For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
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'Home Sweet Home'
Hello, Friends...
Yep, I'm up even a little more. So much for 'staying at goal'. I've given in to too many nite-time food binges. It's mainly about trying to comfort my anxieties with food again. 
(As you can see, I'm back out on the water again, as they don't let you stay on 'Island 140' when you weigh 148.4.)
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Hubby is doing well and working a lot.
He and I are hoping to take a daytrip to the beach sometime next month.
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Today has been a pretty, sunny, warm (around 60ish F) day here in SC.
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'Mom's Nursing Home'
I visited Mom at the nursing home this afternoon and we talked about her birthday party I am planning to give her week after next. 
Mom is doing pretty well and was up a little while in her wheelchair in the dining room today, although she mostly stays in her bed. I visit her frequently and sit and talk with her when I visit her. She has decided she wants a yellow cake with chocolate icing for her birthday party, along with chocolate/vanilla/strawberry ice cream.
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Hope you're having a good day.
Love, Maria
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
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Hello, Friends...
Yep, you're right. We all need to be accountable to stay on track and I am thankful I have you all to help me be so. I am back on track and monitoring calories carefully. As a matter of fact, I went out to lunch with a friend today and was very good (had fish). But the time I am most tempted is at nite. That's when the cravings come for food...usually junk food. So, guess what??? I prepared for that today by telling myself I'd allow 400 calories for my nitetime food craving and guess what I'm craving? (Don't laugh!) LIMA BEANS of all things! So, I've put on a pot of dry large white lima beans and they are cooking as I key!
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Hope you're having a good day.
Love, Maria
Glad to see you getting back in the groove!
I know you know I've mentioned it all over here, but do keep in mind the book "Overcoming Overeating" authors Munter/Hirschmann. Website of the same name--it really helped me think differently about food and that helped with the nighttime eating. It might be worth a look.
I also like Overcoming Overeating very much - I checked out from the local library and read it, it's very helpful.
The cats are doing fine, thanks for asking!
I hope you are you mom are doing well. Hugs to you!
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
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146.0...Oooophs!
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Hope you're having a good day.
Love, Maria
I think the most important thing is that you're hanging around here and staying accountable, so you will get right back to goal. I find when I get too cocky and think I can go it alone that I run into trouble. A support network is very helpful on this journey. I hope you have a great night!
Thank you for stopping by my diary, I appreciate it!
Keep going!
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
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Hello, Friends,
The sun is shining and it is a beautiful day. 
I am home, resting today as I've been very busy over the past few days (a lot of going and a lot of working outside). Everything is going pretty well, but for some reason I am having a fight at nite with wanting to eat unnecessarily....like last nite, we were under a severe thunderstorm warning (and thank the Lord, we only got a little needed rain and a little wind) and I decided to have 2 pb sw's and a 100 cals bag of lf popcorn (700 calories total), which made my daily total go about 500 calories over maintain calories. The nite before, it was the same deal for feeling stressed with calls that I gave in to the nitetime food binge. It's like I'm trying to 'anesthetize' myself from stress with nitetime binges again, only I'm not doing the food binges as bad (eating as much) as I once did but it is enough to make my weight increase a little from the off and on giving in to it. Why do I give in? Well, let's see. I'm still wearing the size jeans I like to wear and comfortably. Since I've been doing a LOT of extra yardwork, mainly raking leaves and cleaning out flower beds and walking more than I usually do, I can very comfortably wear my size 8's jeans, which is good but it is like I am thinking I can continue to do so while giving in to the old bad habit of eating at nite for comfort from stress. 
I have done this before...(reached goal weight and threw it away)...and it feels like I've reached a place that I'm not comprehending what I'm doing when I give in to that old bad habit of a little extra food at nite. At nite, I'm mainly focused on the 'now' of wanting to feel comforted and soothed instead of realizing that little by little I am undoing the work I have done to get to this size. I'm up a little over 140.0 but I know I can get it back down by letting go some sweets and not giving in to nitetime food binging. Anyway, I will be looking forward to hearing from you about this.
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Hope you're having a good day.
Love, Maria
Another thought - you said you were more active now with walking and gardening. Maybe your body needs some more calories during the day? Maybe you could try upping them a bit by adding a healthy snack during the day that you'll burn off with exercise and that will do the trick.
So jealous of your gardening! I just seeded a bunch of new stuff in the basement and my winter plants have gotten big and are waiting to be planted. The snow just has to melt first ;) Have a good one!
Have a good day!
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
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Hello, Friends,
It's been a nice. sunny, warm day (70's) here in South Carolina. How's the weather your way?
