i guess i belong in "maintenance" now...

i cheated a little.  after hovering in the low 140s forever (really.  it was like 1.5 years), i had surgery, then complications, and dropped 14 pounds in three weeks.  that put me at 129, which was 6 pounds below my goal weight.

it wasn't the best way to lose weight, obviously, but so far i've been able to maintain below 135 (129 was great, but even if that weight was sustainable, the way i got there definitely wasn't) since may 16.  my health has rebounded well and my life has stabilized after the surgery, a major move, and starting a new job.  i'm still weighing daily, and i've been steady in the 132-133 range.  if i hit 134, i'll make whatever adjustments are necessary (and if i drop back to 130, even better!).

I think it is great that you are maintaining!  You hit your target weigh and more!  It's too bad that surgery was necessary, but if you rebound from that in a healthy way, then you came out a big winner!  Keep up the good work.  Very impressive.

I didn't think I had reached my desired weight goal, but, after carefully looking at the last 10 days of my average weight, apparently I am in a "maintenance" mode.  I kept changing my weigh goal anyway, because it became easy for me to lose; but now I realize that my desire to eat a few more calories daily while exercising a bit less may not be possible.  Yes, I can "maintain" but if I cut back on exercise and don't decrease calories, I will NOT be able to maintain.  Dang!   That was not what I had hoped for.

thanks, pilgrim.

if you're happy where you are, that's great, but i don't think you should take a ten-day plateau to mean you're stuck.  ten days is nothing!  and while taking an average is a good way to keep things in perspective, the next piece of the puzzle is to compare that ten-day average to a ten-day average from a few weeks or even months back.  otherwise, you're comparing apples and oranges, y'know?

Yes, that could be a good way to view it all.  I guess I am going to have to bite the bullit and take, say, 7-10 days where I cut back a bit on exercise and increase my calorie intake to 2400-2600 and see if the new 7-10 day average is too much of an increase. 

I also took your suggestion of comparing the last 2 10-day ranges;

the previous 10 day range my average weight (I weigh around 3-6 times daily) was 173.31

the last 10 day range for my average weight is       & nbsp;      &nbs p;       & nbsp;      &nbs p;       & nbsp;      &nbs p;       & nbsp;      &nbs p;       1 71.89

Now, I will have to see what happens if I go from 3 hours of exercise a day to 90 minutes and go from 2300 calories to 2500-2600 daily.  I will have to do this for 10 days, I guess.  I don't know if I am "brave" enough to try this.  If you hear a loud scream, it will be 10 days from now finding out that my average weight is 176.

Anyway, thanks for the advice.  Best of luck to you in your maintenance regimen and goals!

It's weird to make the switch to maintenance. I've been on CC since May of 05 and I spent most of that time w the same weight. I finally entered a challenge at the end of last year and have hit my goal (actually goal was 155 and I hover at 145).

So, it's kind of like: now what? haha

But anyway, congrats on now being at maintenance!

Welcome to the maintenance crowd, pg! I must warn you, though, there are a lot less people starving themselves to pick on over here..

There you are!  I hope you are feeling better.  I had missed seeing your posts and your quick wit!  Maintenance is such an icky word.  How about lifestyle,  too hokey?  How about just life then.  You already know  about maintaining, you lived in 140 land for a year and half remember?  Have you started your new job yet?  If so hope that's going well too.  Take care!

great to here that..if you feel good with the weight your at right now, then stay that way.. it's not bad to cheat at times..hehe..but make sure to make up for that.. it's okay to reward yourself with what you want to eat after exerting so much effort at losing and maintaining weight.. thias has been very helpful to me:
http://mastercleanse.me

2 months, and still holding steady at 131-133 :)

it's not even hard.  i stay away from beer (for the most part) and don't go overboard on the junk food, but otherwise i eat what i want.  the best part is, i can't see myself becoming less active, because the dog won't allow it. 

belly is still puffy from the surgery, though (well, and from containing a 3lb uterus for however many years), which is a pain.  my waist is still a size 8, but everything else is a size 6, so i always feel like my pants are falling off.

pgeorgian:  This is great! "2 months, and still holding steady at 131-133."  I also think you have made smart choices in eating things you like while skipping most of  the junk food and not drinking as much beer.  I have only been holding steady for about 3 weeks (168-173); it remains to be seen if I can maintain as well as you have.  I have a family reunion coming up, so I need to be really active those 4 days and also to have fun but watch the booze and food. 

my current low-cal booze choice: vodka and soda with cucumber slices.  yum!  i used to drink it with lime, but i think this is tastier, and cucumber doesn't shed pulp in the glass :)

Out of curiosity, how many calories per ounce?  Basically, only whatever the vodka has? 

I astounded my relatives by giving up high alcohol, high-calorie Imperial Stouts, which I used to consider as being the nectar of the gods.   At one sitting,I might drink 3 to 6 stouts with 8 to 13% alc. content and 200-260 calories per bottle.   That was a heck of a lot of calories over a year's time.  Also, it was a bit stiff on the pocketbook, too.

Original Post by pilgrimdude:

Out of curiosity, how many calories per ounce?  Basically, only whatever the vodka has? 

yup.  club soda has a little sodium, though (depends which brand, but 75-90mg/cup), so that can add up, if you get carried away :)

oh, and if you eat the cucumbers, that's probably, oh, 4 or 5!

Basically, I think vodka, depending on the alc. % would have around 70-80 calories per ounce.  That is not bad at all.  I was looking up some of the Imperial Stouts and porters I used to drink--Wow!  Many of them had from 250-380 calories per 12 oz. bottle. 

I used to eat a lot of fried chicken, baby back ribs, grilled rib steaks, pizzas, and succulant duckling.  And I also would often drink stouts with those meals.  My goodness!  No wonder my pants were fitting tightly!  I also ate a lot of homemade caramel corn and buttered popcorn and a lot of salted mixed nuts.  Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm...wonder why my blood pressure and cholesterol count were so high?!