Intentionally trying to stabilize weight. The pandemic situation made it easier for me to successfully continue a slow loss plot I'd started in October 2019. Now back in my preferred maintenance zone, it's time to hold steady, mostly. My usual maintenance strategy is to calorie bank (100-150 calorie deficit most days) so I can choose more freely at social events and restaurant meals and such. I'm trying to figure out the late-pandemic analog of that, since I'm temporarily still not doing those things as often. I don't want to give up the banking strategy and substitute level maintenance calories, because banking works very well for me in normal times, and even now I really enjoy the occasional indulgent meal.

For now, recently I'm experimenting with eating somewhat over maintenance if morning weigh-ins hang in the 123-ish range for a couple of days. (Right now, 125-ish is feeling OK to me, at 5'5".) We'll see how this goes.

On other fronts, I'm finally back on the water (rowing those skinny boats), and aiming for M-W-F-Sa rows, weather permitting, which is my usual summer-ish routine. I'd increased off-season volume and variety in March to now (mix of machine rowing, stationary biking, kinda suboptimal but injury-avoiding strength training, increased walking (not my preferred modality due to bad knees), core exercises).

Now I need to adjust that mix for on-water rowing season, but hope to keep some volume and variety. For sure, machine rowing is deprecated. I'll try to keep the other stuff in the mix, sooner or later replacing stationary bike with actual outdoor bike when weather permits (and Covid hospitalization rates decline - my usual routes start on some busy roads, so I'm mindful of risk as it relates to hospital capacity issues). We'll see how it goes.

Everything always evolves, it seems. The challenge is to drive evolution, against the context of aging (I'm 65), in a positive direction.

Planning eye surgery in June (some weird thing, I don't know its technical name, to - we hope - flatten out a wrinkle or pucker in the retina of my left eye, which is currently Not Good, around 20/150). I'll have at least a week of "no vigorous activity". I hate when that happens.

Going through a bit of a family crisis at the moment but staying on track with my eating. I honestly think that this is the first time I've ever coped with a major upset without turning to food, which I guess is a sign of progress. I haven't been working out, per se, but cleaning, painting, and then moving my daughter into a new home has provided lots of other "functional" exercise and my steps are usually in the 15,000 to 18,000 range.

Since January 1st I've been averaging a half pound loss per week so I'm very happy with that. The last few pounds are the hardest (back story: lost 90 pounds and reached mid-range normal BMI, then allowed 17 pounds to creep back so am now working on those. Again).

@MaggieGirl135 Congrats are your  recent consistent losses Our snow has all gone but the mornings are still below freezing. I'm so ready for sunny mornings drinking coffee on the deck! When I reached my desired goal weight MFP gave me 1500 calories for maintenance (I prefer to choose sedentary even though I exercise every day. I then eat about half my earned calories back.). I maintained fairly well for about 3 years, then I retired, we took a three month RV trip, and six months later, the pandemic hit. It would seem as though as long as I can keep a routine, I can maintain my weight. But once I lost that steady routine, I flailed. Since January I have worked hard to establish new habits that I can stick with, and it seems to be paying off.  

Welcome @janet41283 I see that you first joined MFP in 2014. I joined in 2013 so I guess that means we're a couple of old-timers! 😆 Between 2013 and 2016 I lost 90 pounds. I allowed 17 pounds to creep back and that's what I'm working on at the moment. The struggle is real LOL But so worth it!

My plan for May was to re-start C25K. I do it every summer, once the morning temps are consistently above freezing (of course, this morning its not ☹). I tried to download the C25K app onto my Samsung phone but I have no room for it. Bah!!! My phone has been giving me storage grief for a couple of months (and yes, I also have an external memory card) so this was the last straw. I ordered a new phone and just waiting for it to arrive so I can start the program again (I hesitate to call it a "running program" because I'm barely moving more than a quick walk LOL).

I started May with a colonoscopy and the same week a terrible tooth ache that resulted in pulling 2 back teeth. Lost a few pounds bc of all that.
Recovered the following week by upping my steps. I did 72,000 last week. I'm usually in the 40k range..maybe 50.

I am considering joining back at my gym. I'm fully vaccinated and I need it. Not happy about the money but if I don't I may need to buy some new bigger clothes.

20 days remaining in the month and I want to continue this ptogress.

Logging my food would be beneficial for sure.

I had a gym membership for years because I needed that solid routine of stopping there on my way home from work every day. Once I reached the point where exercise was just something that I did every day, I cut it back to just having a membership in the winter months. Now I just have a punch card that I can use if I want to swim or take a deep water running class. I do weights and yoga at home and prefer to do everything else outdoors. I find that for my mental health, being outdoors is much more beneficial to me than being at the gym. Bur first I had to build that daily exercise habit.

