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?

Pumpkin~  I know what you mean about not having to hide in clothes anymore!  I always used to wear baggy clothes to hide my fat rolls, lol.  Now, I look for more fitted clothes to show my new figure and hard work.  Funny how that goes.  Just not sure what my "style" is anymore... there are so many things to chose from.  I was never very good with fashion though, lol.  Finished week 9 of the c25k yesterday morning... seems to be only one final run.  It wasn't bad and felt wonderful to finish it.  Now if I can only find a 5k on a Sunday.  Good luck!

Rachel~  Welcome!  =)  Hope the ankle is feeling better!

Hi k9stylist, pumpkin, rachel,

Wow, I'm almost envious of all the running you are doing.  I used to run but injured both knees and had to have microscopic surgery.  So now I walk, and I really love getting a workout working in my garden.

Yes, I do try to eat a healthy diet - mostly veggies, which fortunately I love.  Bread I can do without, fortunately, except for toast in the morning as a break from cereal.  I do love pasta, rice, beans, but watch the calories when I eat them.

About clothes and style, I never used to care because I felt to fat.  Now I love wearing skinny jeans - don't look too bad in them in spite of my age!

Keep on logging as long as you need to. 

Sue~  Sorry about your knees, that's too bad.  I get sore knees on occasion, so hopefully they won't give out on me as I get older.  Gardening sounds like it'd be peaceful and relaxing.... too bad I don't have a green thumb!  I almost always kill any plants/flowers I buy, lol.  I too, love skinny jeans now!  I got my first pair not too long ago.  =)

k9stylist,

Isn't it great to be a size 4?  Only sometimes it's hard to find many clothes in this size!  Rather have that problem than having to buy big-size clothes, though.

My youngest daughter's birthday is also Sept. 28.  I have 3 daughters, and they have never had a weight problem.  They were all on swim team as kids, and learned the value of regular exercise.

I'm glad to see lots of younger women working to lose weight - this country has a bad weight problem, among other things.  When we go out to eat (which isn't very often) it makes me sad to see so many overweight people, especially young people and children.

Sue~  I love being a size 4!  I actually never thought I'd ever be that size (I was happy when I was a 6), but it's great.  Clothes look so much better on the rack when they're smaller, lol.  My younger sister is jealous because I wear a smaller size than her, but I think she's actually thinner than me (& weighs less) - her hips are wider.  She usually wears a six or eight and she's never been heavy, just tall with wider hips.  Funny how people are all different shapes.  She says it's physically impossible for her to get down to a 4.  Glad to hear your kids learned the value of exercise.  I was always a pretty thin kid, but I gained weight into my late teens/early twenties due to lack of exercise and bad food choices.  I've learned from my mistakes though.  It is sickening to see so many overweight kids... don't they know how to go outside and play?  That's all I did when I was a kid, lol.  Kids play too many video games and eat too much junk these days.  Sad.

I agree with the love of skinny jeans--that was my big goal!  I knew that when I looked good in skinny jeans, I was "done."  I just ordered my third pair!

Actually, the shopping has kind of been a problem.  I just love buying new clothes so much now that I go a little crazy.  It's easy to justify, though, because I literally had to get rid of everything I owned and start all over.  I wish I'd kept one pair of pants, though, so I could have one of those pictures of me in huge pants...you know, like the "after" shot.

*sigh* I love being an "after" photo!

Pumpkin~  The shopping has totally been a problem with me too!  My husband is so frustrated that it seems I'm always buying new clothes.  I have to keep telling him that none of my old clothes fit me!  I had to get rid of all my pants (except of the one pair I kept for my pic), and even my t-shirts are too big that they look funny.  I put on a cute Puma shirt I had from my fat days and he told me it looked funny because it was way too big.  I had to explain to him again that obviously I need more new clothes because I can hardly wear anything I used to own.  47 lbs makes a big difference in your clothes, lol.  Men, they just don't get it.

136.8 today

Karey,

Yeah, the hubby has actually been very understanding (he's just started trying to get in shape, too, so he knows his day will come for new clothes).  However, he's less understanding when I come home with, oh, say, new shoes...since my feet have not changed much ;)  I just can't help it...I have this new-found urge to look cute! 

I can't believe you can wear any of your old clothes!  By the looks of your userpic photo, you must be SWIMMING in all of them!  Oh well, guess that means you need to go shopping...again. 

I lost less than you did, and even though I have kept most of my shirts, a lot of them are just large enough that now they look...sloppy.  Which is fine for t-shirts, but not so great for dress shirts and cute tops.

