Everything in moderation is how I maintain my weight, I just recently lost 3 pounds that were over what I like my weight to be and it's a struggle to keep them off.
I hardly drink any wine or alcohol so that helps my maintenance.
I weigh myself everyday to keep tabs on myself. There is a normal fluctuation day to day though.

Limiting my carb intake helps a lot but I can't help you as far as losing another 10 pounds, except strict dieting, such as Weight Watchers, etc… You are already exercising more so be patient and the weight will come off.

I also count calories, with myfooddiary.com, periodically when I feel I'm losing control, you might try that.
I'm always astounded at how quickly I reach my total desired calorie intake, it really helps to record everything, even the cup of 1% milk for my 2 morning cappuccinos.

Muscle weighs more than fat so if you are upping your exercise, the scale might not reflect it the same way since you are building muscle. I'm not sure if I'm right about this though.

keep us posted on what works for you !

In general I agree with the everything in moderation route but not always. We women 'of a certain age' sometimes get stuck and no amount of sensible anything will make the scale or inches budge. And let's be honest, if you looked in the mirror and liked they way you looked and the way your clothes fit, you really wouldn't care too much what the scale read - within reason!

My advice would be to really shake up your diet, short term. The heck with the moderation stuff - you want results! I'd limit carbs (the white kind, not the kind found naturally in vegetables), sugar (and that would include fruit) and alcohol to the point of none for 1 week solid. No cheats for 1 week. Even your MD DH wouldn't tell you that for one week you're going to ruin your health!! Truth is I'd plan on 2 weeks but I know you probably already think I'm crazy! No processed anything, the cleanest clean eating you've ever done.

Along with that ramp up your fitness routine. I don't know what you normally do, but if I feel 'thick' no amount of Pilates, Barre Method or moderate anything makes me feel leaner or longer. I like a ramped up Zumba for cardio and if you don't have an instructor who does that then you have to ramp it up on your own - really exaggerated movement, higher highs, lower lows, more swivel more jumping just more more more. And then weight work. Fast weight work. None of the 12 reps, take a breather, then another 12, breather. Transition fast and make every single thing dual purpose - do walking lunges with your curls, do overhead presses with curtsy squats (and make sure you squeeze those thighs together so tight a piece of paper couldn't get pulled out from between your legs!!) and move move move. Do balance work - anything you do on an unstable surface like a bosu or a foam roller makes all your fast twitch muscles work like crazy - even standing on one leg if you need to start slow is better than being rooted on both feet. Balance work fast tracks your core because if you don't tighten your core while unstable you will fall. Do plank work from your hands or elbows if your wrists bother you. Plank holds are great but push it - forward and back with the movement coming from your toes, transition to side planks with a spread stance and when you feel stable stack your feet - the smaller the base the more you work. Raise your free hand up - hold a light weight, do presses. Do Russian twists on a mat, then work into doing them with one foot up, then both fee up. Sit on a Swiss ball holding light weights and put your feet on a medicine ball - balance - then do your curls, tricep extensions, any weight work while maintaining you balance - if you can't do that start with one foot on the floor and one on the med ball. Work into both feet off the floor, no med ball.

If you don't do anything else, remember that any work out you do can be made tougher by doing one or more of three things; increase speed, add weight or take away balance.

Good luck - the biggest battle is getting your head in the game - it's like flipping a switch - have to flip it to get started.

- Everything your DH said about diet is spot on.

- Reduce carbs to around 80g a day.

- Count & log them calories!

Increase your metabolism by:

- Getting lots of sleep

- Do not reduce your calories too much. The metabolism doens't like that! Never go under a 1200 calorie daily deficit.

- Lift weights

- HIIT cardio. That stands for "high intensity interval training." Your body doesn't adapt to this kind of cardio and keeping your body guessing keeps the metabolism burning. Unfortunately, that slow/low burn you are doing everyday on the elliptical becomes ineffective quickly because your body is used to it and adapts to slow the calorie burn. If nothing else, just make sure to switch up your routine regularly.

- Tabata Sessions. While you are on the elliptical you could through in a couple of tabatas. It consists of twenty seconds of maximum output, followed by ten seconds of rest, repeated eight times consecutively for a total of four minutes. You can use tabatas for a bunch of different exercises like running, rowing, cycling, burpees, jump rope, squats - whatever. The session should be extremely physically taxing but it's for a short time.

Good luck!

I drink a Green smoothie for breakfast everyday. No processed foods. I stopped drinking milk and now use almond milk in my coffee, I am terribly lactose intolerant. I make my own bread so I know what goes in it. Lean meats and fish, and I only eat meat that walks on 4 feet once per week if at all. If I am craving sweets, I eat a square of dark chocolate. I avoid sugar 90% of the time.

