevitably I will have gained when I finally do... Once a day I'm upset for the day if the scale goes up but I'm definitely aware of what I'm eating that day and there is relatively no movement on the scale. A couple pounds max unless it's after a free day... Then of course there tends to be a bigger jump but that's expected. I had success in maintenance when I weighed every day it could make me a bit crazy but gaining 5- 10 makes me even more crazy. So I'll pull up my big girl panties the next go round in maintenance and weigh every day max every second. In the weight loss phase though I really believe once a week is best... You know if you follow plan you can expect a loss and daily WI's are a head game I can live without. In maintenance it's way too easy to have a little of this or that and convince yourself it won't make that much of a difference... Hence why I need the daily accountability.

I totally agree that the scale is the "tool" to keep the weight off.....but it got pretty emotional for me....to the point where I just wasn't functioning at the level I wanted to. I am not sure where I am headed with this...it is unchartered territory, but the emotional pain was really too much. I guess I am justifying myself and I really shouldn't....we all have to do what we have to do. I am a very intrinsically motivated worker....I know when I am not focused...plus the hubby is 100%...not 99.5%, but 100% involved and keeping me on track.

I was obsessed with my weight...obsessed and the scale dictated my whole day. I have major fluid issues and can literally be up or down 5 pounds in a single day or from day to day....I will stay on this website, continue on my lifelong plan.....tons of water, exercise, phase 1/2 for most the week and then days off. I am sure the scale is up 5 pounds, but it is what it is....but that number is not the woman that I am.

Here I go justifying again, but I need to talk it out and make sure I am doing the right thing. The thought is that I will not change my behavior no matter what the scale says so why torture myself with the flucuations.

I have a solid plan...from now to Columbus Day...trust me I am a very focused/planned type person so when I lay it down....I follow it.

Not sure if this makes sense. I plan on taking Friday of this week off for hubby's b-day, then good until next Saturday then off then good until the following Saturday and then 4 naughty nights in Vegas and then 3 good days of hiking and healthy eating at Zion National Park and then back to Vegas for 4 more naughty nights...then phase 1 for 10 days...then maintenance with my normal routine until Labor Day weekend and then phase 1 until Columbus Day weekend....if I am at my lowest I will phase off...if not then I will go until I am at my lowest weight.

Cap- I am very happy to have found at least some carbs that tolerate I tell you though, weining off of the packets has been challenging. But I know that for a healthy life, I need to eat good, clean, whole foods.

I wholeheartedly agree that the scale is THE tool for maintenance success. I have found that 2x per week is a happy number. I will usually weigh in on Sat. morning (before the "free-ness" begins) and one mid week to ensure that I am back in the window. Like Darbs, everyday weighing dictates my mood. A number I don't like, I am upset ALL day. So, 2x is kind of a happy medium. Clothes still fit the same, but checking in with the scale keeps me on track.

I never knew how hard it would be to maintain weight loss. Seriously. I always thought losing was the hard part Guess again! I wouldn't trade it for the world, but it is hard. I think more about food and choices now than I did during P1. But, truth be told, I have never looked this good, been this small or this happy with my body. Even when I am having bad days and not feeling that great about my weight, it is still a long way from where I was.

That is exactly what I am feeling....I wake up get dressed and love the way I look, but if I weigh myself it changes everything....yet it is still the same person! Plus as I said....it will not change the solid plan that I have so what is the value....I will stick to my plan 100%....because I am so focused on maintaining...very very focused....and it consumes quite a bit of our daily conversation between the hubby and I.

Thinking I will plan my first weigh-in for June 22nd...the day before I go to Vegas and see where I am at. I have a solid plan for every day between now and then and I will adhere to it whether the scale says what I want it to or not...so I am going to give this method a try.

Hi Ladies,

Wow...so many great comments on this thread!
I definitely have weaned myself off the scale to once or twice a week. I agree that it was controlling my moods. Ditto on weaning off of the packets and trying to go natural/hormone free and more locally grown as possible.

I also have a pair of jeans I use to gauge where I'm at. They're tight!!!! There's just no way around it. This time when I gained weight back it was all in my arms and legs. I'm scared it'll never come off the same way as before.

