Maintainer's Thread--anybody else interested??

[lisah0711]

Hello you maintainer peeps! Found this article on sparkpeople while I was surfing around trying to get my sparkpoints today about maintainance issues I thought you might find interesting. http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/wellness_articles.asp?id=488 It's a multiple part article and this links to the first article.

 

[corinnak]

Lisa, are you trying to sabotage us? That is a link to Disney's Pumpkin Muffin recipe!!!

Here's a quote that spoke to me today, on a blog that has a name I probably can't actually post here:

That's one reason I try to stress to not worry how long it takes you to "lose weight" or get to a goal number on the scale. That's not the big picture. In fact, that number so many people get obsessed with is actually a very tiny part of it. The big picture is the journey - making the changes, learning about yourself, doing things you've never done, experiencing things you never have, becoming a person you never thought you'd be - and yes, celebrating the new you and your success all the time.

Celebrating success is obviously hard for me, but I like this perspective.

 

[lisah0711]

I am so sorry! I will fix it when I get back to the office.

 

[corinnak]

I am so sorry! I will fix it when I get back to the office.

No worries - I look forward to reading the articles when you get a chance to fix the link!

And really, that recipe looks incredible. My kids love pumpkin baked goods. They are not fans of cream cheese frosting, so I probably won't make that part and I might reduce the oil....and sub in whole wheat flour, cause that's the way I rumble. And before you know it, they are so totally NOT Disney's magical muffins at all...

 

[lisah0711]

Lisa, are you trying to sabotage us? That is a link to Disney's Pumpkin Muffin recipe!!!

Here's a quote that spoke to me today, on a blog that has a name I probably can't actually post here:

Celebrating success is obviously hard for me, but I like this perspective.

No worries - I look forward to reading the articles when you get a chance to fix the link!

And really, that recipe looks incredible. My kids love pumpkin baked goods. They are not fans of cream cheese frosting, so I probably won't make that part and I might reduce the oil....and sub in whole wheat flour, cause that's the way I rumble. And before you know it, they are so totally NOT Disney's magical muffins at all...

Good thing that you guys have a sense of humor! I am so sorry -- those muffins are good -- I'd just sent the recipe to my sister.

I am slinking back to the loser's thread now . . .

 

[Rose&Mike]

Ok, the muffin thing is too funny. I had sent Lisa a PM about it. Then I had to laugh whey you asked if she was trying to sabotage us, Corinna.

It's been a hard couple of days. Very long story short DS has been having some issues at college this year (he's a sophomore). Yesterday he called me and he had a meltdown. Well his phone went dead, but I didn't know his phone was dead. I thought he had hung up because he was so upset--talking about quitting school, etc. Well I couldn't get ahold of him and we ended up calling one of the advisors we know who checked on him. It was a tough couple of hours. I was at work during all of this. Anyhow, he seems to be doing better today. Hoping that he has turned the corner.

Last night, after we had talked to him we skipped our run and went out. I had a cheese quesadilla, ff and beer. Could have been much worse. Today I really wanted to binge, but did pretty well with my food. Maybe I am finally turning the corner with the whole emotional eating thing. Last night wasn't great, but it's what I have lots of times on splurge nights, so it wasn't too horribly bad either, if that makes sense. Anyhow, I need to remind myself that wanting to binge and actually doing it are two different things.

I still need to reply to you all, but I think I will save it for tomorrow and turn in early tonight.

 

[Rose&Mike]

I did not eat well tonight, and I'm having a hard time caring, though I do feel kind of gross. I think the past week caught up with me and I just wanted junk. I had fries with ranch dressing and some tomato and onion calzone. Hoping to still be in my maintain range tomorrow for BL weigh in.

LuvDisney3--I really identified with what you said (see below). I don't really recognize myself, but at the same time when I see pictures from last winter, I don't recognize that person either.

It is weird how even though I know I have lost all of this weight, I don't see that person when I look in the mirror. I don't see the old me either, I guess I see someone who is not finished. I put on my size 2 pants in the morning and I know in my mind that I am no longer overweight, but I guess it is really difficult to swith the mindset when it has only known one way for so long.

