2 years 6 months!

Cross Post from USG board upon Carmilita's request :-D  Glad to know this is here now!

Wow it has been 2.5 years already!  I cant believe it!  Life has been a little crazy for me thae past 6 months and I have not been on much.  My husband was out of work for 5 months and we almost moved to the Middle East.  When he was home he kept the house stocked with junk food so I went up a couple of pounds, NOT good :-(  I am at 137 right now and I need to stay under 135 so I am taking all sugar out of my diet again so that it will drop back off.  I had added some back in because I was dropping below my 130 mark and i dont like my body that thin.  BUT with the extra few pounds I need to get off all the sugar because this little bit of extra has to go.  My 4s are snug but 6s are still too big but i refuse to gian enough to get out of the 4s!  I am not worried because the great tool I have in the sleeve makes it very possible and doable.
As for restriction, I can eat quite a bit more than I could 6 months out, I would think about 50% more than then.  I am happy with this amount because as long as my choices stay good it is easy to maintain my weight but enjoy eating a small meal.  I usually split a meal at restraunts and take about 1/4 to 1/3 of the plate depending on how much the particular restraunts serves.  Eating out with my husband is easier because he knows the signs that I am getting full and will pull my plate away when I am ignoring the signals before I can become uncomfortable.  He also helps by moving any chips or bread out of my reach LOL, he knows how weak I can be and when I eat any of that stuff I cant fit my food!
I am moving to Pearland TX and an apartment where I will have a pool, lake, workout center, etc so this summer should be great for moving around!  I want to get into better shape so plan to get back on the weights and want to see if there are some Zumba classes nearby since I have heard that they are a lot of fun.  Once I am working out it is a fine line that I have to walk becuse I dont want to go under 130 but I guess that  is a bridge.I will cross when I get there. 
I will check back in soon hopefully to tell you that I am back where I want to be, say a prayer that the sugar withdrawals are not too severe!2

Hi Emily, nice to hear from you.  It's been a while girl!  I'm just a couple of months behind you.  Ain't this sleeve thing a hoot?  I'm totally loving it.  And it sounds like you are too.  Good luck to you and be sure to check in more often. : )

Laura

My almost 18 year old step daughter really wants to get it and it looks like my DH new insurance will cover.  So say a prayer for her that we can get it covered!  I am so happy with it and would love to see her benifit from a younger age than I did. 

yea it has been a while.  I am going to try to check in a little more often. Life has been so hetic lately seems like all my time on the computer was sending off job apps for DH and work.  Now I should have more time for relaxating after the move in a month.  I know that those who are in the early stages need the support and I want to be there like others were for me

Thanks for your great post Emily. You really help others with this sort of update as the maintenance phase is sort of a trip into the wilderness for us all and it helps to hear from those out there. It seems that a few pounds regain is pretty common and then people catch themselves and address it. Sounds like you are doing that just fine. What is it about that dang sugar?  Seems like in maintenance we could all be able to do just a little bit of it and yet its so hard not to just dive head first into candy once you start. Guess thats the addictive nature of it. The good news is that once you get off it for a week or so you won't miss it so much. I highly recommend atkins endulge bars or trader joes low carb low sugar dark choc.

So nice to have a supportive husband and restaurant leftovers are so great because someone else cooked them!!!!  Hope your move goes well and you will check in here from time to time with your adventures.

All the best to you,  you weight loss winner!!!    Diane

My thing with sugar was that I dropped too much weight and started putting sugar back into my coffee to stop it.  Since I drink as much as 5-10 cups a day that is a lot of extra claories but it kept me in the area of weight I wanted to be in .  THEN DH was laid off.  So the cookies and ice cream came back into the house on a reg basis.  as of today I have taken the sugar back out of my coffee and gone to just cream.  I feel Ok with no real withdrawals to speak of and since I have done this to drop a lb or 2 a few times I am pretty confident it will work.  I have only ever got this hign one time for about a week since surgery and this time I was here over a month before I make a move to take care of it so that scares me a bit.  But I know that the situation was very unusual for me with a lot of extra stress.  I also am having major hormone issues and it looks like I need a hystorectomy and the 2 week periods are making my cravings go crazy too!  :-(  
As for the Trader Joes stuff I cant get it here!!!  i love that store but we dont have them so I will have to do without.  My indulgence will be the bryers Carb controll ice cream bars I love them and they are easy.  Thing is I am going cold turkey first becaus that works best for me.

Yea DH has been great, when people see him doing that they thinkn he is being pushy but I appreciate it.  I hate the feeling I get when I overeat so he really helps me.  I have a great hubby and I am really appreciative of that fact.

nice to see you  Emily, you were such and inspirtation to me when i was early out, and i appreciated having you around and your input.

good luck with your move and do stay in contact.

Hello, Emily Rose!  you look great but you always did!