Maintenance Thread

Ooh, I can wait until Friday to weigh in! In the meantime, I'm trying to really push the fluids as I've fallen off on those.

Today's the big day and I'm still up those 2 pounds I couldn't get rid of. Interestingly, my clothes are fitting better. So I am losing some fat; it's just not showing up on the scale.

It has been a bad month for me. I hit my goal and something snapped! So now I need to lose another few pounds. For the amount that I ate I am surprised I did not gain more! I think that more of those good habits are in place than I realized.

december was difficult for me also...put on a couple extra lbs that need to come off and also decided that i want to lose a few more beyond that...i'm looking forward to the new year to get back on track good luck!

Same thing happened to me. The last two weeks have been really out of whack with exercising and overeating. Back on track now though and weighed in down a pound from last week but still up about 3 pounds from where I want to be.

Good job lobster with sticking with exercise and water too. Water is always a struggle for me because do not really like it.

Congratulations Vickie!! 65# is amazing!! Welcome to the thread.

MadMadame, you are still doing wonderfully! Those two pounds will find there way out soon!

Kath, we can do this! We are bigger than our cravings and impulses.

Barty! WTG! One pound?? excellent!

Lobster: I am so proud of you!! You are really doing an amazing job pushing yourself just enough! It is a catch 22 isn't it. We feel bad so we eat bad and then we feel worse so we eat worse... Breaking the cycle is the hardest part and you are doing a great job! We've got your back on this one, so keep going!!


I was absent for a couple of days as my husband was in the hospital. I bring it up because of how he ended up there. He has been struggling with weight gain over the past three years when he took a new job which takes him out of town for 6 days per week. He brings food from home but he also eats out a lot. In addition, his old job was consistently active and he built muscle. This job is sporadic activity. He sits and then needs to work really hard. At first he didn't think it was a problem because the scales said he basically weighed the same but over time I started seeing that the muscle tone in his chest was vanishing at the same time his abdominal girth was increasing. In fact, he really has only gained about 15 pounds...they are just very different pounds! As his body continued to lose muscle and gain fat his levels of other things changed as well and he found himself on blood pressure meds, then cholesterol meds, then the doctor telling him he is very close to developing diabetes as well.

So, this past Tuesday a group of the guys decided to hit a higher end restaurant and he orders their cheeseburger supreme with steak fries and eats the entire thing.

By about 1 in the morning is having crushing chest pain. Upon arrival at the ER they gave him aspirin and nitroglycerin and it relieved the pain.

Thank God it was not a full blown heart attack. His discharge diagnosis was "Angina" or chest pain. (no duh) The doctor basically concluded that that meal was just too much for him.

If you do a google search you can find all kinds of references and video clips that show what blood looks like before a fatty meal and after a fatty meal. (If you are interested copy, paste, and watch... http://www.articlesbase.com/videos/5min/326711986 )

One bad meal can make a difference.

We are doing the right thing here!! Not just reducing calories but choosing wisely the foods we put in our bodies and the exercise that we do.

The small seemingly insignificant changes make a difference and can either build up our health or tear it down.

We can do this!

Hopefully my husband will make a few more changes. To be honest, I am not overly optimistic. I have been trying to get him healthy for 25 years and I find snickers wrappers and the evidence of fast foods all the time in his car and cooler. The healthy foods that I send with him come back sour and wilted.

You really can't change another person. They have to find it themselves.

Here's to a great day for all of us!! :drinker: (today it is water in that cup instead of tequila!)

D

Hi to everyone. I have just attained my weight loss goal yesterday, so I guess that means I am beginning maintenance phase. I do plan on reducing by a few more pounds because I would really like to have a little bit of a cushion as I work towards learning how to maintain. I feel like I have definitely learned how to reduce my weight, but the maintenance part might be a little trickier. Anyway, just wanted to check in with all and say I've finally attained my goal.

Blessings

Vickie

Congrats on getting to goal weight. Maintenance is an entirely new challenge that you will surely meet! Welcome.

YES! A typo...sorry about that!!!:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

If you do a google search you can find all kinds of references and video clips that show what blood looks like before a fatty meal and after a fatty meal. (If you are interested copy, paste, and watch... http://www.articlesbase.com/videos/5min/326711986 )

One bad meal can make a difference.

The small seemingly insignificant changes make a difference and can either build up our health or tear it down.

We can do this!

You really can't change another person. They have to find it themselves.

Here's to a great day for all of us!! :drinker: (today it is water in that cup instead of tequila!)

D

Dee, I can't thank you enough for sharing this link (and the links it shows you can click on after), it's always such a good reminder to see something like this to help me realize healthy is ALWAYS the best choice and if I chose to make a not so healthy food for a meal, the consequences that occur.

This video really spoke to me and I can think of so many it would help. But as some of you have shared, a person has to be ready and we can't 'make them ready' except perhaps by our example. :drinker:

So glad to have this thread to jump in and know I'm not alone in working on maintenance, always great to see you all when I pop in:flowerforyou: which I'm looking forward to doing more of. The thought of adding more cals in after reaching goal is still a bit scary for me but I've upped my workouts and really can't do this to my body without adding more healthy fuel, it's simply not fair to my body. As has been often shared comparing it to a car, we need to keep it fueled to keep it moving well.

Been a bit naughty this weekend, to be honest haven't really quite got back on track since Christmas. I'm at my goal weight (I'd dropped too far below before christmas but now gained it back) but feeling bloated and flabby and I'm finding it hard to get back to eating healthily. Although it's much easier now I'm back to work and in my exercise routine, just need a return of the will power too.

Hi there! I have been on MFP for about a year and a half, but just found this maintenance thread. I find maintenance so hard--more frustrating than losing the weight in the first place! But have been pretty steady for about 7 or 8 months. I haven't read through everything here on the thread but it looks like all of you are in the same place? I'm 41, a mom to a 6 year old. I chose to stay at home a few years ago, but now that my son is in kindergarten I'm on a quiet quest for reinvention..but don't know what to do, where to start, etc..... This summer I was down to about 121 lbs, at 5"6'--super happy, but feeling a little obsessive about keeping myself there. I took some advice a few months ago from some other MFP'ers and stopped weighing myself, so have been just judging how I fit into my clothes. Well, I was not smart a few weeks ago, thought I looked thin and safe to get on the scale, so I did. I found my weight crept up a few. Right now I'm kind of questioning whether this really matters--since I'm still fitting nicely into my clothing--should I care? Or, do I start obsessing again? Right now I switch back and forth based on my mood of the day. Anyway, look forward to keeping up with you folks!