Maintainers Weekly Check In - May 2019

Happy anniversary @pkweier! 25 years - that’s silver, right? V impressive - enjoy your celebrations x

Addictead wrote: »

Addictead wrote: »

Name: Elle
Age: 21
Height: 5'2
Total weight lost: 36 LBS
Time it took to lose: 10 months
How long in maintenance: 10 days +-, Been stopping and starting since the beginning of the year
Maintenance weight range: 126-131
Average weight recorded from 2018: N/A
I'm not sure of my averages for the last few months either

Week of...
May 5: 127.0
May 12:
May 19:
May 26:


My struggle right now is mindless eating and nibbling of things throughout the day. I have 3 meals+snack everyday and I'm not hungry but whenever I'm making something, or putting up leftovers or just in the kitchen I'll pop things into my mouth without even thinking I'm adding 5-10-30 calories extra into my day without even accounting for it in my log. Tasting is fine, But I need to stop snacking on food as I'm cooking

Week of...
May 5: 127.0
May 12: 127.7
May 19:
May 26:

Struggle of the week: This week was rough, I underate the beginning of the week then had 3 days around 2500-3000. My average is up 0.7 pounds(my app says 0.4 gained) and I believe I gained something from that because I ended the week with about a 500 daily surplus averaging out, But I also started my period so that throws my weight up too.

Sucess: I tracked everything even overages. I've never gained while tracking before usually I get frustrated and fall off but this time I DID gain but carried on and learned(I'm very sensitive to undereating). So I'm taking my 0.4/0.7 gain with pride to do better

Week goals I'm trying to eat on the lower end of my maintaince calories to hopefully start tracking 125/126 week averages because I prefer being there even though my range goes up to 131.

I can relate. My appetite increases significantly after a couple of days of 200-300 cals under my maintenance calories.
Good for you for carrying on with tracking when going over your goal! Observe, modify and move on. You are doing great!

Name: Kathryn
Age: 50
Height: 5'3.5"
Total Weight lost: ~80 lbs
Time it took to lose: 2 years 3 months
How long in maintenance: I called maintenance in July 2016, but I continued to slowly lose until December of 2017. I have been in maintenance since December 2017
Maintenance weight range: 115 - 120 lbs

Average weight recorded from 2018: 118.8

Average weight recorded from December: 116.9
Average weight recorded from January: 115.9
Average weight recorded from February: 115.4
Average weight recorded from March: 117.2
Average weight recorded from April: 116.8

Week of...
May 5: 115.2 scale/ 116.0 trend
May 12: 117.0 scale/ 115.7 trend
May 19: 114.4 scale/ 115.7 trend
May 26:

Success(es)/struggle(s) of the week: My trend weight is the same today as it was last Monday. My scale weight was higher than usual last Monday, and lower than usual today. That is why I think a trending app is so helpful. I am kind of glad that I am on the low end today. We are leaving tomorrow to go on vacation. I am not planning to go crazy, but I am planning to enjoy myself and not worry about what I am eating. If I go over then I go over. I know that every day won't be like that and I will enjoy the vacation. I will try to stay active, but I'm not going to worry too much about that either. I was supposed to run a half marathon on Saturday that was cancelled due to severe weather, so I just ran 13.1 miles by myself yesterday. I figure I need a cutback week this week anyway. We are going to Colorado and we'll do some hiking and I hope to get at least one run in. But we will also be eating out and I plan on eating what I want and not stressing about calories. I know that however much I am up next week will be mostly, if not all, water weight and it will come back down soon. I'm not sure how missing several days of weighing will affect my averages, but I don't really care either.

sharondesfor935 wrote: »

Name: Sharon
Age: 58
Height: 5'2"
Total weight lost: 34 lbs
Time it took to lose: 4 months
How long in maintenance: 7 weeks
Maintenance weight range: 115-125
Start weight December 2018:153.5.

Average weight recorded January: 148.0
Average weight recorded February: 138.8
Average weight recorded March: 130.9
Average weight recorded April: 123.7

Week of...
May 5: 120.8
May 12: 120.2
May 17: 120.6

Success(es)/struggle(s) of the week: Food. Either I've fallen off the wagon or I've had an entire binge week, I'm not sure which.