And I have trouble celebrating successes too, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. I did like that quote Corinna. Maybe the lesson in all this is to do more of a one day at a time kind of thinking, and celebrate where you're at, instead of spending so much time what iffing--which I am terribly guilty of. What if I lost 10 more pounds, what if I gain all the weight back, what if I get injured and can't exercise, etc. Maybe the answer to feeling satisfied, is learning to celebrate where you are. I don't know, in theory it sounds good, but sounds contradictory to setting a goal and working to achieve it.

 

[Rose&Mike]

I was exactly at my maintain weight on Friday. I was really happy to avoid a binge last week, but still wish I would have made some better choices. So I guess I need to keep working on what to do when I'm stressed out other than eat. So this week I am celebrating getting through a pretty stressful week without a gain.

 

[Rose&Mike]

I lowered my maintain weight two pounds this week. Which might not sound like a maintain, but my rationale is, I am not unhappy with my weight at this point, but wouldn't mind losing a few more pounds. I figure it can only help with my running. Plus the weight is coming off VERY slowly, and I think at some point I will stop losing and that's where I will be. And that is ok.

This week was a little stressful. DS found out he has to have his bloodpressure checked every two weeks for the rest of the semester. We had out of town relatives (who we rarely see) in town last night for dinner and my mom who I have not talked to in years, called me out of the blue. Did ok with the eating (actually probably didn't eat enough) and good with the exercise.

Hoping for a calm, on plan week!

 

[Rose&Mike]

Still maintaining. I'm at the top end of my new maintain weight, but hanging in there. I have been maintaining now for about two months. Very exciting!

 

[corinnak]

Hi Rose! Glad you're still hanging in there so well! Congratulations on 2 months!!!

I can't believe how quickly October has gone! It seems like there is kind of a pleasant franticness to the rhythm of my life at this point, which is good but also challenging. I feel like I'm not really home enough now, and so the laundry and some things on the computer just aren't happening like they used to. On the other hand, I'm still getting my workouts in and my food is mostly on track. Which leads to maintaining rather than losing back down to my pre-summer weight. Which is both good and not so good. I am pretty happy where I am. It would be nice to be a few pounds less for the sake of the WW weigh ins, where I feel like I'm holding onto my free meetings by a thin strand. I am hoping that when they unveil the new plan later this month, it will shake things up and I'll lose a little more.

I admit that I have some thoughts in my head about if my "goal weight" or current weight is actually good enough. I know a lot of people my height set lower goals, and I'm not at the bottom of my range, etc. etc. We're back to how do you choose your goal, again. Except it is really a question of how do we know when to be happy with our weights instead of unhappy. I have had a lot more practice being unhappy with my weight, so that comes pretty easily, even when I'm at a weight that is far lower than I thought I'd be happy with when I started.

Seriously, I think about when I started losing (again and again) and where I thought I was wanting to get to. And at that point, my objectives were very simple, very clear and I thought not ridiculously ambitious or overoptimistic: I just wanted to be within my healthy weight range AND I wanted to be a little bit athletic. That was it! And frankly, that is a place that was oh, a good 15 pounds ago. And I was actually fairly athletic even before I started losing again this last time, even if I didn't look it. So what exactly is it going to take for me to be happy with my weight?

And an even bigger question: what would it take for me to be happy with my body? It works so hard for me, does a good job of rebuilding and getting stronger. Allows me to take care of my kids and family and myself, and even looks as good as many other 37 year old bodies. I do have a laundry list of things I'd like changed by magic - take my stretch marks, make my tummy flatter, that skin under my arms, the smile-lines I'm starting to see on my face, etc. etc. BUT I am starting to think that even if these things were resolved, I STILL wouldn't know how to be happy with my body. Which makes me think I need to figure THAT out rather than figure out if I want surgery someday.

