@izzyred9400 I do review my goals, and I have found it helpful. It has helped me spend more time in reflection a.k.a. what works? what doesn't?

For me, when I don't want to be in deficit (usually 1-1.5 pounds a week) I go into maintenance. My "maintenance" has a math of it's own: the daily calories of my personal goal weight is 48 yo 5'3" 130 pounds = 1550 calories sedentary, AND I eat back all exercise calories. This works. I don't do a "cheat" day, but every week I am in deficit I do a "maintenance at goal weight + exercise calories" on Sunday. No matter what. This has really worked, so far I am not dealing with diet fatigue and all that. But if I did have diet fatigue, I have a plan. I have done months at that rate. It is absolutely wonderful, might be considered a "diet break/refeed" not sure.

I need a plan, because I am not in deficit all the time. My plan is for a lifetime of maintenance. I always have permission to go to maintenance at goal weight. I started this journey 147 pounds over my goal weight, and I knew it would take a really, really, really long time. So this is what I came up with, and it works for me. Reviewing your goals can help you be honest and realistic. There are times in the year that I am not interested in a deficit, and that is fine as long as I don't go into full gluttony and sloth (this is why I have a plan, I did have to be honest with myself).

Also, I don't have ANY guilt from doing maintenance at goal weight - and that is really important to me. I need to be positive, and this ultimate goal always fits into a positive category. It is a good habit, a skill I need, it is sustainable, I don't have to doubt if future me can keep the weight off etc. ad nauseum.

I have a reason for that goal: I want to learn now what it will take to eat forever at my maintenance weight. That way, when I get there, I can be a confident maintainer forever! I plan to get within 10 pounds of my goal weight, and just eat at goal weight maintenance and wait for math to do it's magic over time. No sweat, I learned that I can be pretty patient if I TRUST (the process, myself, holding myself accountable etc).

I had no idea I would actually get this far (115 pounds lost) and this is the first time I have lost weight. The reason I never lost weight previously? Forever I saw so many family and friends yo-yo weight. I just didn't want to do that (I am NOT interested in putting in 100% effort over and over and over), so my goal isn't like some people: "lose x weight in x amount of time ASAP". That is what I saw friends and family do that were going full yo-yo over the years. I learned a lot from them: Don't rush it. Be realistic of self. Know your math. This is my .000000000002 cents. So maybe I should have started with: for what it is worth...

I'm not a yo-yo dieter - I was a WW member years ago and lost 68lbs
I am no longer a member, but try to keep it in range; however, I'm also 54yo and in menopause taking HRT to help with my symptoms. In addition, I have been stress eating with what has been going on with my husband.
I do Bodyfit by Amy - I'm in her private FB group and get advice from her, she's a certified trainer and there is a cerified dietician who is also in the group. I also belong to a local barre studio that I try to go to 3-4x a week and I belong to FitOn App to mix it up.
It's been difficult since November to try to keep it in check, but I'm hoping as weather gets better in WI I can get walks in and be outside in the warmth. As an example, it's supposed to be a high of 39° in Wednesday and it's the end of April.
I have my pancreatic cancer walk on Saturday and it's supposed to be cloudy, chance of rain with a high of 50° this weather totally sucks and I hate the cold
So that's my story - just trying to keep it together being a caregiver for my husband and keep my health in check while trying not to gain weight b/c then I feel like crap. I work from home so I can wear whatever, but if I do go somewhere, I still want my regular clothes to fit plus once in a while I do have to go into my office

4/25-9,194

No workout again, I tried but could not wake up, oh well, will try again tomorrow, lol

Strong storm coming through so I won’t be online tonight…will catch up the spreadsheets tomorrow night after work.

Steps
4/24 4,949
4/25 5,525
4/26 5,280

Steps Update (daily goal 6,800):
Fri 4/22 - 6,372
Sat 4/23 - 8,277
Sun 4/24 - 5,100 *spent majority of day helping my 2nd grade daughter with a school research project
Mon 4/25 - 7,062
Tue 4/26 - 7,346

Fitbit isnt working, so I cant log my steps at the moment. I did workout this morning, I did leg day, and tonight Im going to yoga with a friend

Sorry I've been missing again, I really am. That cough STILL persists. I think the weather is getting me down as well due to never ending winter it seems.

PW:234.0 from two weeks ago, please count it as last week's
CW: 233.8

What a waste of a month weigh loss wise. I hope to get outside here soon. The forecast looks like Spring might finally be here. LOL.

My steps
4/23 19,037
4/24 12,448
4/25 12,271
4/26 10,692
I've walked 6 miles today so hopefully I walked off a cream tea I had with friends to celebrate a birthday.It was fun to get together & plan some days out together for the summer.

Welcome, @paulerdmann1 — It’s always nice to have more people contributing to the energy of our group! We’ll introduce ourselves in more detail once the new Shape Shifters Chat opens for May 2022, but feel free to join in to support others or ask any questions you have. I joined the group about this time last year with about 10 pounds to lose, and reached my goal weight a few months later. There’s still a lot to learn about ‘maintenance’ so that it’s not just a phase. I’m working to strengthen positive habits while focusing on building muscle strength and flexibility.

Do you have a any specific goals you are hoping to accomplish with the support of the group?