Cycle 4

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I reached my goal weight four days ago. Now it's the long road ahead to maintain that weight and continue to steadily improve my overall health and fitness. First of all, let me say that the 17 Day Diet together with My Fitness Pal has been awesome and I am very thankful. I have my Christmas present 3 weeks early that I always wanted - 65 pounds less of me! Now, I have to admit, I'm very scared. I worked for this for 6 months and that's a long time, but the road ahead is much longer (I hope) to lifetime maintenance. I have a fear that I will backslide like I've done before in the past after working hard to achieve my goal. At 52 (almost 53) years old, I don't want to have to ever start this over from scratch again. Having said that, I do look forward to the treat weekends, and this weekend is a big holiday party, so it will be fun! Monday morning I will be reaching deep inside to find that motivation to get right back on the wagon again. I guess that will be the pattern going forward, although not all weekends will be big celebration weekends, I'll still need to keep that motivation going. Wish me luck! Is anyone else out there on Cycle 4? I'd love to know a few. I still plan to stay with MFP and log diet and exercise daily, as well as keep up with my fitness pals out there.

Replies

  • classyhoney
    classyhoney Posts: 75 Member
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    You look great and congratulations! I'm so happy for you and I can't wait to reach cycle 4. I'm on C1D3 and I'm down 4 pounds. I think if you continue to workout and eat well that you will maintain. You should be so proud of yourself and celebrate because this is truly an accomplishment. If you're on Facebook there is a page for the 17 day diet and there are a lot of people there who have achieved their goal and maintaining.

    How many cycles did you go though the reach your goal? How many minutes did you workout a day?

    Thanks,

    April Joy
  • llamalland
    llamalland Posts: 246 Member
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    Thanks to both of you, Kathy and April Joy..... inspirational posts !
  • kathyhughes3
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    You look great and congratulations! I'm so happy for you and I can't wait to reach cycle 4. I'm on C1D3 and I'm down 4 pounds. I think if you continue to workout and eat well that you will maintain. You should be so proud of yourself and celebrate because this is truly an accomplishment. If you're on Facebook there is a page for the 17 day diet and there are a lot of people there who have achieved their goal and maintaining.

    How many cycles did you go though the reach your goal? How many minutes did you workout a day?

    Thanks,

    April Joy

    Thanks April Joy! I will check the Facebook page. I did only 1 cycle each of Cycle 1 and Cycle 2 and then stayed with Cycle 3 with increased exercise for the duration. Total time was exactly 6 months to reach my goal weight. I started with 17-20 minutes workouts, aiming for 2x a day like the book suggests. By the time I got to Cycle 3, I tried to go for 30+ minutes 2x a day. On the weekends, if possible, I'd exercise longer. I stayed pretty strictly to the plan with only very minor modifications (i.e.: lemon juice instead of fresh squeezed lemons, frozen vegetables instead of fresh, probably a little more sodium than I should really have).
  • SallyCC
    SallyCC Posts: 531 Member
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    Congratulations, Kathy!
    I know what you mean about maintenance...it is the toughest part. It sounds like you have a good plan about Monday mornings being back on track and I am so thankful for MFP. I know I will need to weigh and record my daily intake and I think I will just keep that a habit. I am a long way to be my goal but I am closer to it than I was before!
    Enjoy this success!!!