This will be the first Holiday season as maintainers for all of us (even if I am still slowly trying to lose a little). A woman I know who is tall, slim and always seems to have her act together talked to me last week asking what I do with my running over the holidays. She said last year, she took the winter off and gained 10 pounds between Halloween and New Years. I never noticed the extra weight on her, but she definitely did. I said that I usually have a race in January, so that tends to keep me focused on the training. It's still a learning curve for me, too. I think having a mindset of focus on maintaining (or losing) during the holidays rather than a mindset of relaxing and enjoying because, well, it's the holidays, is the thing that will make the difference for me this year.

I'd love to hear any of your ideas/plans for maintaining during the holidays!

 

[Rose&Mike]

Hi Rose! Glad you're still hanging in there so well! Congratulations on 2 months!!!

I can't believe how quickly October has gone! It seems like there is kind of a pleasant franticness to the rhythm of my life at this point, which is good but also challenging. I feel like I'm not really home enough now, and so the laundry and some things on the computer just aren't happening like they used to. On the other hand, I'm still getting my workouts in and my food is mostly on track. Which leads to maintaining rather than losing back down to my pre-summer weight. Which is both good and not so good. I am pretty happy where I am. It would be nice to be a few pounds less for the sake of the WW weigh ins, where I feel like I'm holding onto my free meetings by a thin strand. I am hoping that when they unveil the new plan later this month, it will shake things up and I'll lose a little more.

I admit that I have some thoughts in my head about if my "goal weight" or current weight is actually good enough. I know a lot of people my height set lower goals, and I'm not at the bottom of my range, etc. etc. We're back to how do you choose your goal, again. Except it is really a question of how do we know when to be happy with our weights instead of unhappy. I have had a lot more practice being unhappy with my weight, so that comes pretty easily, even when I'm at a weight that is far lower than I thought I'd be happy with when I started.

I'd love to hear any of your ideas/plans for maintaining during the holidays!

Seriously, this is like having a coversation with myself. One minute I say I'm happy, and the next minute I am questioning my decisions. And I essentially saidd the same thing to Mike today--that I am very close to my college weight, but why should I be happy with it now, when I wasn't happy with it then? I too, never thought I'd get this low again.

I think if my weight is not impeding anything I want to do--keeping me from running, keeping me from buying the clothes I want, or impeding my health--I should be ok with it. Obviously it's not that simple. I know if I were to somehow get back in touch with my mother she would somehow find a way to tell me I am still fat. And that makes me sad. I can honestly say I am proud of myself. And most of the time I feel pretty good about the results. Anyhow, interesting discussion. I'll have to think about it some more.

As for the holidays, after reading about your friend's 10 pound gain, I will not be taking the holidays off!!! (Though we did take today off, and I must say it's been nice.) Cause you are right, definitely need a plan. Thanksgiving shouldn't be too bad. The sweets at Christmas will be hard and the 7 days at WDW. Despite running the W&D I was up 2 pounds after our last 5 day trip, so will definitely need to workout.

I am going to keep working out 5 days a week, period. Even in Disney. Mike will run with me at Disney, so that will be easy. And I can probably drag him to the gym. The hardest part will be having DS home. We don't have junk in our house period. DS is very empathetic and if I ask him not to buy something he won't. But I know there will be some stuff around. I'll have to think about this some more, because really a lot of my strategy has been out of sight out of mind. Even when we eat out, it's not been too bad because of being a vegetarian. But the sweets are going to be hard. And the alcohol. Ok, need to think about this some more...

 

[pjlla]

Morning maintainers!! I just wanted to pop over and say hi! I noticed you've all been a bit chatty lately! Glad maintenance is going well for you all. I think it is time to start giving maintenance some real consideration. Technically, that is really all I've been doing for months now... just maintaining within about a 5-7 pound range. I know that WW wants you to maintain within 2 pounds, but I think for myself that is unrealistic. TOM and ovulation can have me fluctuating 3-5 pounds just in the course of a week! I'm thinking of setting my final goal at 130 (I had dropped my goal to 128 earlier this year) and being happy anywhere from 128-132. Does that sound doable? Maybe. I hit 130.3 a few times this year, but both times it was right before a vacation. THen I gained a few and haven't gotten back to that 130 since. But I was definitely happier there.

