The Maintenance Club

There aren't many people who're active on the maintenance forum, but i'm convinced that maintenance is the affirmation that the project of weight loss/gain that we have gone through is not just a phase, but a commitment to a lifestyle.

some dietary habits of people who have lost weight and stayed slim:

1. Drink water before/during meals
2. Don't skip meals
3. Keep a food diary
   
4. Eat lots of vegetables and whole grain food
5. Exercise moderately and regularly
6. Weigh themselves consistently
   

we might not practice all of them... but we do at least have some things that keep us on the ball/on track! I'm hoping that this thread will help to keep those of us on this forum accountable and motivated. We could post our profile, and edit our post every week on friday to update one another as to how we've been doing, and to get motivated if we've been slipping off the wagon!

I'll start the ball rolling!

Name: doedoebird

Age: 21

Height: 5'6"

Starting Weight: 130lbs

Current Weight: 112lbs

Maintenance Range: 112~115lbs

*Now vs. Then: I'm definitely less sluggish, less easily fatigued, fitter (i can jog 6 miles at a shot!). Oh! and I've got better skin (and hair) too. :3
*i thought that this will help us remain motivated to stay on track subsequently whenever we feel tempted to slide off!

Aims: Regular and moderate exercise (3-5x a week of 30~60min moderate exercise), relatively clean and balanced (vegetarian) eating. Listening to my body (get better at eating when hungry and stopping when full).

Weaknesses: Boredom/emotional eating, a propensity to laziness and procrastination, a bottomless pit when it comes to certain foods (chocolates, cookies , ice cream and pastries....)

Strengths: I try to be self-aware. I am (or at least i try to be) kind to my body (in terms of both diet and exercise). I actually do like exercise (its after-effects especially). I'm a fidgety person. :3

**How I did this week, goals for next week: Last week was great, but a sleepover during which i didn't get any sleep has been leaving me dead tired for the past couple of days, exacerbated by the fact that i'm having my ToTM now (been feeling extremely weak and achy), and i'm also pretty stressed because i'll be going away from home for exchange in about a week. This week I'm just hoping to be able to hold on, stay calm, eat more (i've been having a terrible appetite) and do very light and relaxing exercises!

**I'm thinking that we should check in and update once a week, and the next week, we'll check in and when we do, clear away what we wrote down for the previous week. For me, this is symbolic. It's a pledge to move on, and refuse to be bogged down (or caught up) by what we did wrong in the past.

anyone with me?

mdillman - good to see you back!

I was for Pittsburgh too.  Even tho I have relatives in Phoenix, I'm not crazy about deserts and the West; I'm an East Coast gal.

The writing sounds great - I admire that.  I think about writing memoirs, but don't want to step on anyone's toes.  I know one solution is to fictionalize it, but that seems daunting to me - guess the urge to write is not that strong yet, but it seems to be growing as the years pass.  Maybe one day...

Worked hard outside for 3 hours this morning!

Sue~  The imitation sugar free honey is okay... I just used it to sweeten them because I had it on hand from something else.  I like the Splenda though and use it in lots of stuff.  Lemon cheesecake sounds so good!  I've never had it though.  Your soup sounds so good too!  You're right about the HIIT, it's high intensity interval training.  Did you do yours on a treadmill?  Congrats on the 103.5!!!  Woohoo!

mdillman~  I haven't ever heard that Splenda was proven to be bad... I just know some people are wary of it because it's "artificial", but I really like it.  I haven't dropped dead yet, lol!  The cruise we're going on is a Carnival one... what ship did you go on?  I've never liked sushi, but am willing to try it again on the cruise... and I'm going to try seafood too.  I'm pretty excited about the 24 hour pizza though, I love it!  Glad to hear that the writing is going so well.  You should be really proud of yourself, that's a huge accomplishment.  Sounds like you had a great time watching the game yesterday... don't worry about those extra calories, you'll be fine.  If anything you probably only gained a pound or two, but probably mostly water weight.  I would just eat normally and healthy and you'll be fine.  :)

I did my lifting this afternoon and I'm pretty sore, but such a good soreness!  I upped my weights on my deadlifts and perfected my form (figured out I wasn't doing it quite right) and now I can deadlift over 100 pounds fairly easily!  Yay!  I'm getting stronger.  Hubby is so afraid I'm going to hurt myself and end up in the emergency room.  LOL

Hi ladies ~

Karey - that's great about your weightlifting, but do be careful. I know it's good for your bones.  I have pre-osteoporosis and my Dr. has started me on Evistra.  Last year I tried Boniva and it made me really sick, so I'm going to be careful with this medicine, and any sign of bad side effects and I will stop it.  I know weightlifting is what I need.  I just so prefer to work out in the yard than to do regular exercise indoors.  Also I try to get lots of calcium from legumes and beans.