I still haven't been back to the Y, though I've thought about reserved-lane swimming . . . I don't like lane-sharing because I don't swim well or straight, so I'm a frustration/obstacle to the triathlon team multitudes at my Y. Lane reservations would be a plus, in that respect. Sadly, though, I'll use any excuse not to swim (ugh to swimming, but rowers have to be able to swim 🙄).

I'm still keeping an eye on what's happening at the Y, but I have a rowing machine at home (have had for decades), got a stationary bike during the shutdowns, and have enough weights to do some strength training although with limited variety in the routine - very lucky. I'm thinking I may go back for spin classes in the Fall, maybe; and there are some selected other things that would be easier with their equipment.

I definitely dipped a pinkie toe into the Slough of Despond during lockdowns, especially over the Winter when the short day lengths and general gloom here tend to affect my mood a bit in any year, so double whammy this past Winter with fewer outside social/cultural distractions. Curiously, I somehow was able to keep up an exercise routine and eating habits that kept my weight in check, but accomplished *very* little else. Since I live alone, slacking on housework is a viable option (unfortunately), and I haven't done much with my other hobbies, or with home/yard improvements, either. Not good.

The exercise started to slip a bit for a while (it always is lower volume in Winter, since on-water rowing is my main love). Somehow, I was able to flip a switch in my head, and convince myself that a defined exercise schedule was as non-negotiable as brushing my teeth or getting groceries, just had to be done. Surprisingly, that mostly worked.

Now that it's warm enough here, if weather permits, I'm aiming at:
M, W, F - row, walk (around 5mi/8km), lift
Tu, Th - yoga/stretch/foam roll, bike, core
Sa - row, core
Su - yoga/stretch/foam roll

I'm struggling a bit to keep up the walks and strength/core alongside outdoor rowing/cycling, especially as it gets (unseasonably) hot. Each of those latter outdoor things is a little more physically demanding than the shorter indoor row/bike workouts they replaced, mostly because they're longer duration. One of the things I've learned about myself is that as I'm aging (now 65), I need to manage my fatigue boundaries more carefully than I did at age 20 (or even 50, really). Volume increases are possible, but need to be somewhat gradual. The trick is distinguishing imaginary fatigue (the "don't really wanna") from actual fatigue (the "better overall results if I don't"). 🤷‍♀️

Such weird weather, workouts more fatiguing these last few days: Freezing temps overnight around a week ago, now it's Summer hot. On today's walk, I took a water & salty snack break at around the 3 mile mark, which I don't usually do.

Y'know, I stayed joined at my Y during the pandemic, despite stopping going there, because they've been a bit on the edge financially even before the pandemic (competing for the mass market with all the $5/$10 a month gyms, when the Y has a higher monthly cost because more facilities/services, *plus* community services (free diabetes classes, cancer-survivor programs, etc.) and "gym scholarships" for folks with serious health issues who can't afford the fees). They've done really wonderful work providing meals for challenged kids and families, during the pandemic. I know not everyone would be able to do this, but I found I was spending less on my own entertainment (restaurants, gas to get to them, etc.) during the lockdowns, so it was possible.

Last day of May- have a great day, everyone!

@janet41283 Glad to hear you had a good start to the day! As far as ideas for fitting in exercise, it sounds like you may have just figured it out yourself! Some people need to do it first thing in the morning so that it's done and off their mind, no matter what gets thrown at them the rest of the day. When I had a full-time job I walked the dog every morning, but I needed to go to the gym on my way home from work because that routine worked best for me. Now that I'm retired I have the luxury of exercising whenever I want If it's a running day, I like to do that first thing in the morning. I also meet up with friends to walk three times a week at 10 a.m. I always take my dogs out in the afternoon (a ski or snowshoe in the winter, or a walk or hike in the summer. And if it's a weight or yoga/stretching day, I'll usually do that in the evening while watching tv.

It's mainly about creating an exercise habit. Once that habit is firmly established, I think it's easier to find a way to fit it in. I read this somewhere recently: "What distracts us is not usually as important as what we're distracted from". In other words, distracting myself by scrolling through Facebook is never as important as doing the exercise that it's distracting me from. I'm retired and if I can't find 45-60 minutes in a day to exercise (even if it's just walking the dogs), then I need to re-evaluate my situation.

How old is your granddaughter? Is she young enough to push in a stroller so you can go for a walk? Is she old enough to ride a bike while you walk? Does she nap? When my kids were small I would put on a Care Bears show and I knew I had 30 minutes of peace to ride my exercise bike LOL Where there's a will, there's a way