altushe Member

hi! started maintenance about 6 weeks ago and still adding food each week to truly maintain. looking for friends ~ long time maintainers and newbies like me wanting support! please add me :)

Congratulations! Perfect post for me to read as embark on my journey (again) after gaining back all the weight I lost/maintained in the past two years.

Just read your post from August and am now sitting in the same place you were when you wrote it. 2 months ago I was celebrating a new "skinny" me after losing 50 pounds and maintaining for about 9 months. Life put me over the edge about 7 weeks ago and I went on an eating binge probably out of anger and not expressing…

Just found this group and would love a non-weight focussed goal. I workout everyday mostly cardio but most days do some weights - but not too much. Need to think of a challenge for myself - the sit-ups were a good idea so I may start with that. How about other non-fitness goals too - like taking time to do something for…

Sarah: What a great idea for a MFP topic. I have to find a before picture and think I want to wait til I gain a few pounds before posting my after since I am below my maintenance range and look too skinny to feel proud right now. Maintenance is harder than losing!

Awesome job Annie! You look great!

I LOVE oatmeal and used to avoid it (pre-weight loss and MFP) since overloading on carbs set me up for an overeating "binge". Now, I eat it twice a day - a double portion each time! I eat regular rolled oats (not quick/instant), steel cut, and multigrain (from Trader Joe's) and vary between 1 tablespoon peanut butter,…

Has anyone found that their response to "angry" situations is very different since their eating habits have changed? How many of us internalized anger and engaged in emotional eating and it was really to mask the anger…Now a trip to the gym, a good run or a particularly intense workout session is our choice. Or even…

I use the Starimaster nearly everyday on the "fatburn" program. According to the machine, that burns 600 calories in one hour of exercise (based on my weight). Using MFP gives a much lower number for the stair treadmill. Been struggling with finding the right maintenance calories for some time now and continue to lose…

Tonya: Thank you for your explanation of METS to better understand calories burned. Makes perfect sense and I am into numbers too (the basis of my career)!! Really appreciate it... altushe

For those that do NOT use an HRM, how do you determine/estimate your exercise calories? Do you use MFP or the calories burned on the machine/equipment that you use at the gym? The MFP exercise database doesn't have all the equipment and for some of them, the calories burned seemed so different than what the gym machines…

I have been trying to find the right maintenance calories for several months now. There was a short period where I was maintaining and then continued losing - now down 10-12 pounds and honestly a little too thin. Rather than focus on gaining back at this point, I am still working on finding the right balance to maintain. I…

Victorious, Congratulations! 95 pounds - WOW!! You lost a whole person the size of my 12 year-old - go treat yourself to some new clothes. It will make you feel so special and a smaller size will show off the weight loss even more, especially in summer clothes. I love nice clothes but won't pay full price (I'm the bargain…

Hi all! Just a quick post since I have not been here is a while as I have been struggling a bit and didn't feel like sharing more challenges as I am usually such a positive person. While I can hide it (somewhat) at work and with my husband and daughter, this group is a little more difficult for some reason. My endoscopy…

Victorious, turns out I gave you the prior bicycle models for my husband and daughter who both upgraded last year. They did both love the old ones that I gave you - but here are the updates...Giant for my husband and Speciaiized for my daughter. All four are bicycles worth considering and are good for street riding, dirt…

Happy Sunday! Well, finally some good news on the health front. The iron pills seem to be working as my latest blood tests show that my red blood cell counts, etc. have stabilized and some of the other blood tests have improved. As a result…no more edema!! I am "knocking on wood" as I write, but it's been a whole week now…

Victorious_one You are right about the protein and albumin as they already tested those and while the albumin is normal, the protein IS a problem. However they can tell that it is not dietary protein (which I get plenty of). For some reason my body is not making/absorbing protein. That is part of what is causing the…

Well, I spoke too soon. The edema came back the day after my Sunday post and is actually worse than it was before. NO change in diet or exercise (or anything else). Headed to the doctor for more blood tests on Monday to see what's going on. Has anyone had this in their ankles and feet so bad that your feet are cold and…

Happy daylight savings time everyone! Well, for the first time in several weeks, I am starting to feel a little happier. Sunday weigh-in (and ankle size) seem to indicate edema is starting to subside. Don't want to judge yet, but I am hoping this is a sign that the iron pills are restoring the right equilibrium in my body.…

Well, edema did move the scale just now - although not nearly as much as last time - only .5 pounds which I can easily deal with as "normal" maintenance fluctuation. Whew! Hopefully won't get worse before it gets better! KimKelly, thanks for the nurse practitioner coming out. One of the biggest issues is that I am severely…

Hi all. Well, appears I did not find the answer to my edema as it is back, depsite no change in eating or exercise since I returned from Colorado. The doctor attributes the temporary respite to the altitude but advised to stay off gluten as that did seem to make a difference. She is testing blood for celiac and a number of…

Hi maintenance friends! I am glad we all have common struggles and ones that we never anticipated once we finally lost the weight. It's been 3.5 months since I joined MFP as a maintainer. While I am getting more used to and comfortable with the calories needed (food and exercise) to maintain, it is still not any "easier"…

Happy Friday! While I have been keeping up with everyone, I haven't posted in awhile as I had been feeling very down and tend to retreat during those times rather than complaining or asking for help. Just felt like I needed to work this one through. Not the best strategy and one that I am trying to break. I did correspond…

Hi everyone. Been a particularly busy week for me between work and my husband being out of town all week (still not back), I've been doing double duty on school for more daughter - bringing and picking up - in addition to my already horrendous commute. It has been fun having just a girl's week though… Still cold here but…

Sing, Thanks for the note and encouragement. I looked back at my carbs and although nothing changed over the past three weeks, since early December they are up (only about 40 grams) as I needed to add more calories at that point since I was still losing. Maybe it just caught up with me and it's too much. As far as sodium,…

Ok…so today was weigh-in and AGAIN, I am up in pounds - this time 1.5 pounds (3.5 up in total over the past 3 weeks). I am about to cry… I know you are all screaming that you wish I would throw the scale away (or at least not get on so my husband won't get mad!), but I am still fairly new to maintenance and feel like now I…

Found the new thread! Nothing new to report since my post last night. Still a bit anxious about where I'm at this week but waiting it out until Sunday to get the numbers. If I'm up again, I think I need to re-assess my maintenance calorie level. Right now I have my settings on maintenance and active (despite a desk job)…

Singfree/Stiring, thanks for the advice. Depsite the "panic" mode, I have not changed my eating or exercise at all this week. While I would love to get to the point where I can ignore the scale, I literally just started maintaining and feel like I need that objective check-in right now until I get comfortable that my…

Hi everyone. Tried posting a few times this week, got distracted and lost the posts I had started - so frustrating. Too bad there is no "save as draft" feature that allows you to do other things on the site and come back to your post without having to start over. It's been a tough two weeks for me. Sunday's are my weigh-in…

Let me preface my breakfast by saying that I am on maintenance and also exercise in the morning for an hour, so this is by far my biggest/most caloric meal of my day. First, I have a small smoothie (6oz - homemade) when I wake up to "break the fast" and get my metabolism going (plus I am usually starving when I wake up at…