I don't like sushi either, but I've had vegetarian sushi that was outstanding.  I love seaweed too - it's so crisp and fresh tasting.

Carnival cruise will be lots of fun.  With inheritance money from my mother, I have given my 4 kids and their families a gift of a Disney cruise next October.  It was fun to watch the grandkids' faces and hear their squeals when they opened the announcement cards at Christmas.

Hi all,

Glad to hear you're all doing well.  Sue, I'm glad to hear you've been able to work outside.  I saw on the news this morning that there was a "cold front" going through Florida and thought of you guys down there...but then again, a cold front there is very different than one here!

Karey, have you experimented any more with your protein bars?  Or are you still eating the first batch?  Mostly I just eat clif bars, but I would love to try my hand at making my own if I ever stop being lazy.  Also, that is so awesome that your lifting is going so well.  100 pounds!!  WOW!

And Mdillman, congrats on 56 pages...that is officially getting into novel territory!  Or at least a novella.  That is really exciting.

Things are fine here...busy.  Today was a blood drive at school and I got turned away for low iron :(  I am disappointed, especially since I just had a blood test and was fine.  However, I was REALLY sick last week and hardly ate anything...until the superbowl, when I ate about a ton of chips and dip.  Probably not my most high-nutrition week.  Regardless, I came home from the blood drive and ate a big spinach salad and a double bowl of cream of wheat.

And now I'm off for homework time.  Hope you all have a great night!

Sue~  Thanks, I'll be careful.  :)  That stinks about the pre-osteoporosis... hopefully you get much better results w/the Evistra.  Yeah, I think a bit of weightlifting would be very good for you and your bones, but at least you try and get a lot of calcium.

I'm sure your kids and grankids are going to have a blast on their Disney cruise!  I'm sure they can't wait to go, I know i can't wait to go on my cruise! 

Lydia~  Yeah, it's getting pretty cold here!  Brrr!  It's supposed to get down into the 20's at night! Yuck.  I'm afraid most of our plants are going to die... our traveler's palm is almost dead already form the last cold spell and this one will probably finish it off (it's really tall to try and cover it at night).  :( 

I'm still eating the first batch of 10 protein bars that I made... just ate one.  They're not too bad, just need some sweetness.  Going to try them next time with a 1/4-1/2 cup of splenda added in.  I may also use the Walden Farms pancake syrup instead of the sugar free syrup I used before... it'd be less calories.  Worth a try I guess.  I really like the Cliff Bars too, but they're high in calories so I tend to stay away from them. 

Sorry to hear about the low iron...  :(   Glad to hear that you're feeling better now though!  Being really sick last week probably did screw up your levels.  Oh well, I guess there's always next time.  :)

Not much new here... just exhausted from work today and am tired.  Kinda glad today is my off day and I don't have to workout.  ;)

Hi group!  So good to see everybody chatting -

The cold, yes; we covered all our "babies" - 3 citrus trees, 2 baby tomatoes that are already suffering from the last freeze, an avocado I'm trying to grow.  Onions, broccoli kale and mustard greens will be OK. 

Karey -  what is a traveler's palm?

Tonight I made soup with kale, diced new potatoes, andouille sausage, sauteed onions and celery, garlic, and clam broth - it was good.  All of a sudden I am crazy about soups!

And tomorrow I'm making an Indian curry dish: chicken with peanuts (supposed to be cashews but they are very high, both in price and calories).  And at our farmer's market there is a Spaniard chef  demonstrating paella, one of my favorite dishes. 