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'Gardening'
This week, I've been busy cleaning leaves out of the flower gardens and buying new additions of beautiful flowers to plant in them alongside the ones already coming up that were planted in previous years. The daylilies are already up about 4 inches. The red camelia tree is loaded with buds getting ready to open. I've set out some yellow narcissus this week nearby the front steps which brighten up the pathway. I've also spent hours raking leaves this week (we have lots of trees). Lots more work to do but as we are expecting rain tomorrow, it will probably have to wait until next week.
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'Do Calories Count? Yes, Every One!'
I've been getting in a lot of exercise with raking leaves and setting out flowers and also I've been getting in extra walking this week, too. I'm trying to be 'mindful' about calories and today I was reaching for a little bag of nuts to buy in a store but when I read the amount of calories in them, I put them back. Even though nuts are good for you, they are only good for you in moderation and also in not increasing your daily amount of maintain calories. Even having something extra like a 100 calories well-meaning fruit extra a day, if over your maintain calories will add over 11 pounds a year. 100 calories x 30 days = 3000 calories, x 12 months = 36,000 calories divided by 3500 calories per pound. Yes, EVERY CALORIE COUNTS. Even if you are in the middle of a late-nite food binge and you come to your senses long enough to STOP the overeating, the amount you do NOT continue eating would add up to a lot of extra weight gained over a period of time had you not stopped (and that's not counting the amount you may have already eaten, which will also add). What I sometimes do when I feel hungry late at nite and can't sleep because of it, is get up, drink a couple of glasses of cold tap water and eat a small to medium sized apple. If it is within my maintain calories, good. If not, I try to make up for the calories in it within the next day or 2, cause at least that is better than having a food binge or eating something less nutritious and more calories-dense. I then go back to bed and it tides me over til breakfast the next morning.
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Hope you're having a good evening.
Love, Maria
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
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Good afternoon to you.
Went to church this morning, and our Pastor preached an outstanding message on FAITH. Our faith in God helps us every day. I don't know how people make it who don't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Who do they turn to? After church service,
Hubby and I went to a restaurant and had lunch together BUFFET. I have LEARNED....SALADS are my FRIEND. SALADS are my FRIEND. So, I head straight for the salad buffet first thing when we get our food. Most of what I eat are FRESH VEGETABLES when we eat out....and very little salad dressing.
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Yesterday, Hubby was working so I went to the flea market in the next town over by myself and bought a pair of Levi's jeans (my favorite brand) 100% cotton, non-stretch, size 8, almost like new, for only $2.00. Brought them home, washed and dried them and tried them on today...really COMFY fit. Thought about wearing them to church for tonite's service and still might but probably not.
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Hubby and I visited Mom at the nursing home after we ate lunch today. I took her some watermelon chunks, which she ate some as she'd just finished eating part of her lunch that had been brought to her on a tray (she had been resting in bed today). She is purposely eating less to try to lose some weight as she has really put some on recently.
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Also, I want to say that once you get to your goal weight, you don't ALWAYS stay that EXACT weight...you may go up or down a little and if you don't keep up with your exercise, even staying at the same goal weight you can actually get larger and your new size not fit as comfy as it did when you were exercising. I've begun working out at the gym again and can tell it in the fit of my size 8's I wear. VERY COMFY. If I get slack in exercise, I find they fit a little snug around the waist. So, I am on track with exercise...yayyyy!
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Hope you're having a nice day!
Love, Maria
Progress as of today - 65 lbs lost so far, only 0 lbs to go!
Sounds like you are doing great - exercise and salads at the buffet - a perfect combination. Keep it up.
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
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Good morning, Friends!
Have prayed and had my Bible study and been having my morning coffee!
Won't you have a cup of coffee with me?
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'Flower Garden'
The sun is shining and it's cold outside. But it is to start warming up here beginning today and going into the 60's (and some say 70's) early next week...yayyyy! I want to start on a new flower garden come springtime weather. I want to get some new daylilies and maybe new rosebushes, too. I would try to have a veggie garden but each time I do, the squirrels get to the veggies before they are large enough for me to pick and take them in so they can finish ripening. Sometimes, the squirrels dig up the flowers I set out by the roots (only the new ones that are still tender) and I have to reset them out. We have lots of trees and lots of squirrels here.
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'Hubby'
Hubby is at work and he is happy that we are beginning to have warm, sunny weather as he works outside a lot. He loves the springtime and summer.
