@JustaMom, I’ve actually considered that this is my new normal since it takes so much deprivation and effort to lose even a small amount, but I know I feel healthier and better just a few pounds lighter - it does make a difference. And I have some medical issues that are positively impacted by even a few extra pounds. I’m going to try to do this one pound at a time (or even .8) and see if i can get close to my goal (which is no where near what I weighed at 23!), even if the process is frustrating.
I share your experience @runnersmom. I’ve been at my personal goal for four months but it took a year of small losses and ups and downs to get there. Even now, with vigilance, I cannot seem to keep the scale at the optimal number. The variation is normal I’m sure but it’s frustrating to see the scale jump a pound on weigh in day when I can’t point to anything that would have brought it on. And then it takes supreme effort to get that pound to melt away. Oh well…it’s better than watching 15, 20, 25 pounds creep back.
One thing I observed during my period of weight loss: there is sometimes, for some people, a lag between good eating and exercising habits and weight loss. It was never dramatic for me but especially at the beginning, I waited and waited to see a good weight loss and…nothing. Then, when the program really kicked in, I started to see losses-small but significant!- that must have stemmed from that earlier change in eating.
@JustaMom thank you, that is inspiring. And you have my sympathies on the discs. I have had terrible sciatic pain for the past month and haven’t yet found the doctor who can diagnose and treat it–but I’ve had to stop nearly all my exercise. I can barely walk. 
I’m hoping it doesn’t lead to weight gain but it’s good to know getting back on track is quick and relatively painless.
So…I was losing slow but pretty steady. Was down 6.8# in one month - not great, but I was happy to be going in the right direction. This past weekend between Father’s Day and some other events, I fell off the tracking wagon and definitely was not doing well on the plan, but wasn’t horrible by any means. In fact, I was certainly better than I would have been in my old “normal”. So, I was shocked to see that I gained about three pounds since I weighed myself on Friday morning! How is it possible to undo nearly half of my progress in just 3 days?
I am back on the plan today, tracking every morsel that goes in my mouth but I feel discouraged.
@my2sunz I am right there with you. I had lost over 10 lbs but this last week was a bad one and I gained 2 of them back. It seemed everything was conspiring to put me in challenging positions and I need to get better at handling them. I did track but blew through the weekly allotment. It was discouraging but I am trying to get back on track.
@Singersmom07 - I’m sorry to hear that, but at least I’m not alone! Good that we are both back on the bandwagon though, right? 
It “should” be a short lived gain, and is likely due to substantial salt/sugar/fats excess. I would make sure to eat your daily points and ramp up the exercise for the next 10 days. Don’t go low on your points, but try not to go over and into weekly extras. The gain “should” come off quickly - we just had this discussion in our meeting Saturday.
After an upswing in my loss last week (down 3.6 lbs in my 12th week) I was diagnosed with Optic Neuritis also last week and just took 3 days of IV Steroids on top of now taking 2 weeks of heavy oral steroids. Like that, I gained 3 lbs of water weight overnight last night. I am going to have to try even harder to stay on plan and push the water as well as now really watch the sodium. Everyone tells me the steroid induced weight will drop off fairly quickly once I am off them but still it is a setback (in more ways than just this) that is making me feel frustrated. Cannot stop now though!
@millermomm that sounds quite serious - I certainly hope the steroids help calm the current inflammation - as for the WW part, just keep reminding yourself, that this way of eating and taking care of yourself is forever (hopefully) and let that guide the process.
Sorry to hear that, @millermomm…hope you have a quick recovery. And the important this, as @JustaMom said, just keep going and it will sort itself out.
Thanks @my2sunz and @JustaMom. That is what I keep reminding myself of! The better I continue to take care of myself the quicker my recovery will be. I am trying to keep this in mind. This is so new that there is no diagnosis yet as to what is possibly causing my loss of vision but I am seeing a neurologist tomorrow on an urgent appointment. The steroids are doing me in now though and I am going to take the rest of the week off work. I though steroids would be a party lol.