Lydia, hope you continue to eat wisely and well.  I've had anemia off and on in the past - now I try to eat plenty of greens.  I can't give blood because I have low blood pressure, which is better than having high blood pressure, I guess! 

Sue~  It's freezing!!  Brr!!!  Glad you were able to cover all your "babies"!  I think most of our tropical type plants are dead or dying!  A Traveler's Palm is basically a palm tree w/big wide leaves that comes up out of the ground in a clump with a wide base and all the stems come up from there.  It's really pretty and kind of reminds me of a banana tree in a way.  Anyways, ours is all brown and shredded now because of the frost... it was way too tall and big to cover.  Hoping that maybe there are a few small green pieces in the bottom middle that can be saved after the rest is cut away. 

Wow, you are quite the soup maker lately!  Some warm soup sounds really good right about now.  What is paella?

I got the day off work today!  I have been sooo busy at work lately.. it goes in spurts, I guess.  Gotta go lift some weights now and do some HIIT on the treadmill.  Have a good day!!!

Kaery ~ freezing is right!  We've had everything covered for 3 days.  I was volunteer gardening for 3 hours this morning at a homeless shelter - 3 good hours of work, just got home.

Now I get to go outside and inspect the damage; hopefully I can uncover, at least for a few days.  I wish the cold weather would be over!  I hope your palm survives.  It sounds pretty - I'll look it up.

Paella is a delicious Spanish dish made in a huge shallow pan, kind of like a giant wok, only flatter.  Rice based, with saffron, onions, garlic, peas, pimiento, tomatoes, and then chicken pieces, lobster, shrimp, scallops, clams, sausage - I love it!

Good for you working out.  I'm trying to get exercise outside, and some inside with housework (ugh!).

Hey everyone!

Hope you've all had a great weekend!

Sue~  Wasn't the weather just gorgeous today?  We had to open up all our windows and let the fresh air in... so nice!  Hope your plants all made it through the cold spell!  We still need to go out and see what we can do w/ours... not really looking forward to it.  I'm not much of a gardening or lawnwork kind of girl, lol.  That Paella sounds really good, minus the lobster, shrimp, scallops and clams.  :)

I went to see the movie "Coraline" today with some friends, it was pretty cute.  Any of you see it yet?  I kind of like the Tim Burton movies, they're kinda funky and cute.   Had some yummy candy and soda (bad, I know) and then we went to Starbucks and hung out.  I just ordered a Skinny Cinnamon Dolce Latte (only 130 calories), my favorite there.  Now I've got to get all that sugar out of my system... tomorrow is a new day and I'll start over clean then.

Hi everybody~

Karey, yes, the weather finally was beautiful yesterday and today, and I was outside a lot.  Yesterday to volunteer helping to put in plants at a middle school (only the work crew, young kids doing community service, never showed up!), then out in our yard, folding up all the protective sheets (hopefully no more freezes!), weeding, trimming, raking.  I also planted:  peas, green beans and more Swiss Chard.

Most plants are ok except for one lime and my bigger avocado.  I'd hate to lose it; been growing it 3 years.

Tomorrow I'm going to make a cauliflower dish with garam masala (Indian spices), tofu, cashews - looks good.  I'll let you know how it turns out.

Is that a new picture of you?  You look great!  I need to update mine.  I did put some new pictures of me with granddaughters on my profile.

Haven't seen Coraline - my husband is not a movie goer.  I joined Netflix, watch 2 movies a month.

Hi again-

Sue, that indian dish sounds SO GOOD!  My new favourite go-to side dish is steamed cauliflower with spicy curry powder.  The indian flavors just go so well with cauliflower!  Anyway, I look forward to hearing how it turns out.

Karey - glad to hear you liked Coraline.  I haven't seen it yet, but I read the book when it first came out (I'm a big Neil Gaiman fan) and it was interesting - quirky and kinda creepy.  And don't let yourself stress about having treats at the movie and over the weekend.  What's life without some treats?!  I guess as long as they stay "treats" and don't become an every day thing, there's no harm...plus you'll enjoy them more if they are only occasional, right?