Pumpkin~  A girl's gotta have cute shoes, right?  :)  Yeah, my hubby doesn't like it when I come home with new shoes, lol.  My old clothes are pretty huge on me... I had to get rid of all the pants because they'd fall down, lol. As for the shirts, I try to wear some of the cute t-shirts I used to have, but they're pretty big still and do look sloppy.  I've been trying to point that out to the hubby so I can prepare him for when I have to go get some new ones.  :)

Thanks for the welcomes k9stylist and Shansen10!  My ankle/s are much better actually, thanks!  I'm so glad, it really made me angry to be injured from wearing high heels XD

Congratulations to everybody on your weight losses, your maintenance, and on having fun shopping for new clothes and shoes!

I never used to enjoy shopping; now my biggest fun is to go to Nordstrom Rack with my daughter.  We are retired, comfortable but by no means rich, and my husband, bless him, is very tolerant.  Still, I have a hard time buying anything I don't really need.  I feel paying $75 for skinny jeans (I always look for sales and shop consignment shops) is paying a lot.  But it is so much fun to look good!

I save my old too-big t-shirts for gardening.  I'm sure changing outfits every day a lot more than I used to!

rachel~  I love high heels, but I'm such a clutz in them, lol.  I have a hard time walking in them since I hardly ever wear them.  I need to get some more... really wanting a pair of cute red ones... hmm.

Sue~  How old is your daughter?  That's nice that you two get to go shopping together... I miss my mom.  She lives back home in WI and I haven't seen her in a couple of years.  I'm excited because my hubby and I are going back home for a visit later this month.  :)  I think it's good that you treat yourself to the skinny jeans every once in awhile, it makes a girl feel good about herself.  =)

Sue -- That's so fun that you love to shop with your daughter...shopping with my Mom is one of my all-time favorite things.  She just came for a visit two weeks ago and we had a great time on our shopping spree :)

Karey-- I hope you have a great visit with your mom!  I don't know how you could go 2 years apart...I would miss my mom so much!  I see her 3-4 times a year, and I am still excited to move back home next year and be close by.

Well, it's Friday and I think that is the day that I said I would be officially checking in and weighing in...so my weight today is 122.  That's a little less than I would expect since I baked for a bake sale last night and between licking the spoons (sometimes I leave more than just a little batter in the bowl because I love eating the batter!) and tasting the bread to make sure it wasn't too embarassing, I probably ate 1300 cals worth of bread.  That'll probably catch up with me later this week!

Has anyone else found that they are actually MORE anal about not going over their calories since reaching maintenace?  I feel like back when I was losing I could go over and think "eh, I'll just eat less tomorrow," but now I am so scared of throwing my whole metabolism out of whack, I get a little nervous when I eat even a little over or a little under. 

More specifically, do you think that if I ate 2500 yesterday and didn't exercise then I would be okay today if I did exercise and eat only 1450 calories?  I would probably eat more, except I also have the odd situation where I don't really get a lunch break today and I have to head out of town before I can eat a real dinner, so what I packed for "lunch" is what I am eating all day... Maybe I should have had a bigger breakfast!

Anyway, enough of my rambles.  How did you guys all do this week?

Pumpkin~  Yeah, two years apart from my mom is a lot and it sucks!  It's so hard to find the time/money to fly up there or for them to come down here.  Everyone is really excited that we're going to fly up there.  :) 

Good job on your weight!  I wish I could say I only weighed 122, lol.  =)  You guys are all so tiny... everyone keeps telling me I shouldn't lose any more weight, that I wouldn't look good.  I guess for now I'm sticking around 135, but maybe later I'll change my mind...  I really just want my tummy to be flat and my thighs a little smaller.  We'll see.  I don't really think I'm any more anal since reaching maintenance since I was always pretty anal about counting anyways, lol.  I would think you should be fine if you exercised today and ate a bit less.  Not sure how intense your workout was, but if it was really intense I would still eat a bit more though. 

I did pretty well this week, even though I've had a sore back/shoulders.  I still think I hurt them lifting, but not positive.  Had one pigout day on pizza, but otherwise been staying on track and exercising regularly.  This morning I ran 5k and than briskly walked for a total of almost 5 miles.  Also did some yoga this am to help stretch my back out some (helped a little).  About to eat my Gardenburger for lunch and then off to work for an apointment.  =)

Hi Karey and Pumpkin,

Good to check in; I like this way of talking about food, eating, exercising, family - it helps us keep on track, I think.

My daughter with whom I love to shop at Nordstrom is just 31 on Sept. 28.  She lives in Weston and I live in Tallahassee (8 hours to drive), so we don't get to see each other as often as we'd like.  I have 2 other daughters, one in Atlanta and one in Lakeland.  We all try to get together twice a year.  We had the best time this past July 4th.  All my sons-in-law like to cook, so we had a grilling contest, and they went all out!