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'CRAVINGS'
I am having nitetime temptations to binge on food but I am doing my best to limit the temptations by allowing a 100 calories bag of lf popcorn, a few nuts and a healthy s/w at nite, usually something like healthy crunchy peanut butter on 2 low-cal breads or something similar. I have to be very mindful during the day of what I allow myself to eat so I'll have room to partially satisfy the expected nitetime food craving. (And then after allowing the above, sometimes my tummy still growls for more food!) I'm still wearing size 8's jeans comfortably. When you get to your goal, it is almost the same as working to get there, cause then you have to work to STAY there. It's not easy street once you arrive there. It takes constant monitoring, constant vigilence to stay at your goal. It takes restraint and patience. It takes not giving up if you overeat a day or two and it takes determination to not go back to where you were when you were fighting to get to your goal. I'd rather fight to stay at goal than fight to get to goal, that's for sure, cause at least that way you've got a prize you've won for your reward. The other way, you can imagine, you can in the distance 'see' your reward but you don't have it yet but you know you will get it with perseverance. I remember trying on my 8's jeans and either they wouldn't pull up or they'd lack 4 to 6 inches of fastening if I could get them on. I remember how I thought that once I got back to goal again, I'd NEVER NEVER NEVER let it go! But I think I FORGOT what a CHALLENGE it was to stay there, having arrived at goal before and let it get away. So, that's where I'm at today. FIGHTING to stay at goal. (But it's WORTH IT!)
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Hope you're having a nice day!
Love, Maria
No, I have never been to Isreal. I just saw it on a design website and fell in love with the design.
Have a nice evening--wise words on maintaining--keep up the good work!
I swear, losing the weight was easier for me than maintaining my loss. I was so arrogant to think I had conquered the problem when I had stayed within 5 lbs. of goal for over a year. How foolish of me. No, the battle continues at goal. I remember noticing when you were 5lbs. over goal andtold you to be careful, and today I see that you got rid of them! YIPPEE!
We must have similar eating habits because I, too, have to arrange my eating to include the inevitable evening cravings. Andyest. Those 100 cal. bags of popcorn are one of my favorites.
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
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Hello, Friends!
I visited and sat with Mom at the nursing home a while yesterday, been going up there every day for a long time now. She seems much better now that she has a new roommate. Mom lost another friend within the past few days, who was not living in the nursing home, that I was pondering whether to tell her or not, and yesterday, Mom asked me to read in the weekly newspaper she gets, her friend's obit, which I did, so she'd found out that way. Mom told me she was not upset about it, that her friend was 77 years old and that everyone has to go sometime. I was surprised and relieved at her positive outlook about it, especially her having just lost 3 roommates in a row.
Hubby is doing good and at work today.
Last nite, I played the piano at church and we sang three songs before the message.
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Hope you're having a blessed day or evening.
Love, Maria
I'm glad your Mom is doing so well :)
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
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Hello, Friends!
This is written at nite. Hope you've had or are having a good day. I haven't done an entry update since Wednesday, so thought I'd write a few lines. Yesterday, I almost bought a pack of 6 cinnamon buns...I had them in my hands and they looked soooo tempting but I put them back and bought a bag of apples instead. I mean, how valuable are cinnamon buns, anyway? You taste one for 60 seconds and it is gone and adds 200 unhealthy calories...but really more than that, cause we know I wouldn't have stopped at only one, don't we? That's assuming Hubby might eat 2, so that would have left 4 which would have been 800 calories of starch and sugar. 
Tonite, Hubby and I had a 'date nite' and we ate out buffet (our usual when it comes to restaurants) and as usual, I was good...I had a large veggies salad with very little salad dressing, a little steak (don't eat much red meat) and a little yeast roll. About 500 calories max. My total calories for today are around 1200. Sometimes I feel like I start to get comfortable, being this size, almost like getting used to it, but I realize that for a former food addict I must stay vigilant. I say food addict cause that's how I gained to over 200 pounds and wore size 20 and 22. My size 8's I wear are loose now and today I actually got pretty comfortably into my size 6 levis jeans that I bought when Hubby and I went to the mountains last year on vacation. (They were tight then when I tried them on.) At the thrift store the other day, I found a pretty pair of size 7 black levis bell bottoms 100% cotton (I don't like to wear stretch jeans, only non-stretch 100% cotton). You should have seen me tonite. You would have laughed as I was determined to get them zipped up after I got them on. I laid on the bed and asked Hubby to help me get them zipped. With some effort, He finally got them zipped up. They are sort of tite right now, which shows I need to walk more. The size 6's are actually larger than the size 7's cause the 6's are women's size and the 7's are junior size (extra slim fit).
I'm looking forward to playing the piano tomorrow morning in church. I feel so blessed to be our church's pianist. I have been for years. It is actually a calling, the music ministry. I love to sing and play the piano. Mom bought me a piano and taught me how to play by ear when I was growing up, then she sent me to a piano teacher after school for formal lessons to learn how to read music and play out of music books. I am part of a praise team (sort of like a choir) at our church that leads the congregation in singing as I play the piano. We all have a wonderful time worshiping the Lord together!
I visited Mom this afternoon, who is doing well. I took her picture and videod her and her roommate talking to each other. Mom was in her bed and smiling and talkative. Her roommate stays in her wheelchair a lot and wheels herself over to Mom's bed and sits nearby where they can hear each other better and they talk and talk, like teenagers.
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Hope you're having a blessed day or evening.