I now know that I really can live with this new plan. I had a bad weekend last week blowing through all the weekly points and was up 2 lbs, but at the end of the week I actually lost 2 instead. I never knew that I could recover the weekly points with my regular walking. In the past if I blew the points I kind of gave up tracking since it seemed useless. This time I decided to stay with it and see what happened. The recovery of points made it easy to get back on track without so much discouragement. I have lost 5% of my starting weight. Still have a long way to go.
Sorry about the optic neuritis, @millermomm. Steroids might cause weight gain so don’t fret. And @runnersmom -congrats on your weight loss. Being less than a pound away from your desire is very admirable. Don’t be too restrictive- its a lifestyle change, not punishment! At least thats what I tell myself. I wanted to lose 15-16 lbs but only lost 10. I’ve been at around the same weight for a month or so now.
I could have tried harder (my s’s wedding is this upcoming weekend and I wanted to look good), but I am ok with where I am weight-wise. I am at the weight I was when I bought the dress so this is ok (I had gained a few back but lost it again). I will have less incentive to lose the last 5-6, so we shall see. I am only a lb over what I weighed when I met DH over 34 years ago, so there’s that. Funny, I kinda blew it over the weekend, but was temperate on my birthday yesterday. My goal is to weigh what I weighed 5 yrs ago, but I may not get there. Its really hard to stay at that weight.
@jym626 last week’s weigh in had me remain the same weight (which I gladly accepted) - my leader wrote down RX on my card. Still on oral steroids throughout this week and I feel incredibly bloated. My home scale is off from the WW meeting scale usually so today I will see what the damage is (if any). In better news I visited my opthamologist yesterday and I have gained my eyesight back to 20/40 in that eye (down from a 75% loss). We will know in a few weeks what the final will be but the Dr said if he had had to place bets when I first saw him he would have guessed I would not recover most of my sight at all so he is very pleased. I am pleased too!
Checking in - Week 4 of maintenance and all is well.
How’s everyone else doing? Do you find this time of year more difficult? How will you handle 4th of July picnics and such?
I am still losing 1-2 lbs per week. It seems that one day over or even 2 that go off the rails are not a disaster anymore. I might not lose 2 that week but I can recover faster. I did notice my allowed weekly points went down this week. I guess that is the reduction in points that I was expecting at some time. But I still have a long way to go and I think it gets harder the closer you get to goal.
I took an entire week off but will start up tracking again tomorrow. I had elective surgery (breast reduction) this past Monday and I pretty much ate what I felt like was good for me to eat without tracking anything (had enough of medicine tracking and other details to deal with food tracking too!) I think I have gained, but I also have some residual abdominal bloating which I’ve heard is common after this surgery. On the plus side, the doctor removed about 3.25#, so there’s that. LOL
As for the holiday this coming week, I think we’re laying low, so don’t think it will be too much of an issue this year for me. How about everyone else?
Glad you are on the mend @my2sunz. Take care!
Week 5 of maintenance weigh in today, and fully holding my own! Thank for all your support.
I’ve been delinquent in the past few weeks but the scale is holding, so far. I’m still down 5 pounds from my start date and that’s fine with me since I’ve not had to make major changes. I am exercising more even though it’s pretty low impact stuff, and I am adapting my diet in ways that don’t seem like I am depriving myself of anything I want. I limit my wine to weekends, try to be mindful of my trigger foods (bread and meat), and allow myself small portions of real treats (ice cream etc.) on the weekends. My DIL is pregnant, and I’d love to lose my last 7 pounds before she delivers in November so I can have even more stamina for our new addition!
It’s been a while since anyone checked in. How is everyone doing? Vacation month of July was just pretty much stay steady for me but I am back on the downward move now. Question, what do you do about clothes while you are still losing? I have lost about 20 pounds now and clothes aren’t fitting right but I don’t want to invest yet.