I have a super sluggish metabolism, so what may take me 4 months, it would probably take a norma person a month to lose. I also work out 4 times a week.

I agree with your DH, you should avoid fad diets, but for me even a little sugar in moderation will put my weight loss at a halt.

Good luck lynne!

I think the precepts of Weight Watchers are hard to argue with. Nothing is disallowed, but portions are measured and the emphasis is on fresh, unprocessed fruits and veggies.

Since you are talking about a small amount of weight, nearly any dietary vigilance will suffice. What i think makes a very big difference is working out with weights. It makes you stronger, more toned, and improves balance.

I would parse the good fats from the "bad fats" which means limit saturated fats and no trans fats, but keep mono and unsaturated fats in your diet as your body needs fat to create hormones and such and fats will help you stick with your diet as they are more filling.

I agree that weight lifting is important for building muscle which speeds up your metabolism, not just aerobics. Recent evidence shows that interval training--intermixing low with high intensity in your workout--burns more calories than steady pace activity.

Have vegetables at every meal...they are high fiber which is filling and which slows the rate that carbs enter your bloodstream which cuts body fat esp around the middle. It also is low calorie, high nutrition and full of trace elements that you can't get elsewhere.

Drink lots of water...at least 64 oz a day. It's filling and helps rid the body of the by products of burning body fat.

Keep a food diary. Write down everything you eat every day. Just knowing you have to write it down adds resistance to eating something you shouldn't.

Weigh and measure everything. It's amazing how much portion control plays into weight loss. It's important to retrain you eye as to what is an actual portion.

Good luck...I'm sure you'll do fine.

Here is a link that might be useful: Interval training

As a Weight Watcher life time member, just having to attend the monthly weigh in has kept me honest.
Exercise is always good. But, you do not have to exercise to lose weight.
Track everything that you eat and err on the side of giving it more points or calories if you are not sure.
As Annie mentioned, water is key. I find this most difficult and just do the best that I can.

I used to be a big proponent of Weight Watchers. Why wouldn't I, I lost 120 pounds in a year on the program?

I got off the program and gained 40 pounds back. Went back to it and they changed the program by reformulating the points and made fruit 0 points. On average, I was only losing a half pound per week which was just too slow for me.

Also, WW says to choice whole foods but that's not part of the program. After all, they sell nothing but junk processed food. Besides, I want to know more about what I'm eating not just how many points a food has. I just wasn't feeling WW was a good fit for me anymore.

There are so many different diets and ways to lose weight. Lots of them work, some of them are easier to stick with. In the end, it all comes down to psychology. Your head has to be in the right place and it's going to be different for everyone.

I'm still trying to figure out what's best for me. I can say that even though I still have weight to loss, I've never been more knowledgeable about my health. I know what food is best for me, I know how much sleep I need, I know how hydrated I need to be and I know what kind/how much activity I need. If I can just get my brain to stick with the program and not go on a 2 week cupcake bender!

Lynn, you're probably doing great, the weight will drop. I'm sure the impatience is getting to you so just keep your head down!

The best thing I ever did for weight management was start tracking my food consumption and exercise in an iphone app. It's very eye opening just how many calories things have, how little you can eat if you want to lose weight and how much exercise impacts the whole thing. It really helps with portion control and prevents you from getting delusional about how much you can eat. Plus something about it is very motivating - though nothing is very motivational for me right now as this interminable Minnesota winter drags on and on and on and on with yet another snowstorm......

For fast weight loss, not a long term food plan, I would severely limit calories and count, write down, every single bite. Generally I aim for 1,000 and usually come in at 1,200. Salads, lean cuisines, grilled chicken, no cheese, no oil, no fats, very little bread, fruit.... well, very little anything! However, sometimes, I will save up calories and have something delicious as the only thing for the day. A really good sandwich, for example.
Even with low calories, I make the sure food is something I like, not just low calorie filler. Summer rolls made with rice paper and shrimp are good.

If I want to maintain my weight, I think everything in moderation is fine. If I want to lose weight, I generally go with the 6 week plan for Dr. Joel Fuhrman. His Eat to Live book is probably the best on that front. I cannot follow the lifestyle all the time but I like that it is nutrient dense. If I am trying to lose weight and am putting that stress on my body, I want to make sure I am getting superior nutrition. Generally for me this is a smoothie for breakfast with a lot of spinach or kale and a huge salad for lunch with a nutrient dense dressing. Then dinner will also include a lot of vegetables, generally a large saute. During that time I will cut way, way back on bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, etc. I honestly need to do it again but just have not found the motivation lately which is strange as I generally feel great when following a diet like that.

