Now I need to put the breaks on without regaining.  I lost another 0.2 lbs, and that puts me a full pound under my goal.  Not good - my b00bs are shrinking!  I'm afraid I'll increase too much though and start gaining.  Sigh...  

Incidently, instead of earning the 10 Pound badge when I logged the 10.8 lbs lost, I didn't get it until this morning when I hit 11 whole pounds.  Odd - seems like it's the 11 Pound badge that way, right?  I noticed yesterday I didn't earn it and was confused...I like the badges maybe a little too much for an adult, lol.

Yes, you will need to find a nice balance.  I am great at maintaining my current weight without out much trying.

But not happy.  Does Lose it give you calories with strength training?  Myfitness does not which is fine.  I like just using the cardio calories.  I always underestimate as well.

It does if you enter it, but you don't have to enter weight training (or any exercise) if you don't want to increase your budget.  The thing is, LoseIt assumes no activity at all when it gives you a budget, and if you don't add in all your exercise including housework you don't get enough calories.  It set mine at 955 - a starvation number.  So, I included all my exercise in the log.  I could have chosen instead to manually increase my budget to 1100, but then I wouldn't be able to log exercise and bump it up even more.  

Kar, I am sure it needs a lot of adjustments, to eat normally again. I feel really fine the way, I am eating these days. Just can't imagine eating twice as much. Many things, I usually would pick at, have lost my interest. F. ex. DH cannot eat a sandwich w/o chips, and I would pick a couple from his, but these days they just don't appeal to me.
Btw. 0.4 pound down this morning. 2.4 away from my goal.

Wow, you are really cruising, Pingo!  Congrats on another drop and being so close to your goal, you're doing fantastic, and I know how hard it is without being able to exercise as much as you'd like.  Hoping that situation resolves well very soon.

I'm adjusting...just went to the diner and left feeling satisfied, not stuffed, but not wishing I could have had more.  Entered it all into LoseIt and have 800 calories left for the day!  On loss I would have had coffee with an English muffin egg, cheese, and Canadian bacon sandwich.  Today, I added a 1/2 order of French fries and 1/4 cup of ketchup to go with.

Like you, I've lost the drive to munch and pick all day...that's really where I used to go very wrong.  Being home all day made it tempting, but not anymore.

Having figured out retroactively by what I ate per day (average # reported by LoseIt) and how much I lost over 39 days (3500 calories to a pound) that I burn 2220 calories a day, I am starting to relax about my fear of regaining.  I've been following LoseIt's recommendation of 1700, and I'm actually still losing weight which makes perfect sense given I actually burn 500 calories a day more than that, and that would translate to about a pound a week - Bye-bye boobies.  So, I'll bump it up slowly to probably settle around 2000.

Still losing, Kar? You definitely need to bump up your budget. Slenderness is fine, but a bag of bones is not.
Today is my "last" day on Loseit! I will relax it from tmw. and then start again after everyone has gone. But I have a solid loss of 8 pounds, and I am very happy with that for now.
I made the cabbage soup last night and will have that for lunch today, so I can enjoy tacos tonight. Son, who will fly in tonight (hopefully, crossing my fingers in this bad weather) asked for it. I can make that ahead of time, and it can wait for however long might be.
Even though I will relax it, I don't plan to overdo it. My eating habits has changed for the better. I will still go on the scale every morning and record it, just to keep track on myself, but I don't think I will take to time to log, unless the scale goes up again. Too time consuming with all the different foods, we will be having. I would have to enter recipes and customize everything. I want to spend time with my family instead.

Pingo, I posted a response that disappeared!  Shoot, bdc, I thought you took this over so you could fix these big problems.

anyway...

another pound, that's great!!  You've rocked this, Pingo - 8 lbs is just over a whole size; you must really see and feel a difference.  And, this will help your hip tendons, too.  Great job!

glad you are taking a break for the rest of the month.  Like you say, after being so conscious of portions and calories you won't overdo accentally.  You might consider using a half cup measure for the more decadent sides just to make sure even though you aren't planning to track in LoseIt until after everyone leaves.  It's really hard to do much damage if you're armed with a half cup measure.

yes, I'm still losing unintentionally.  I ate a potato as a bedtime snack with cheese and butter just to increase my calories.  I'm trying to figure things out, but have to admit I'm enjoying heading into Christmas, New Year's, and my birthday with a 2 lb cushion as I discover my calorie sweet spot of no loss but no gain.

everyone, enjoy your families and food over Christmas and NY's - the best thing about counting calories is that it's not a diet, you can have anything you want!!

2 pound cusion? That sounds like a dream, especially before the holidays. I went down another 0.2 this morning w/o trying - except for the cabbbage soup for lunch. So, I am confident I can stay at this holding pattern until after the new year. 
Half cup measure is a great idea. So far I have eyeballed everything. Deck of cards, tennis ball etc.
So when is your company coming? I am sure your wonderful BIL will have something to say about your new slender body, but no matter how nasty he might be, just give him a big smile and say to him, "Glad you like it!"

