This Maintaining Thing Is All New To Me!

I thought it was high time that I check in as I know it's been a while. Life has been a little crazy as usual this summer. Between the kids being out of school, trying to fit in as much activity in during the nice weather and working, life gets hectic! We have also enojoyed We also enjoyed staying at our new camp for 11 days in July!

I've been doing an amazing job maintaining my diet.  I have pretty much been staying around 175/176 pounds, going up or down a half pound here and there, seems like my body likes this weight. I have given up trying to lose any weight this summer and I'm OK with that. Like I have expressed before, I have a hard time in the summer maintainig weight let alone losing weight. I usually gain! But this summer has been so different!! 

I have enjoyed many foods over the last couple of weeks that I have avoided for almost an entire year.. Foods such as corn on the cob and ice cream (I get a kid size, it's about a 1/2 a cup serving) I enjoyed some sourdough bread toast with my omelet the other day and I've continued to enjoy popcorn and nuts in moderation .

Most days my goal is to stay under 50 g of carbs. I have allowed myself over that amount a few times. I think the highest carbs I had while at camp was about a 172. But it seems that this has not impacted me negatively. One thing I have tried to do is fast once or twice a week and I think this has been very beneficial to help me maintain my weight while at camp . Especially after those days I have eaten well over a 100 carbs which I would guess was probably 2 or 3 days during camp.

I have been amazed at what I've been able to consume and still maintain my weight. I think the key is tracking what I eat and making sure I keep my carbs in check. The one thing I have been able to enjoy a lot is all kinds of nuts as my snack foods. Including honey roasted almonds and peanuts as a sweet option and sea salt and vinegar almonds as my salty option .Eating these nuts has helped me with cravings I have for sweet and salty foods. It's a great option when I miss chips and sweets. The best part is nuts are very healthy and they heop me get a good amount of fiber in my diet. 

I found I can enjoy nuts to maintain my weight but I can't eat a lot of them if I want to lose weight. I think I've talked about this before,  I try to stay away from popcorn, yogurt and nuts when I'm actually trying to lose weight because it sometimes causes me to plateau. But when it comes to maintaining it has been an excellent tool for me to use to satisfy any types of cravings that I have. I'm able to enjoy some sweet and salty foods without the guilt! This summer it has really helped me from wanting to snack on some of the foods that my kids had at camp including cookies and chips! 

This maintaining thing is all new to me! LOL! I've never in my life stayed at a comfortable weight long enough to try to maintain and now that I'm here, it's been easier then I thought it would be. I have been pleasantly surprised over and over again that I can eat, be satisified and not gain my weight back. For me to fluctuate about a 1/2 pound in either direction is all a new experience for me. In the summer my fluctuations would be rediculous and some weeks when I vacationed I could easily jump up over 10 pounds by the end of the week. So what I see on the scale these days in definately not what I'm used to, but I LOVE IT!!