Love, Maria
Have a great day!
RYC: You said it girlie--little did I know that staying around DDs would help me keep my weight off (for the most part). I mean I got back to 170 once--169 twice or 3 times--but for the most part I've kept up with my exercise and "food vigilance" over the years.
And I'm still getting there--anything beats how I felt at 189!
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
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Good morning, Friends!
Been having my morning coffee!
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The sun is shining and the birds are singing outside. It is warm here, in the mid-60's and I saw a red bird (cardinal) in the back yard earlier. A squirrel was on the back deck banister and I threw out some bread for him/her.
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I will be finishing studying today in preparation to teach again in church tonite at our midweek service. I enjoy teaching. I will be teaching about Someone you can always count on...the Lord and about keeping our faith in Him and trusting Him to take care of us.
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I usually gain weight in the winter and lose it quickly in the summer and it has been hard to change that this season to not gaining in the winter. Holding onto goal once you reach it is just as much a struggle as getting there. I'm happy I'm still wearing my size 8 non-stretch jeans that I wore years ago when I was at goal (and eventually let goal slip away and put on weight til I could no longer wear size 8). I eat LOTS of vegetable (lettuce, cucumber, tomato, onion, bell pepper, broccoli, carrots) salads with very little salad dressing on them. Salads are healthy and very filling and very low calories. I eat very LITTLE meat, especially red meat. I do enjoy fish and chicken, though. (No pork.) I am careful with white carbs (white rice, white potatoes, white breads, etc.) although I eat a LITTLE of them in moderation. I eat baked sweet potatoes pretty regularly and if you get away from eating processed sweets, eventually naturally sweet things like sweet potatoes and fruits actually taste really sweet and good and much better than white-sugar sweets.
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Hubby is at work and he is happy that we are having warm, sunny weather today as he works outside a lot. When he came home from work yesterday, he had my Valentine's Day gift, a very nice, new laptop computer! He didn't have to pay money for it, as he earned points at his work (a safety program for employees) and saved them up for a very long time til he had enough to order it. I told him I will be fixing him steak and potatoes for his supper tonite. I also bought him his favorite desert, an apple pie. He asked me to FRY his potatoes (not bake them) and I told him I will. He likes just about everything FRIED but I usually do NOT give in and I bake a LOT of food versus what I call 'boiling food in fat' (frying).
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Mom is doing well. I visit her just about every day. She is very happy that her best friend at the nursing home was allowed to become her new roommate. They get along real well together and Mom has someone to talk to. I am so relieved. (Mom had lost 3 roommates in a row over the past few months.) Mom had me to bring some of her clothes including a jacket for Mom to give her new roommate (I think her roommate didn't have a jacket), so I took a black leather jacket I'd given Mom years ago and a couple of Mom's nice sweaters and another top and Mom gave them to her roommate, who was so happy to get them that she had me to spread them all out on her bed (she was in her wheelchair) so she could sit and look at them and admire them. Later, with her permission, I took the items and asked that the new roommate's name be put into them, which was done, and then I brought them back to Mom's friend and per her request, hung them in her side of the little closet in their room.
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Hope you're having a nice day!
Love, Maria
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Hi Maria!!! I have missed you :) So good to hear from you and that your mom is doing well :) I am sure you will make her birthday extra special! I am sorry that you are struggling with the binges, I am sure you can turn it all around!!! Love you!!
V on 03/29/2011:
Starbucks is 5 blocks from my house :) LOL Yes I am doing pretty well with keeping the workouts challenging and keeping my intake on the cleaner side...I am determined to keep this off for good so whatever it takes, I am all over it!!
hopingforhealth on 03/29/2011:
It's ok. It's so hard to maintain when you aren't posting (or at least I'd assume.... I'm not near maintaining weight yet, but I know that when I don't post, I don't do as well). Don't be too hard on yourself. I know you can drop the extra. :)
moogy on 03/29/2011:
Lovely to see a post from you. I am so sorry that you have rowed away from the island and are anchored a little way off. It is good that you are back to share your determination to row back to the beach. Love you! I have missed you:)
Umpqua on 03/29/2011:
Good to see an entry from you! Your Mom's birthday plans sound great :) Maintenance is the hardest part, I'm trying to come to grips with that. I know you can turn this around, you are so determined!
loveray on 03/29/2011:
glad you are back!! we missed you. i understand that you have been super stressed and i know you will be back on track in no time!! at least we are some of the blessed few who have an OVER abundance of food in our lives, right?! ;) xo
nita51 on 03/30/2011:
Nice hearing from you,,,Have a good Wednesday! :)
liza36 on 03/30/2011:
While I have never been at a point of maintenance, I know it must be just as hard, maybe even harder, to maintain than to lose. I have every confidence that you'll get back to where you want to be.
Sounds like very nice plans for your mother's birthday.