First of all, that improved relationship with food that I thought I was developing? Not so much, it turns out. It was simply that I was doing all the grocery shopping for the past four months, and not bringing home stuff I couldn't eat. Well, my husband went Costco shopping about a week ago, and brought home a whole bunch of junk, but the kickers were fresh bakery cookies and some potato chips ("crisps" to everyone in the world except the US) that I swear are utter ambrosia. That did me in, guys. I think over the course of a week, I ate 5 or 6 of those cookies (at 200 calories each, that's an entire extra day of calories in one week!) and the entire bag of chips. An entire COSTCO bag. What is that, 16 pounds of chips and a billion calories?

I'm no longer feeling virtuous or healthy. That much junk food can't be exercised away, nor can I "rolling average" my way out. Nothing for it but to chalk it up to a piss-poor week of decisions and start fresh today. Which I've said, sadly, for the last several days to no avail.

I'm going back to my early January MFP entries to look for inspiration and motivation. I did something right to get myself rolling: what was it, and how do I get it back?

@MadisonMolly2017 Thanks for the book recommendation for "Refuse to Regain" by Barbara Berkeley. I think I'd best check it out, and quickly.

From my perspective, you did good spreading those cookies out over the course of the week. I would have had several a day. I also think I am doing good at maintenance but the minute I have treats in my house with no company, I go back to my old ways. But one day at a time, you will do it again! Don't worry about the past. Just start eating good again and throw in some exercise and you will begin to feel better. Over the long run, one week of being off track doesn't add up to that much. Good luck!

lesdarts180 wrote: »

sharondesfor935 wrote: »

Name: Sharon


Success(es)/struggle(s) of the week: Food. Either I've fallen off the wagon or I've had an entire binge week, I'm not sure which.

First of all, that improved relationship with food that I thought I was developing? Not so much, it turns out. It was simply that I was doing all the grocery shopping for the past four months, and not bringing home stuff I couldn't eat. Well, my husband went Costco shopping about a week ago, and brought home a whole bunch of junk, but the kickers were fresh bakery cookies and some potato chips ("crisps" to everyone in the world except the US) that I swear are utter ambrosia. That did me in, guys. I think over the course of a week, I ate 5 or 6 of those cookies (at 200 calories each, that's an entire extra day of calories in one week!) and the entire bag of chips. An entire COSTCO bag. What is that, 16 pounds of chips and a billion calories?

You did well, you should count it a success that you were able to just have one cookie each day - that's just a little treat - not a failure. I have no idea what size a Costco bag of crisps looks like but put it behind you and move on.

You should feel proud of your restraint over the cookies. Fresh baked cookies are really difficult to deal with. I live on my own so I only buy treats when the grandchildren are visiting and that's difficult enough.

Thanks for the uplift, Lesley. While cookies are certainly a weakness of mine, anything salty and fatty is far more so. The reason I was able to limit the cookies was only because I was bingeing on the crisps.

I eventually had the courage to look up that bag of crisps online. It weighed 2 pounds, or 907 grams. The bag in its entirety contained 4800 calories, 288 grams of fat, and 3520 mg sodium. And I ate the whole thing in less than a week.

That's bad enough in itself, but the worst part is that it really triggered an urge to eat more fats and salt. I have been desperately fighting a near-compulsion for salty, fatty foods ever since that first handful.

I haven't won that fight yet, but I've had two good days since then, and the bad days are very slightly less bad.

This really feels more like fighting an addiction than like a food issue. Though I guess you can have food addictions, so maybe that's it. Now that I've made that mental connection, I can try treating it like I treated quitting smoking?

sharondesfor935 wrote: »

lesdarts180 wrote: »

sharondesfor935 wrote: »

Name: Sharon


Success(es)/struggle(s) of the week: Food. Either I've fallen off the wagon or I've had an entire binge week, I'm not sure which.