You are definitely all set for a successful and fun Christmas and New Year's, Pingo!  Another loss? Awesome job!  

BIL is not a complainer; he's very complimentary.  So, it's easy enough to say thank you and smile, but if he tests how far I've let my guard down he'll be disappointed.

speaking of soup, I'm making a double batch of our butternut chicken soup right now.  It's got more calories than cabbage soup, but at 150 per bowl and a budget of about 2000 calories I'm golden.  I still haven't eaten that much in one day since going on maintenance.

merry Christmas!!!

Reported another 0.4 loss this morning w/o even trying. I have to make some of that butternut soup. 150 cal? That sounds good. That is MS roasted BNS recipe you are using, right? Is butternut a thing for Americans for Christmas? Yesterday I saw people picking up mounds of it at the grocery store. It was almost in every cart.

Another loss?!  You are so killin' this program!!!  Yes, I make the MS soup recipe, and I think our bowls are a cup and a half...that's what I call a serving, anyway.

Butternut is pretty popular here for Christmas, at least in New England, and it's usually served boiled and mashed with butter, a little maple syrup, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Umm! Just like I make my mashed sweet potato dish. Have never tried it with butternut squash. Can just imagine it must be good. I think roasted sprinkled w/ Maple syrup and the sweet spices would be good too.

Great job ladies!

I have have not been doing well.  Things have been crazy at work and have not been logging.  I have been working out but not concentrating on my eating.   I have stepped up my exercsie and had quite a few good work outs last week and this weekend so feeling good.

January 1 will be the food deadline.

Good for you, allready - stepping up your exercise. But I find, if I don't log it is too easy to slide off the diet. So I hope for your sake, you will start logging again.
I am on "maintenance" right now, since the family is here and we will be eating a lot of non-diet food. Last night we were going out for pizza, and just before we left I decided to log my day's worth of food. I found, I could have salad and either 1 glass of wine and 1 slice of pizza, or I could have water and two slices of pizza ( I opted for the wine and the pizza). If I hadn't logged in my food intake, I would have gone for my usual 3 slices of pizza. The scale showed this morning, I am good. Actually a very slight loss. So logging is so important - at least it is for me.

I know it is and do need to be better!  I need to do a better job of planning ahead like you guys are!

Pingo, I've never had as many consecutive loss days - great job!!!  Don't you love planning ahead and knowing you are in total control when you go out?

allready, this is a super tough time of year to start...food in the office, parties, family...it goes on and on. If January will be a time you can hunker down and really get this off the ground so be it - no worries, it's a week away.  And, as soon as you commit to logging everything and planning ahead, the weigt will come off so there's no point in stressing for the last week of the year over it. 

Now, off to bake some high calorie pies!

oh no no stressing that is my problem:)  I need to.

Honestly, during the holidays I eat just the same way I do all the time.  I really don't over do it and certainly can resist.  At a holiday party this weekend I did watch what I ate and did have a small portion of dessert and felt good not deprived at all.

Had a blast last night, not concerned about the scale. The ducks were the best we ever had, so I had to have a second helping. But not to worry, the scaled hadn't moved from the day before. Yea!

We had an abysmal Christmas, but the food was so good that I would have gone WAY over had I been able to eat.  As it was, I had to log literally teaspoons of tastes I ate before serving those who were still here.  See CC if you're at a loss...

and, despite having had Chinese takeout last night I logged another loss. I'm down to college weight, and now even my one pair of jeans is loose.  I think that remaining Chinese and turkey leg have my name of them for tomorrow.  And pie.

glad your duck came out the best ever, and you're down around 10 lbs so no sense worrying about one decadent day.

allready, hope you had as easy a time not overdoing as usual. :)

Kar sorry you had an abysmal xmas....... how come?

I did ok:)

Allready married, Kar's abysmal Christmas had nothing to do with weight, except for the weight of the heart. She had an accident with her dog and a family member's.

I did well too. Except for a slight gain this morning. But concidering, how much I ate yesterday, I am not worried. It will come off,  as I will take it easier today. Still not logging, and I am doing ok.

I saw that after.

Sorry Kar!

Remember even with logging and doing the same thing you will have some ups and downs.  You are doing great!

Thank you, friends.

glad you both did well - great job being mindful of your goals but free to enjoy yourselves, too - that's what it's all about and makes it a successful plan long term.

 Pingo, a slight gain is to be expected if you ate salt and/or sugar, neither of which you eat very much of very often.  Like you say, it will come right off.

Just had a fabulous plate of leftovers!  And, didn't go over budget even with pecan pie for dessert.  I'm loving this maintenance budget.