What does not work for me? The combination of having a family and trying to lose weight. "Hi honey, I brought you some ice cream." (I feel guilty turning it down but also feel awful eating it). Not to mention cooking for everybody else, etc.

I should also note that depending on my timetable for weight loss, I often will be diligent 6 days a week and one day a week is a free day where I do not worry and have dessert, or something less virtuous. This does not work for somebody who likes to be all in and cannot take a break but I welcome the break, I enjoy and the next day I get back on track.

Wow Kellyeng, that's an amazing accomplishment! I can't imagine what discipline it took to lose the weight.

If anyone is following my wardrobe thread, I went to Lord & Taylor yesterday with a nice large well lit 3-way mirror in the dressing room. Yikes! More cottage cheese than Sam Breakstone...

There's incentive to lose weight right there!

I've been doing no/low carb for two random days a week and have lost about 6 pounds in the past two weeks. Five more pounds and i will weigh what I did before I had kids so I wasn't really overweight. I'm not dieting the other days but I don't want to mess things up so I am snacking less.

I also have honestly stopped caring what my DH thinks about my eating. I am a SAHM too and my husband would get stressed out (for lack of a better word) when I didn't partake 100% in the family meal. Why aren't you eating xyz? Don't you feel good? Should we have something else? Plus he's an athlete and has the appetite of a small village. He really didn't understand that I would not waste away and die if I had 1/2 bagel for dinner.

So, if I have a big late lunch with a friend, I don't automatically eat a big dinner out of habit because the rest of the family is eating. It took a while but DH finally "gets it".

Here is a link that might be useful: No carb two days a week better than counting calories

This post was edited by deee on Fri, Apr 19, 13 at 8:46

deee with kids, having a half a bagel is not a god example if you want them to learn to eat in a healthy way. I am sure you don't do this on a regular basis, but it is just something to be mindful of.
It is so true that when you share meals, it is not unusual to comment on what the other is eating.
Sharing a meal is also social, even if it is just you and DH. So, if you are not partaking, it puts things off balance.

That's kinda harsh, ellendi. First, she is teaching her kids that healthy eating isn't about cleaning the plate or eating to make others happy, it's about balance, she can tell them "I had a big lunch today so I'm not going to eat much for dinner but I love our family time together".
While I am all for the family dinner hour, it can reinforce some food thoughts that are not healthy or the way many behave as adults: i.e. clean your plate; eat even if you're not hungry, eat as much as others do, eat things you don't like, etc.

I do agree food is very much a social gathering but not that everybody has to eat the same thing or the same amount.

Why not wait and see if deee thinks what I said is harsh? Trust me, it came from a kind place.
Most don't realize how rampant eating disorders are now a days. And, how simple things can trigger a downward spiral.

Hi Ellen, I completely agree that it's not good for a parent to manufacture lots of drama about food. But, what you don't know about me is that my kids are older - 19 and 16, I partake in all our sit down meals (I don't always eat what everyone else is having but I don't make a big deal out of it) and I have NEVER been on an official diet until a few weeks ago.

My kids have had the positive influence of years of conventional family dinners. Plus, they are old enough to understand that my current peri-menopausal metabolism is very different from the rest of the family.

I wouldn't exactly say your post was harsh but you did seem to presume quite a bit about my family and our eating from my post.

If I want to lose weight, I reduce and log intake religiously. If I want to FEEL and LOOK better, I do weight training. Replacing fat with muscle wins over diet any time as muscle takes up less space than fat so dress sizes go down even if weight doesn't. And I so love toned upper arms and sculpted traps. It makes me look healthy and that makes me feel good.

I abhor cardio (boring) but if forced I will do HIT because it's short and revs me up, but I still prefer weight training.

You are so right javachik. Regardless of your size, you will look so much better if you weight train. And you don't need to spend hours in the gym doing it either. It's important to remember that the muscle rebuilds during the rest time. So it's very important to not over train.

deee, I appreciate your response back. It's true, I thought your children were much younger.
And, I think you are right in that I was too quick to presume.
Just know that my concern around eating issues are genuine and my heart was in the right place.

What has worked for me is a low white carb diet (no sugar, no white flour, etc.) and plenty of exercise inlcuding weights and bands. I have lost-and kept off-25 pounds. How did that weight creep on? I think it was menopause and a general reduction in my activity level. I was always thin and never had a weight problem...until...the dreaded M!

Last week I had bloodwork and my cholesterol is the lowest it's ever been and my HDL's are over 70. I attribute that to the exercise. I rarely miss a day!