First of all, that improved relationship with food that I thought I was developing? Not so much, it turns out. It was simply that I was doing all the grocery shopping for the past four months, and not bringing home stuff I couldn't eat. Well, my husband went Costco shopping about a week ago, and brought home a whole bunch of junk, but the kickers were fresh bakery cookies and some potato chips ("crisps" to everyone in the world except the US) that I swear are utter ambrosia. That did me in, guys. I think over the course of a week, I ate 5 or 6 of those cookies (at 200 calories each, that's an entire extra day of calories in one week!) and the entire bag of chips. An entire COSTCO bag. What is that, 16 pounds of chips and a billion calories?

You did well, you should count it a success that you were able to just have one cookie each day - that's just a little treat - not a failure. I have no idea what size a Costco bag of crisps looks like but put it behind you and move on.

You should feel proud of your restraint over the cookies. Fresh baked cookies are really difficult to deal with. I live on my own so I only buy treats when the grandchildren are visiting and that's difficult enough.

Thanks for the uplift, Lesley. While cookies are certainly a weakness of mine, anything salty and fatty is far more so. The reason I was able to limit the cookies was only because I was bingeing on the crisps.

I eventually had the courage to look up that bag of crisps online. It weighed 2 pounds, or 907 grams. The bag in its entirety contained 4800 calories, 288 grams of fat, and 3520 mg sodium. And I ate the whole thing in less than a week.

That's bad enough in itself, but the worst part is that it really triggered an urge to eat more fats and salt. I have been desperately fighting a near-compulsion for salty, fatty foods ever since that first handful.

I haven't won that fight yet, but I've had two good days since then, and the bad days are very slightly less bad.

This really feels more like fighting an addiction than like a food issue. Though I guess you can have food addictions, so maybe that's it. Now that I've made that mental connection, I can try treating it like I treated quitting smoking?

It is fine to eat the crisps and the cookies, you just have to adjust the rest of your food for it. Calories are calories. If you want a 200 calorie cookie to fit, you just have to leave off 200 calories of "other" from your day and it will fit. I am concerned that you consider the cookies and crisps to be "bad" foods. Certainly, they can be trigger foods for you, but they are calories like anything else.

In my humble, non-expert opinion, you might have better long term success and a healthier relationship with food if you found a way to include some "naughty" (for lack of a better term) foods in your regular diet, like factoring in a serving of crisps or a cookie most days, so that it doesn't feel like a "bad" thing, just a normal part of eating balanced. You don't feel deprived, you can stay under your calorie goal and not feel you have to punish yourself for enjoying a treat.

My diary is open. I eat chips, cookies, gummy bears, ice cream.....gee I sound like I eat a ton of junk....

Name: Existing Fish
Age: 31
Height: 5'0" (153cm)
Total weight lost: 37.2lbs (16.9kg)
Time it took to lose: 6 months*
How long in maintenance: 7 months
Maintenance weight range: 112 - 118lbs (50.8-53.8kg)
Average weight recorded from 2019: 118.8lbs (53.9kg)

Average weight recorded from January: 123.1
Average weight recorded from February: 120.3
Average weight recorded from March: 117.0
Average weight recorded from April: 114.8

May 1st: 115.1lbs (t: 115.0)
May 4th: 114.4lbs (t: 115.0)
May 9th: 114.9lbs (t: 114.5)
May 17th:115.5lbs (t: 115.3)
May 24th:113.1lbs (t: 114.4)
May 31st:

Success/Struggles: Ha, look at me calling my weight smooth last week.

I started a new job on Monday, I've been a SAHM for 4 years and I started a desk job. I went ahead and adjusted my activity level to lightly active instead of moderately active, but I have been logging all my exercise. I have eaten over my calorie goal every day this week, and my weight has been going straight down. I know it is just a week, and it's only 1.5lbs lost since last week (but it isn't up and down, it's down a fraction every morning), it could be hormonal or anything, but now I wish I hadn't changed it because it confuses me.

My husband keeps encouraging me to just eat when I'm hungry, which is what I've been doing, but I go over my goals constantly. I guess I'll keep it where it is for another week and if the trend is still going down that quickly I'll adjust it.