Hello all,

I'd like to start a thread for those of us who made it to goal but for some reason or another, are having trouble staying there or getting back there There seem to be a few of us now who are trying our best to stay on track, or get back on track.

I thought if we had a place to post what we're eating, and what we do for exercise, we could encourage one another. We could make suggestions to each other on what food finds we have found work well ( sleeve portions, low carb favorites, meal ideas, snack ideas, etc.,Anything you feel is helping you, we all want to know about it.

Lately, I am having a lot of trouble exercising. I've done the same thing for so long, I am just sick of it. I need some new routines. I've done the elliptikill and the same weight machines for so many years, I think my body doesn't even consider it exercise anymore. I am a big baby about exercising alone, so that's why I choose these machines. I can do it by myself, and watch tv at the gym. I wish I had the money for a trainer to show me some new stuff . I'd like to learn what to do with the kettlebells, but I feel stupid swinging them around not knowing what I am doing. I have the same problem with the free weights.

I hope this thread takes off and we can all motivate each other.

I struggle with exercise too. Today I walked in the park and looked at all the wild life. There were so many people out exercising. I do need to get myself back to the gym really soon. Like yesterday. I like the idea of this topic. Thanks Oregondaisy.

I have been stalled now for about 6 weeks. I am sooooo close to my goal. I am only 12 pounds away but I cant seem to break out of these bad habits I developed. I was on vacation last week and found myself eating with everyone else. Cookies, chips, JUNK. I really dont want to not make goal and then not be able to maintain it either. I am about a pound away from a normal BMI now but that is not my personal goal. I could change my goal and say being normal is good enough, but I know in my heart I would feel like i failed or lowered my standard. I need help with finding what works for these last pounds and keeping them off! I cant let myself get this close and not make it!!

I'm still a ways from my goal (about 60 pounds), but I hope you all won't mind if I follow along here. I'm at the struggle stage with losing and I know that I have to keep the faith and keep up with my exercise routine. But, extra encouragement is always good!

Count me in, although I am not at goal, I haven't lost a pound since Oct and would love the see the scale move. I started a thread 'gonna get to goal...' and I regularly post there too, but it will be interesting to get some tips here too, to see how to reboot the losing phase.

Oregondaisy, re the kettle bells, they are awesome little things that really work. I downloaded an app for my phone that cost £1.99! There are DVDs out there too, but I thought the cheap app would help me to get into it before I paid out a lot of money... the 5kg kettle bell cost £8, so all for less than a tenner... bargain. When I am cleared for exercise by my physio, I will defo be doing the kettle bell work out again.

Looking forward to see this thread grow! =]

So what kinds of things are people finding they use as their "go to" food they grab in a hurry. Mine is baby bell light cheese. At night, I have to have a 100 calorie pack of

chocolate dusted almonds.

I've just recently gotten started eating Jerky. I bought some turkey jerky at costco the other day, and I really like it.

I'm at goal (2 years out next month) and maintaining the weight fairly well. It's the exercise I can't get into! I've hated it from day one and it's a struggle to make myself do any kind of workout more than two days in a row. I'm horrible about it. I feel better because I'm smaller but I know I'd benefit from exercise. I just hate it. I only do it when I can be slightly competitive about it and I have nobody to work out with here. If I have a buddy to work out with, where I'll know that person worked out today I'll feel that motivation to get in there and compete. Not ruthlessly or anything...I'm just not a solitary workout person. If I'm alone, I'd rather do anything BUT exercise!

I also admit that despite the fact that the scale usually shows the same range of numbers, I am not the best eater anymore. Oh yeah, I have great days where I drink my coffee Protein first thing and follow a reasonable, healthy diet the rest of the day. But I also have that occasional day where I skip meals, eat pure crap and snack on a cookie before bedtime. I feel guilty about it but am walking that fine line, you know? It's not impacting my weight (yet) so it must not be a problem...but I know it's part of what made me overweight in the first place. I bake for everyone and lately the baked goods are more tempting than usual. I used to have no problem baking five dozen Cookies and sampling only one. Now I have to get them out of the house quickly.

It's gotten worse now that we're trying to get pregnant - I'm on hormones and they're causing me to feel hungry all day long.

My go-to Snacks right now are nuts - roasted pistachios, sunflower seeds or almonds. It's not the greatest snack but if I'm careful to count them out before I snack they're satisfying and have a bit of fat and protein. I love jerky and eat that almost every day - I wish I could find my favorite variety of turkey jerky here but I can't. I also miss string cheese. I can't wait to get back to America this summer!

