Maintaining

I lost around 10lbs or so over the past 2 months by working out with a personal trainer and following a pretty strict diet.  I worked out 6-7 days a week usually.  Now I'm at the size I want to be, and my boyfriend is getting irritated because I don't want to eat things like wings or shake-and-bake chicken during the week (the weekend was my "bad food" time.)  I'm afraid if I go back to my normal eating routine I'll undo all the work I just did.  He is convinced that since now I'm working out almost every day (I used to work out twice a week, if that) that I can now eat normally and not gain the weight back since I'm more active now.  Nov 5 I weighed 120.5, Nov 12 I weighed 117, so I relaxed my diet and ate normal but not terribly unhealthy food Thurs-Sunday.  Today I'm up to 119.5 so now I am getting all paranoid again - if I gained 2.5lbs in a week by eating sandwiches and wraps and chicken *3 days* I don't see how I can eat a normal amount again!  I'm missing my boneless wings :(

You didn't lose 3.5 pounds of fat in one week (for someone as small as you, that's basically impossible); you were probably just dehydrated a bit when you weighed in on Nov. 12.  So, that means you also didn't gain 2.5 pounds in a week; you were just a bit better hydrated that day.  Our weight fluctuates all the time.  As long as you stay within a five pound range (fluctuating up and down - a steady climb might be something to think about, but it might also just mean you're approaching TTOM), you're doing fine.

Thanks susiecue, that makes sense...though the week before I weighed 120.5, I weighed 122.5 so I must have been losing something I think.  See for a while I was kinda losing weight but slowly, then over the last 2-3 weeks there it's like I started shrinking overnight.  I lost a bra cup size in like 2 weeks...ya my bras were starting to get a little looser but I tried the size smaller on and was spilling out of it.  Then one day 1 or 2 weeks later it fit perfectly. 

But it's good to know I shouldn't worry too much as long as I don't start seeing a steady increase or anything.  I guess as long as my new jeans still fit comfortably (yay for going from a size 6 to a size 2) I shouldn't worry.

Oh yea, I'm 5'4" by the way.  And this is what my diet usually looks like during the week:

Breakfast: 1 packet oatmeal made with skim milk (yea I know it's not as good as the regular stuff but oh well it's sooo convenient.)

Lunch: Small amount of lean turkey or chicken on 2 slices whole wheat bread with mustard to make the dry bread a bit more palatable, cup of non-fat yogurt.

Afternoon snack: Granola bar

Dinner: Small salad (probably between 1-2 cups lettuce) with a sprinkle of low-fat cheese and some tuna straight from the can, and a TINY TINY bit of low-fat salad dressing (think a drop the size of a penny or nickel.)  Lately since I've been trying to maintain my weight I have been allowing myself some wheat thins and black bean dip as a snack later when I'm watching TV with my boyfriend and he's eating chicken strips or something.

On the weekends I swap out the dinner salad for a club sandwich or something from the restaurant, also I'll allow myself things like alcohol and cake (within reason.)