Oh, speaking of treating myself...this last weekend was "law prom" (pretty much every law school has a formal ball once a year...unofficially known as law prom :)  )  ...And man did I overindulge in EVERYTHING!  We went out for an amazing dinner before hand with some friends.  I had root vegetable stew with chickpea dumplings and a winter endive salad with pomegranates and citrus.  And of course I tried my hubby's sweet potato gnocchi and cauliflower soup.  It's rare that I go to a restaurant where there are interesting vegan options, so of course I had to indulge!  And then there was the prom...I had SO MUCH WINE and even a couple of mixed drinks.  And of course after all of that alcohol I had to have some of the snack spread.  I don't know the last time I ate so many crackers!

Anyway, it was all delicious and we all had a great time.  Typically I would be awash in regret after a night of eating like that, but I just decided not to sweat it.  I didn't even work out the next day.  I guess I figured that I had enough to regret after showing off my awesome dance moves after 5 drinks!

Now it's back to the grindstone.  *sigh*  Have a good Monday/week everyone!

Hi all,

Lydia,

That dish did turn out to be awesome!  You're right; the combination of caulifower and curry is great, and the coconut milk, green beans, tofu and toasted cashews added so much.  We had the rest of the fresh green beans and butternut squash - a good dinner.

Speaking of dinners, your root vegetable stew with chickpea dumplings, and endive salad with pomegranates and citrus, sounds delicious.  I'm going to look for a recipe for the stew.  I've been wanting to do a root vegetable stew for a while.

I did get in some good yardwork.  First pruning roses bushes in the morning down at the Extension office where I took classes to be a Master Gardener, and then gathering bags of leaves from neighbors for mulch (they don't realize they are throwing away something of great value!) and getting new beds ready for roses.

Hi all!!

Sue~  I really hope there aren't any more freezes.  Sorry your avacado may not make it.  That's horrible that you volunteered to help out and the young community service punks never showed!  Says a lot about their character...   That cauliflower dish sounds interesting...  oh, and yep, that's a new pic.  Thanks!  I'll have to check out your other pic. 

Lydia~  I didn't know Coraline was a book... I like the Tim Burton movies, so that's kinda why I saw it.  I wouldn't have real small kids see it though because it is kinda "dark".  You have a point about the treats, thanks!  Sounds like you enjoyed some nice treats too!  The law prom sounds kind of neat... did you get to wear a fancy ballgown?  You should post some pics!  I'm glad you just enjoyed it and didn't regret it.  :)

I found out that today the Wachovia bank across the street from us was robbed - yikes!  When I came home from work around lunch time there was a helicopter hovering over the area, so I knew something was up, and it's usually not a good sign.  Don't think they caught the guy yet, so I just made sure everything was locked up.  Gosh, I love living in this neighborhood!  LOL 

Had a good lifting workout today and feeling much stronger.  I can squat up to 75 pounds now!  Starting to see some muscle in my arms and back, yay!  I need to get some gloves though because when I hold 25 lbs worth of dumbells I get blisters on my palms.  :( 

Hi again

Lydia,

Boy, are you getting strong!  I like to "play" wrestle with my son (who wouldn't hurt me for the world), but if I ever met you I would not mess with you LOL

About Coraline - I have read about it, but haven't read the book or seen the movie.  But it is on the suggestion list for our book club; they're talking about doing books that have good movie adaptations, and seeing the movie too. 

Tomorrow night I'm going to a banquet at my Indian cooking class.  Each person is bringing a dish (I have an eggplant dish with lots of spices and tamarind, a tart kind of fruit - sounds interesting).    Another person is making curried corn - that recipe looks really good.  It seems I'm off the chocolate kick and onto a spice kick.

I have a box of graham cracker  crumbs and they are calling to me to make a lemon pie - not lemon meringue or lemon cheese cake - both yummy.   I'm trying to find a recipe with less calories - any suggestions?

Sue, here's a recipe I found on google (searched for low calorie lemon pie) for lemon pie w/graham cracker crust...

http://www.fooddownunder.com/cgi-bin/recipe.c gi?r=148979

It seems you are always baking something (that or in the garden)!  It must smell wonderful in your house!  :)

Hi Karey,

Thanks for the recipe.  I'll give it a try when my lemons are ripe.

last night was a food adventure - we had our banquet in the Indian cooking class.  I made an eggplant dish which was hard (lots of spices, and it did smell up the house!).  The teacher liked it, though.  And there were some good dishes, especially the curried corn, and the noodle-coconut dessert.  I also liked the cool yogurt dish, which really balanced the heat and spiciness of the other dishes.