I'm just happy to be hanging out on the sidelines here, reading all of your thoughts and such about maintenance. It is definitely going to be AS HARD if not HARDER than the actual weight loss!! But the reward is that you wake up EVERY DAY feeling good about yourself and looking good. None of that....
"in ______ pounds I'll look better" or "I'll feel good about wearing this when I lose ________ pounds" or "I'll be more confident when I weigh _______".

Here's to maintenance!!................P

 

[corinnak]

Hi Pamela! Great to see you over here! I hear ya on the lowest weight versus lowest weight you can manage to stay at over the longer haul. I would also like to be a few pounds less than I am now, but I am starting to think that maybe I need to let that go. I do think that this is a fairly good weight for me, and for me, staying under 140 may be much more realistic a goal than getting close to 130. I do feel like it's settling a little to be thinking that way. BUT I have also given a lot of thought lately to the idea of satisfaction.

It's one of those things that we talk about a lot in regards to food - being satisfied with your food choices, eating satisfying foods while losing weight. Yes, I'm not eating fettuccini alfredo, but I can still enjoy my meal without spending the whole time wishing it were fettuccini alfredo. Maybe I can enjoy being at a healthy weight without being at a 'more delicious' but ultimately not what I need weight. I have definitely had my moments of feeling frustrated that I worked and work so hard and still can't have a "perfect" body, but I'm trying to find the middle way between being happy with where I am and wishing I could hit a "dream" number.

Welcome to the thread! I do think that this is often more a discussion of "unexpected issues at goal" than anything. Also, WW (and BL's) maintenance range is +/- 2 lbs, so it is actually a 4 pound range. Yours seems to be fine! Live with it for a while as a goal range and see how it feels. You can always change your mind later if you feel it's too high, too low, or too narrow a range.


Rose:

I think if my weight is not impeding anything I want to do--keeping me from running, keeping me from buying the clothes I want, or impeding my health--I should be ok with it.

I think this hits the nail on the head. If we think back to where we started and ask "If I could have magically been transformed to the myself of today, would I be disappointed that I wasn't 4 pounds lighter or would I be thrilled?" And I look at my old pictures and I think of everything we can do now and I think - I could not have believed from where I was that could be this good!

I think your plan for the holidays is solid - how lucky (and smart!) not to have the junk even in the house! I do a lot of the out of sight, out of mind technique as well. It works really well until there is a lot of stuff in sight, and then I need some other tactics. My best one is "Just don't start" and if I am going to have something, wait until it's almost time to leave, so I won't keep going back and going back for another.

 

[Rose&Mike]

I think it is time to start giving maintenance some real consideration. But the reward is that you wake up EVERY DAY feeling good about yourself and looking good. None of that....
"in ______ pounds I'll look better" or "I'll feel good about wearing this when I lose ________ pounds" or "I'll be more confident when I weigh _______".

Here's to maintenance!!................P

Welcome to maintenance! I think you have a good plan and a good attitude about the whole thing! I must say it is nice to not wake up everyday and beat myself up.

After all that talk about out of sight out of mind and having a plan, I had some food issues. We brought two cookies home from our friends house on Saturday. One was supposed to be for Mike and one for me. I ate them both. Ok, so it's only two cookies, but it's the way I felt. If there would have been more, I would have ate them. I was feeling overwhelmed with what has been going on around here and I just wanted those cookies. To be honest, I didn't even want to bring them home, because maybe I thought this would happen, I don't know.

It makes me feel like I still have a ways to go to having a handle the emotional eating, stress eating, and holiday eating. Hopefully I will remember the feeling next time we have junk in the house. It's funny, but we always have ice cream, but I don't really treat that like a treat--I just have a tiny bit of ice cream in the evenings if I am still hungry. Maybe the issue is more that I really don't "allow" myself to have very many treats. I'll have to think about this some more.