I lost my Mom a year ago in May.  She was 93 and had lived a good life, but I still miss her.  When I was a kid she would take me once or twice a year to NYC.  We would shop at Bloomingdale's, a little at Saks - it was always a treat.

Reading these posts just inspired me to get on the scale - I missed a couple of days, and I am up 2 pounds!!  Don't like that.  I haven't splurged, I just like to cook (made a 4 bean salad, and yesterday a delicious version of chicken fricassee, from Puerto Rico.)  It seems I have to keep up physical activity to keep the pounds off.  When I work hard 2-3 hours in the garden, then I'm OK, and the last couple of days there hasn't been that much to do.

Also, I like to have a total of 3 glasses of wine, late afternoon, dinner and after dinner. 

Pumpkin, I like to try to stay pretty steady on my caloric intake - of course, being retired I have the luxury of a pretty regular schedule.  Since I just gained 2 pounds, I think I'd better get back on the logs for a while.  That's the beauty of this program - it really allows you to monitor what you are doing with regard to caloric intake, weight and exercise.

Good luck to all!

I feel like I'm coming in a little bit late but Wow- this is exactly what I've been looking for!

Name: liz

Age: 19

Height: 5'7"

Starting Weight: 149lbs

Current Weight: 116lbs

Maintenance Range: 115~120lbs

Now vs. Then: I'm so much more comfortable with my body and because of that I'm much more confident all around. I feel like I regained control of myself (I gained 20 lbs last year due to stress, bingeing, and an all around unhealthy relationship with food)

Aims: Regular exercise [at least 3 times a week of 30 minutes walking/running], not obsessing over food- adjusting to a maintenance diet and not gaining weight back!

Weaknesses: Binge eating [started having a problem with it again recently and am trying to get it in check before I balloon up], becoming anxious about food.

Strengths: I am becoming more aware of the connection between my eating and my emotions.

**How I did this week, goals for next week: This week was a bit of a jumble- some good days followed by two really bad days which have lead me to the point of being ready to take an active initiative in maintaining this weight!

Sue~  A fellow Floridian!  I live about halfway between Daytona Beach and Orlando, but I'm not from here (from WI).  Are you a native, or from somewhere else?  I find that almost everyone I meet down here is from somewhere else, very few were born in FL.  The get together with your daughters sounds really nice!  Sorry about your mom... sounds like she had a very long and good life though.  I think I'll be lucky if I make it to 80!  No one in my family has ever lived much past 80 or so.  Don't stress about being up 2 lbs, I'm sure you'll get it off in a day or two.  Maybe you're retaining water from some salty food or something. 

Liz~  Welcome!  =)  Another 5'7" girl!  You're so much lighter than me though, lol. 

Liz - welcome!  You are in the right place here.  So many people are so helpful.  I well remember the days of suffering from binging and an unhealthy connection between rollercoaster emotion and overeating.  Most days it seemed like the only comfort was food, food, food, especially anything sweet.

But you are right about becoming more self confident and comfortable in your body with the weight loss.  I always used to feel that there was a thin person inside me.  I finally have been able to bring that person to the surface, and I am determined to stay this way.

Karey,  yes, a fellow displaced Flordian!  I am originally from the northeast; born in upstate NY, grew up in Conn.  My husband is from Iowa.  One of his daughters lives in Melbourne Beach.

Yesterday I used the weight and calorie logs, and this morning I was back down 1.5 pounds.  So I'll continue using the logs for at least a few days, just to be sure.  Wed.  I'm travelling to Lakeland for a week to help my oldest daughter.  Her husband is travelling to Australia and Russia on business for 2 weeks, and they have 3 little girls, the middle one with severe disablilities.  We'll have fun cooking together. 

Sue~  Congrats on being back down 1.5 again.  :)  It's so nice of you to go and help your daughter out for a week.  I'm sure you'll have fun.

I'm trying to make myself motivated this morning to exercise, but I just don't feel like it.  My back is sore again and I'm sooo hungry that I just want to eat everything.  Don't know what's wrong with me today, lol.  Hopefully I'll get my butt in gear and do some walking after lunch and some weight lifting later.  I need a kick in the rear today!

Karey- consider yourself kicked! (Just kidding).

When I get hungry before mealtime, I snack on carrots or celery, drink a cup of tea or diet coke, and try to find something to do.  But I'm a little concerned about colder weather, when I won't feel so motivated to go out and work hard in the garden. 

As a child my parents always had a garden, but I didn't go near it.  Now I love it.  I even enjoy turning the compost.  It's a thrill to watch my asparagus, shallots and broccoli come up.