10 days into moderate phase 2 ( I include nuts and cheese now)I've lost about 2 lbs of pure bloat which has me feeling better, but I've got a ways to go before getting that "back in the saddle feeling"

For me...it's alcohol as someone else mentioned. The bloating that follows and the munching excess I get into is usually while drinking. I have stopped alcohol completely again. It really changes everything for me. I am hosting a wedding weekend on June 15th and will have my cheat days that weekend. At that point I'll have been very careful for 3 weeks.

After a huge panel of tests...My new Dr. who practices Functional Medicine (she is also an MD/ob/gyn/anti-ageing specialist) told me I was basically suffering 2 major deficiencies which caused severe adrenal burnout (a result of the care giving I provided for my father and the extreme grieving and loss I experienced afterwards)
Rather than treat me with meds for low BP, hypothyroid, and FemaleHRT's she educated me to the root cause of all that. What she calls the Mother of all hormones at the top of the pyramid is Pregnenolone which I was severely lacking. That is what is affecting the trickle down effect of all the other conditions. That's what I'm taking along with DHEA for the adrenals. Blood tests every month, plus her vites, D3 which was very low and natural sleeping aids to regain my sleep pattern ( I was getting panic attacks in bed at night and the tests showed I had almost no cortisol levels by day and spiked very high at night, which is the opposite of what's supposed to happen)
This is all starting to get just a little better now. Even after only 1 1/2 weeks I can feel the shift.

This was all putting fat back on to my body as well because of the bad ratio of T3 to T4 in the thyroid. So the next report I will put out there is my body composition to see how that shifts for me. To be continued....
It was so much info...I almost couldn't take it all in,but she is totally amazing and caring, so I will continue on this journey with her help.

Thanks Ladies....Sunnymae :0)

I think naturopathic medicine is great. I am glad she is helping you sort things out. There are so many hormonal influences in our body we don't understand!
I think a vitamin d supplement should be part of the ip regimine..
Keep us updated on how things go, and any recommendations for other maintainers!

GREAT article:

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/24...AIWYDAI.mailto

That was me 100% back in February and the reason why I had to phase out for awhile and live 'normally' again. I was way too obsessed with my weight and it was controlling me way too much. I agree with what you said in a previous post... the number on the scale does not determine who you are... that can be a hard thing to change!

Best wishes with everything... your plan sounds great and I know you will do awesome.

Thanks...my intention is to keep doing exactly what I am doing, but to not beat myself up so much. I feel very happy and in control and ready for this. Hopefully my first weight-in shows that I can do this.

Darbs- I didn't like the way the scale was making me feel every day either. Or how much control it had over my moods. Which is why I kept trying out different tactics for weighing in (though admittedly I had trouble with even bi weekly WI's) and have to acknowledge that for myself to be mindful I have to acknowledge the scale. Very regularly. Or I am not so mindful
I am sure that it is not this way for everyone and if you can stay fully on track without the accountability to the scale then of course not driving yourself crazy with stepping on it every day is the way to go. I just know that for me I have to choose my crazy- the daily type that will appear when the scale decides to bounce up a couple pounds. Or the crazy of having to go through Phase 1 for 3 weeks- month to remove weight that glommed onto me while I was ignoring the scale. So I am going to choose my crazy and go with the daily because then at least I have the hope of seeing a 'good' number for half the month instead of never seeing a 'good' number and dealing with long term phase 1 again.
I'm sure that you will stick to your plan. You're a very determined lady- you wouldn't have lost 80 pounds if you weren't. And you are most definitely more than the number on the scale it does not define you it is but a very small portion of who you are. If you can ditch it and maintain a happy & healthy body image then that is what matters. It's what we're all after... To be happy with who we are inside & out. The scale shouldn't have the power to determine our self worth... But I need it for the daily affirmation that I am on the right path and doing the right things to stay on that path...
Sunnymae- wow that is a lot to try & take in all at once. I've heard that DHEA can have quite the effect on weight gain- hopefully it's increase will help you out. And for sure a regular sleeping pattern will help out.
Jennydoodle- you are so right when you say maintenance is hard. But worth it. Being mindful all the time is really difficult and can drive a person a bit nuts too... But being 'awake' and making good wholesome healthy choices is sure to benefit overall health.
Thank you for the link. It was really interesting to read a heart surgeon's perspective and is so in keeping with all that we have been trying to do for ourselves...