If anything, the last few months have kind of been a wake up call. I worked really hard to overcome bad habits during my losing phase but I didn't realize that in times of stress (like now) I'd still find myself wanting to revert to those old habits and having to fight the urge to nibble when feeling frustrated. I just thought I was past all this.

~Cheri

CLK, I'm so happy you posted about your struggles! I've eaten some things that aren't strictly good for me lately... and I've found another possible slider.

Clif bars are the bane of my existence! I found a couple of new flavors (oatmeal raisin walnut and black cherry almond) that are both fantastic tasting! I've really missed the taste of fruits other than bananas apparently!! Now I find myself wanting to snack on the Clif bars, which sounds like it would be good, but they have around 300 calories EACH. Once this box is gone, I am not buying any more of them until I'm in maintenance. I'll stick with the Premier Protein bars that, while they taste fine, don't tempt me to eat them as Snacks.

I am addicted to exercise and can't imagine a day without it now. I think the exercise is slowing down my weight loss, in combo with those darn clif bars, LOL. I reached the Century Club on May 28 and it's taken me until today to get from there (252) to 249.4! I've lost another size since then, but I really want to see that scale moving. Shame on me. I should be happy with the smaller measurements and loose clothes and I should quit whining!

Okay. Whine over. Thanks for listening.

Oregondaisy hope you do not mind me jumping in as well...Lissa, Forensic,CLK I am so with you All. Seriously I could not wait to hit 100 lbs down, did that almost 4 weeks ago and now it is like time has stopped, at least for the scale to move. I need mentally to get out of the two hundreds. Seeing the scale stay and teeter between 203...204...201.6 is just frustrating.

My routine:

Up at 4:15am,

Make hubby lunch

Cup of coffee with light soy

Take vits

Read forum a bit

Bottle of Water for elliptical at 5:30am

Elliptical 30-40 mins vary intensity

Get ready for work

Work (from home unless traveling) 7am

Premiere Protein shake 8am

Bottle water with crystal light

Lunch generally 4oz boiled shrimp with cocktail sauce and handful lettuce with light balsamic or caesar dressing

Sometimes 1/2 premiere Protein Bar not always, another bottle of water

dinner - generally 4oz protein ofsome sort, chicken, shrimp And small vege

Snack to take potassium ..have to open capsules, yoguart or applesauce, low sugar

So gal pals what do you think?

Thanks...oh and CLK, hoping you are successful getting preg, it is God's greatest gift and you all will be great parents!

Sent from my iPad using VST

Of course I don't mind you jumping in! The more the merrier! Your eating looks very good.

CLK, I am a big baby when it comes to exercising. The only way I can do it is at the gym in front of the TV. They have TVs in front of all the cardio equipment. I plan my exercise according to what I want to watch on TV. ( in the morning) If I get lost in a show, it's a lot more bearable. I also really enjoy walking with friends, but I never walk alone. I wish I could force myself to get out there by myself and go and walk.

It's so hard now, cause I can eat anything. I can put something in my mouth without even thinking or planning. It's so hard if I see someone else eating, like my hubby. I have a friend who is sleeved, and it's gotten where I can't even go to her house. She eats bags and bags full of candy, but doesn't gain weight. I can weight immediately if I have any.

I've recently discovered Power Crunch bars. They are 200 calories, 10 carbs 10 Protein. They are so good, like a candy bar. The only problem is, I don't need 200 extra calories for any reason. It's not like they fill me up , or I would eat one for lunch.

Why does life have to be so fattening? And why can my husband eat 4 candy bars a day and not gain an ounce? where is the mad face? A smiley just won't do in this rant!