For me it's more about how my clothing fits and what size I take. I am now comfortably in a size 8-10. Whereas before this lifestyle change two years ago, I was in the "overweight" catagory, I am now in the "normal" catagory and my BMI is very good.

http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/

Cut out the Coke and cut way back on the cheese and you will lose a couple of pounds a week, which is safe will require you to make lifestyle changes that you can maintain. Those last 10 pounds can be the most difficult because your body will fight the weight loss. Baby steps, small changes and you'll be at your goal before you know it!
Nip it in the bud before those 10 become 20! You can do this Lynn!

I find " The Cabbage Soup" seven day diet a great way to jump start a diet. Easy to find on Google. The 6-8 lbs. lost may be mostly water, but it comes off my tummy and quickly incentavizes me to get back on track after the holidays, or a food filled vacation.. Very easy to follow, and with chicken or beef stock ( or water...yuk) as a base, veggies and fruit, chicken or beef, it's not unhealthy, and done in a week. Yes, it s very much a fad diet, and your DH doc might very well disdain it, but not find it harmful, I think. Just need to be prepared with a conventional way to diet after the soup week.

If you want to understand why we overeat, take a look at the stuff done by Brian Wansink. He's a prof of applied economics and has done some fascinating studies on human behavior and psychology and our inability to perceive size and portion correctly, how our eating choices are automatic and mindless, and how little changes like making fruit more accessible in brightly colored bowls drastically increased their consumption in school cafeterias at no additional cost.

His stuff has also been published in the Nutrition Action Letter put out by CSPI, of which I am a fan. This month's issue has another article of his. Good stuff.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mindless eating

Annie, as part of the Mindfullness-Based Stress Reduction class I am taking, we are learning to eat mindfully, to eat food like we are experiencing it for the first time. This obviously slows down eating.

I agree with Kelly, in that I am a long-time WW Lifetime member, but the program just doesn't seem to work for me anymore. It is probably too high carb, and I do not buy their processed crap sold at the meetings. I went back to meetings in January with a co-worker, and I haven't even lost 5 lbs. yet, and I have real weight to lose. I had the flu and bronchitis about 6 weeks ago, was finally feeling better, and now I am sick again! So, my progress has been stalled. Kelly, don't know if you remember the "Core" plan from several years ago that was based off Volumetrics. The last time I reached goal I used that plan. Since that time I have experienced hypothyroid and perimenopause, and both of these have done bad things to my body.

My summer will be devoted to getting myself back on track.

I am also a lifetime WW member although I never went back for the weigh in. I lost 12 pounds with them.

I did the diet a long time ago, before the point system.
We used to weigh out food; one good thing I took away from it and I still remember is how much food is a portion,
I can eyeball it in the palm of my hand.

The maintenance plan was excellent also, which to me is far more important in permanent weight loss than the diet itself. Any diet will allow you to lose weight, what counts is how long you can maintain the weight loss, it's a lifetime commitment and a lifestyle change you have to live with.

Wow, what a lot of really great ideas for me . . .and for all of us here. Thank you!!! I'm following a lot of it and have lost 12 pounds so far. Mainly by cutting out most carbs and white sugar,and as Kelly suggested, doing interval training. I'm also keeping bags of fresh, pre washed baby carrots, baby bell peppers and green beans to munch on when I get hungry. Last night we grilled out burgers and I had mine without the bun. It's getting easier to eat like this and I'm finding the cravings for sweets and cheese are becoming less with each day . . . thankfully!
As I mentioned in an earlier post here, I wasn't vastly overweight, just at the tops of what my weight should be for my height and age. Now I'm 12 pounds lighter and my clothes fit so much better! I'd still like to drop another 8 pounds. We fly out this Thursday morning to Palm Beach and then on to the Tampa area 4 days later. I've already eaten dinner and lunches out several times since I started this weight loss drive and have found it pretty easy to eat out healthfully . . . as long as it's in a regular and not a fast food restaurant. Salads with grilled meats, nuts, etc. are my go-to's, with a lite salad dressing on the side; hold the croutons and bread sides (LOL). But, as always, I have to be so careful that "lite" doesn't contain any artificial sweeteners, as I'm extremely allergic to them, especially aspertame/aspartame.
So many thanks for all the great, helpful ideas. I'll continue to read them, although I'm not sure if I'm taking my laptop with me to Florida yet.
Lynn

Enjoy the Breakers !! I'm leaving Boca on Thursday through Fort Lauderdale airport, our paths may cross in the sky !!

I find that eating out is manageable with a few adjustments, asking for vegetables instead of potato,
also I've started to specify no oil or butter on the vegetables: I hate being "that" person who has a few requests with her order but it is what it is.

I've also enjoyed all the tips and testimonials above, it's always inspiring !!