Morning all,
I took the day off yesterday to work on my set with my stage manager and set designer. We painted our base coat on all the walls. This is supposed to be an old, decrepit Victorian mansion and I got it in my head I wanted stripes on the walls to look sort of like wallpaper. I'm painting flat sage green 1' wide stripes with 1' wide glossy stripes a shade darker. We have a joke that our set walls are always "masking tape colored" because it's easy to touch up when you tape the seams between the panels with - you guessed it - masking tape, to make your walls look like one continuous wall. I hate masking tape color walls! The sage green should match the deep red Victorian sofa and goldish yellow chairs and curtains. What do you think, Saef, sort of Victorian? This is certainly the most thought and effort I've put into a set, because I think this set really contributes to the mood of this show.
Justjaynee, have you had a physical recently and/or had your hormone and thyroid levels checked? It sounds like your more recent dietary & exercise changes could be the cause of your continuing to lose, but it's always good to make sure you're everything's alright medically. Several maintainers here were diagnosed with thyroid problems after their losses. I might also suggest trying to eat nutrient dense foods like avocado, nuts, a little extra olive oil on your salads, etc. to add more calories and healthy fats to your diet to get more calories in. How many WW points are you eating a day? How far/long are you exercising for?
Michele, add me to the list of maintainers who maintained without too much trouble for about 2 years and then my weight also started to creep up. It felt like a desperate losing battle for about 5 years until this year, when I've finally started to make some headway over here without having to kill myself in the process. I did have to evaluate whether I was really eating what I thought I was/how many treats and meals out I was really having, and that was part of why I gained weight. I truly believe a big component for me was hormones - I'm not sure if they contributed to my gain, but at this point I really believe they made it a heckuva lot harder to lose weight. I finally got off hormonal BC and dropped 5 lbs over the next 4 months, and have lost a few more lbs since then. When was your last physical? How is your thyroid and hormones? When was the last time you tracked your calories over a month or so? From your descriptions it seems you eat very differently when your DH is home versus away.
One of my goals this year was to be kinder to myself, and to try to accept myself and love myself no matter what weight - because after so many years of trying to lose this 18 lb regain, I decided it might not go anywhere, and I can't go through life feeling worthless because of 20 lbs. And I disagree with Dagmar's use of the term resignation because it has such a negative connotation. If you "resign" yourself to your current weight, you're never going to feel good about it. I feel I've made some progress, though I can't tell you how exactly I did it. Even if it makes me feel like a crazy person, I talk to myself. When I have a mean thought about myself, I literally started stopping and made me give myself a compliment about something - anything. And I've started saying those things to those around me, too. I certainly still have negative thoughts but perhaps they are less frequent and I'm less bothered by them. I've spent a lot less time tracking, obsessing, and my exercise regime has changed. It makes me less crazy.
It seems really ironic to me that I've finally started to lose again when I've tracked less, exercised less, though perhaps finally dare I say it gotten better at eating intuitively.
I will say I was terrified to finally admit I wasn't going to track - terrified to give up my gym membership, even if I didn't get there very often - terrified I would gain. There is fear in giving up habits I've kept for so long. But they clearly weren't working.
I'm posting this to see if any bit of my experience could help you, not because I like to hear myself talk.
And also
s. Because I have been there and felt that frustration, and really felt like there was no light at the end of the tunnel.
I think I've posted enough for this morning. Have a good Wednesday all. (Everyone in my office has latched onto the "hump daaaaaay!" commercial and someone says it every Wednesday now.)