Through the months I have found many good healthy snack foods. Unfortunately, it seems like I am tired of them all and only want junk right now. Repeat, then repeat again. My weight has gone up a bit, around 3-6 pounds the last 4 months, and with my eating the way it is... and exercising less because of bone spurs...Im looking at a dilemma. I about 12 pounds from my goal...and wont get there this way! My will power is BAD right now... I went back on PPIs to see if that might help the hunger...I can also really see stress turns on the "eat now" voice. I have approval to go to a physical therapist which might get me back on track with my dancing class... I do miss that a bunch. I guess I just really FEAR gaining more weight back...6 pounds is not horrible... I just want to feel like I continue to succeed and not fail (like every other time) My kitchen garden is kicking in, and I have more fresh veggies around, I am trying to cook and have stuff in the fridge that is ready to eat. I am making desert foods for on demand too... sf puddings, vegetarian sf jello with blueberries... this helps to some degree, but the junk is still a magnet to me. I hope when I get back to dance class things will get easier. I pack a bunch of little nibbles in my lunch... fruit, cucumbers and hummus, crackers and cheese or string cheese, there is a veggie jerkey that is really good and low cal, carb and 10gms pro. I get that sometimes. Peanut butter with chocolate chips is my very fav snack... but portion control is the key... I tend to measure out just a little more... which turns into a little bit more, then its really two servings. The single thing that keeps me slightly on track is making sure I write it all down... even when its not pretty. If i go through a spell away from the computer for days, the weight goes up.

That's a really good habit you have, tracking your food. I've never gotten into the habit of doing that. It just seems so difficult to find all the foods and figure out the portions. Like what is the portion of a handful of pretzels or a squirt of ketchup.

Staying on track is so hard. The thing that keeps me watching what I eat carefully is the scale. I've gained back 10 from my lowest, but I've been maintaining at that for a very long time now.

Feedyoureye: I am having the same problem with foods. I am so tired of eating healthy foods like proteins that I totally want carbs right now. This weekend, i allowed myself to eat small containers (240 cal) of ice cream. I go to dinner with my family and I order a dinner and eat too much. I am so tired of not being to eat the unhealthy stuff. It's so sad. I am starting to read treatments books for emotional eating and a book called habits. I know what I should be doing, but have difficulties with redirecting myself to more healthier things. Now I've decided that I just don't want to eat. Sugar for me is addicting and I have been pulled towards sugars lately. I really need to get back on track and get rid of my head hunger. I have the same fears as you of failing and gaining te weight back. I'm beginning to panic.

That's a really good habit you have, tracking your food. I've never gotten into the habit of doing that. It just seems so difficult to find all the foods and figure out the portions. Like what is the portion of a handful of pretzels or a squirt of ketchup.

I just don't bother with the squirt of this and the bite of that... I round stuff up, I list something close in calories, I do what I can if I don't have the exact info. I try to measure my standard foods...I eye ball things sometimes, but need to measure or the portion size will creep up. I'm a sneaky one! I do the best I can with logging the food. I don't even count low cal veggies. I do count fruit though, because of the carbs. On the days that I am eating out a lot, or grazing a bite of this and a sip of that are the hardest, I sometimes give up on those days... but mostly those days are vacation days and oh well.

Feedyoureye: I am having the same problem with foods. I am so tired of eating healthy foods like Proteins that I totally want carbs right now. This weekend, i allowed myself to eat small containers (240 cal) of ice cream. I go to dinner with my family and I order a dinner and eat too much. I am so tired of not being to eat the unhealthy stuff. It's so sad. I am starting to read treatments books for emotional eating and a book called habits. I know what I should be doing, but have difficulties with redirecting myself to more healthier things. Now I've decided that I just don't want to eat. Sugar for me is addicting and I have been pulled towards sugars lately. I really need to get back on track and get rid of my head hunger. I have the same fears as you of failing and gaining te weight back. I'm beginning to panic.

Hang in there, Don't panic! You still have your sleeve, and it will help like you never had help before... just keep trying to do what you can every day. Don't beat yourself up... I don't know about you, but that makes me want to eat MORE... And lose strength to continue the fight.

What happened to this thread?

Is anyone else having trouble staying on track? I know the new people do so well with tracking their food, and eating tiny portions. It's so easy in the beginning.

Now, I am around people that eat whatever they want, all the time. It's so easy to throw in a handful of chips, or a couple Cookies, etc. The scale is creeping up, and I have to stay on track. I refuse to buy bigger clothes.

I need to tape my mouth shut.

At 15 months out this past week was the 2nd week since sugery I didn't lose. It makes me feel good, but also scary...I ate a lot more this past week...but anymore...I would gain. I hate my kitchen and where I live so I still live on string cheese and lean cuisine, but I really need some low cal snacks. Eating some junk food here and there is ok, but I am starting to eat it everyday. I am trying now to push my dinner so it is a little closer to bedtime...helps with less snacking. I am totally scared of gaining the weight back. I just hope I don't get into old habits of feeling like...oh well...I want it so I am going to eat it attitude. I need to learn some self control. It is a day by day process.