I'm not sure how much Indian cooking I'll be doing, though, at least like the dish I made.  You had to  put onion seed and mustard seeds into oil, and when the oil heats up the seeds pop out all over the place!

Hi all,

Sue, what a delicious-sounding food adventure!  I bet it was great trying everyone's dishes.  Too often I get stuck in a rut eating whatever is easy, and it sort of takes the fun out of eating.  I need to make more effort to put a little love into my cooking.  It sounds like you certainly did!  I'm sure you don't want seeds popping all over your house every night, but I'm glad you got to try something different and share it with your class.

How is everyone else doing?  Karey, I'm glad to hear you're making progress with your lifting.  I swear, some day I'm going to get serious about lifting, but right now it's either new running shoes or weights and I'm gonna go with the shoes!  In fact, the shoes are going to officially be my "valentine's gift."  Hubby and I are never really very into Valentine's Day, but it is a good excuse to splurge on something that would be hard to justify otherwise.  So I get shoes and he gets a new video game.  Our other plans for V-Day include: going to the gym, "fancy" lunch out at subway, getting the oil changed in the car, and going to see Friday the 13th with his friend.  ...Maybe I'll chill a bottle of wine and at least pretend to be romantic!

Anyone else have valentine's plans with friends or family?

Oh, and Karey, your new pic is super cute.  I'm about to go post a new one (as you suggested) of me and my date at law prom :)

Happy Friday everyone!

Hello everyone, I’ve been off-site traveling, visiting grandchildren and working. I exercised less but did maintain. I’m the same weight as when I left. Going places where the food wasn’t a huge temptation and feeling sick from a cold helped though I did get an occasional sugar attack. However, they were pretty mild compared to a year ago. I used to buy a chocolate bar every time I was in transit and sometimes when passing through a shop to “keep my energy up.” Not this time. And the bit of chocolate I did eat didn’t taste that good (because I didn’t buy the good stuff for myself).

Glad to see everyone here is doing well. Sue—lugging a heavy shovel counts as weight work. See if you can incorporate lifting into yard work. If you enjoy it, you’ll do it. I’m going in for a bone scan tomorrow and hoping for the best! Banquet at your Indian cooking class sounds like fun. That explains your wonderful dinners. Perhaps I should sign up for a cooking class. I am feeling very uninspired cooking-wise.

Pumpkin—is molasses high in iron? It tastes like it. I love it in oatmeal and figure it is healthy.

Karey—did you post your recipe for your protein bars? I’d love to make them. You are getting so strong. Good for you.

Pumpkin—your plans for V-day sound fun and grounded, how love works in real life! Hope it was a good day.

Hey everyone!  It's been awhile, but I'm still here...

Sue~  Did you get a chance to try out that pie recipe?

Lydia~  I like your new pic!  Very cute!!

Phox~  Yes, I did post my protein bar recipes... they're not the greatest though.  Still working on perfecting them.  One is called "Chocolate/Protein Nutrition Bar" and the other is "No Bake Protein Bar" and is made up mostly of chocolate whey protein powder and peanut butter.  I actually prefer the ones I baked, rather than the no-bake, so I'll probably work on another variation of that one again next time. 

Been stuggling lately with keeping my eating in check and staying motivated.  Really lacking the motivation lately and have been feeling super tired and hungry all the time.  I've been craving some really bad food and am trying to behave, but it's a chore.  Just started on some BC, and it's still totm (over a week!) so I think that is to blame.  Hopefully this will be a better week.

Hi everybody - we are deep into kitchen/family room renovations and are living in odd rooms behind boxes.  So to answer your question about the pie, Karey, I have not had a chance to try it yet!  I miss cooking! 

To distract ourselves from the mess and chaos, we are working outside.  Put in 3 raised beds for roses, 4' x 20 ' each.  Lots of heavy work digging, toting bags of mulch with the wheelbarrow, planting, etc.

But I'm stilll at 105, which is OK, but I'd rather be 101-102.  I think I'm treating myself to an extra glass of wine...