 

[corinnak]

It makes me feel like I still have a ways to go to having a handle the emotional eating, stress eating, and holiday eating. Hopefully I will remember the feeling next time we have junk in the house. It's funny, but we always have ice cream, but I don't really treat that like a treat--I just have a tiny bit of ice cream in the evenings if I am still hungry. Maybe the issue is more that I really don't "allow" myself to have very many treats. I'll have to think about this some more.

Rose,
For me it IS the ice cream, but it doesn't really matter what it is that calls to you - I think we all continue to have things to learn about how to manage that siren's call. Or we wouldn't still be here, probably?

I wrote about this on the BL thread, but I've awarded myself daily 2 points to blow on something fun, but trying to make really smart, healthy choices with the rest of them.

I've got to run, but I just wanted to bump the thread a little!

Corinna

 

[corinnak]

Hey there Maintainers! Anybody still reading over here?

I'm finally back in the zone - the maintenance zone, that is. It took long enough, but I finally got it back together. And now there's this new WW program, so that's an adventure. The transition is pretty good for me - I feel like I get more points+ than I did points, and I was eating pretty well in the first place, so I'm not having a lot of the sticker shock that some people seem to be facing.

I hope everyone is feeling good and holding the line through the holidays!

 

[Rose&Mike]

Corinna--congratulations! I'm glad the new WW seems to be working for you.

I did not do great over Thanksgving--had waaay too much cheesecake and then last night had fries. Not sure if I will be in the maintain range tomorrow or not. It will be close. I'm trying not to beat myself up too much though, because I am still well below my original maintain weight, if that makes sense. I have bumped my maintain down 5 pounds since I started maintaining.

I still do not do well at all with having "treats" in the house. And I hate that. Is it going to be like this forever? I do ok if it's not in the house, but if it is forget it. But only certain things. I do ok with ice cream, but can't function with chips or cookies or cheesecake. Why is that? Anyhow, still hanging in there.

 

[Rose&Mike]

Still maintaining. I was actually exactly at my maintain weight today, so that's good. I am struggling not so much with my portion size as with my food choices. I have been doing a little bit of stress eating and not making the best choices, but at least I'm keeping the portions under control. I have decided to just get through the month, try to keep maintaining, and work on it in January. I do have a plan in place for dinners for the next 10 days, so I think that will help a lot. The problem is that I let stress get in the way--so we go out, have a drink, eat not so great food, etc. Hoping the plan will help with this.

 

[corinnak]

Hi Rose!

Wow, my last post was before the whole December implosion hit me! Yeah, just like that. I had a great first week with PointsPlus (mostly it was because I was too busy working on getting that show open to eat, I think) and a crummy 2nd week, possibly due to the previous one. I bagged PointsPlus for a while and tracked food on an iPod app/website called Myfitnesspal.com. Which worked pretty well for a few weeks, and then, I might have gained a few pounds on New Year's Eve.

December was a rough-ish month. In fact, the whole fall/early winter has been a series of small downs and then ups again. I got within spitting distance of my "happy number" and then almost immediately was up a few pounds again.

The stress of the holidays gets to me, I'll admit that. And then we had strep the last week of school, so that wasn't so good.

On the positive side, I am pretty much ready for the half marathon this weekend. I hope. I am never sure what I've got in January after a couple of months on the treadmill. It's mysterious.

I feel like I've got a couple of tiers of maintenance zone. There's the ±2 lbs that the Biggest Loser challenge wants me to maintain within. Sometimes that seems fine, other times, it seems like my weight can fluctuate that much on a daily if not hourly basis! I have kept to my initial feeling of wanting to keep my weight below a certain threshold, so that is definitely a good thing.

So moving forward, I decided I'd better go ahead and give PointsPlus a real trial. I'm planning on sticking with it at least 2 months. What the scale does during that time....I am going to try not to stress about it too much - looking at it as a learning experience. I've put myself down as a maintainer for the next challenge - I feel like I'm in a good range. Maybe not as thin as anyone has ever wanted to be, but certainly healthy and comfortable and not something to keep kicking myself about.

My email notifications are only sporadic - I'll try to remember to check in more frequently!