Location: Pine Mountain, Georgia & on a little lake in NE Michigan
Posts: 1,179
S/C/G: 291/171.4/175
Height: 5'6"
Quote:
Originally Posted by DRegan
HI,
I'm starting phase 4 on tuesday, just thinking about what you said about
figuring out what works for each person personally.
I'm alittle scared to change anything, p3 is great! No cravings and staying
pretty much the same weight. How much different did you feel p4 was when
you started?
Thanks for any advice from any of you here in the Maintainers
thread, I really appreciate it!!!
D
When I went to P4, I was very comfortable with P3 eating and stayed that way for a while until I mentally felt ready to add things into my menus, I find I've done that quite slowly and go back to the comfort of P3 quite often. Do what you're happy with. But makes sure you track your food, weigh yourself, and that way you'll know what is the right path and where you can go in the future. Also, never be afraid to come and ask questions or even talk about mistakes.
Quick hello. I'm rebooting at 15 or so over... Like patns, my summer clothes do not fit...oops. Going to read more and get set to go. Day 2 of my reboot...
Thanks for the welcome back Molly. I am like that with food too, just don't want to waste anything. That leads to trouble if it is something not good for you. Are you planning on staying up north for a good stretch of time or do you have to go back to work on your place in the south?
I am trying to remember if you have an aci fryer. I think you do. If not someone else may chime in. I am thinking of buying one. When I looked at the reviews online someone said it gave off a strong plastic smell that went into the food. I have never read of anyone on this site mentioning that.
Location: Pine Mountain, Georgia & on a little lake in NE Michigan
Posts: 1,179
S/C/G: 291/171.4/175
Height: 5'6"
Quote:
Originally Posted by patns
Thanks for the welcome back Molly. I am like that with food too, just don't want to waste anything. That leads to trouble if it is something not good for you. Are you planning on staying up north for a good stretch of time or do you have to go back to work on your place in the south?
I am trying to remember if you have an aci fryer. I think you do. If not someone else may chime in. I am thinking of buying one. When I looked at the reviews online someone said it gave off a strong plastic smell that went into the food. I have never read of anyone on this site mentioning that.
We are working on moving up to Michigan. With all our cars to haul up and combining two fully furnished places, it will probably take a year (and DH has already decided he's not working any faster than a year's time LOL). I retired at the first of the year, so we will stay up north for a couple months then come back long enough to sort through more things, pack them up, and haul that and another car up (a couple weeks, which will be enough of the hot, humid south). That process will happen over and over until we get the 5, 6 or ?? cars up there. He doesn't pay the bills and doesn't listen when I tell him we really can't afford the two places and need to get this one in Georgia sold. We'll go at his speed.
Yes, I have an actifry. In fact, that's one of the things we haul back and forth with us. Love that actifry. Never have had any smells or tastes, even when it was new. DH likes the 1 tbsp of oil french fries. They don't get quite as crisp, but he likes them. I have never tried even one as when I was making them, I was still on P1 (haven't made any lately). I made turnip and rutabaga fries and they turned out fantastic. I do want to try some sweet potato fries, but DH doesn't like sweet potatoes. My favorite is peppers and onions, and sausage or shrimp or I've even done lobster (cut the tails into bite-sized pieces). Mmmmm. There's an actifry recipe site, http://www.afrecipes.net/ that gives you lots of ideas and an actifry facebook page. I had an actifry recipe thread going one time, but it's probably 20 pages back by now.
HI,
I'm starting phase 4 on tuesday, just thinking about what you said about
figuring out what works for each person personally.
I'm alittle scared to change anything, p3 is great! No cravings and staying
pretty much the same weight. How much different did you feel p4 was when
you started?
Thanks for any advice from any of you here in the Maintainers
thread, I really appreciate it!!!
D
I just took it slow in the beginning of P4. I still do a P3 breakfast every day, at first I was just adding something little to my existing p2 lunches and dinners - some cheese or avocado at lunch on my salad, a sweet potato or a serving of rice at dinner. After a while I trusted that my body wasn't going to totally freak out and gain back 10 lbs I tracked (and still track) my calories every day on my fitness pal, so I never get mindless about what I'm eating. So far so good, I weigh myself every other day just to make sure I'm still under my "top" number....if I go over it, I know I can do a P1 day and keep things under control. The first couple of months of maintenance has been an exercise in trusting that the weight loss is real!
Quote:
Originally Posted by New Englander
Quick hello. I'm rebooting at 15 or so over... Like patns, my summer clothes do not fit...oops. Going to read more and get set to go. Day 2 of my reboot...
Hang in there!
Last edited by scorbett1103; 04-20-2013 at 05:21 PM.
Scorbett, I think that's the big issue here, at least for me. I'm so thrilled to have lost the weight that I'm hesitant to move to the maintenance phase. Of course, I still have one more week in P3 before I do so.
"Trusting that the weight loss is real" is a wonderful phrase.
I will probably do as you are doing and add just a bit to my P3 meals. Avocado, cheese, potato or sweet potato, maybe some brown rice... These are things that I will add. And it will be great to put carrots and string beans back into my salads!
Today I bagged another two giant bags of too-large clothing to make room for my new wardrobe. It's really strange to see those large articles of clothing. They always looked "regular" to me. Now they seem so big that I can hardly believe that I wore them!
The clothes that I now am wearing seem "regular" to me, although I know that one year ago I would never have though they would fit me! Life is strange and wonderful!
Hi everyone. It's been an unseasonably cold, drizzly, and windy day here in my area. Went out doing errands today with my winter parka on... and needed the hood up at one point due to cold and wind. Thankfully, it's supposed to start warming up a bit tomorrow, with some sunshine!
OK - enough of the weather report....
I got a little carried away around 3pm today when I got back from errands... settled down on the couch to read a magazine I'd picked up, enjoy a cup of coffee and have a couple of little whole wheat mini pitas. But they were so deliciously fresh, that I had two more.... then I remembered what I was no doubt doing to my blood sugar levels - I'd scarfed down about 20g of carb, while nibbling away on 4 little pitas. So I sat down and logged in the nutritional details at FatSecret.com to help keep myself honest. It sometimes makes me laugh at myself to know that I could sit down and review in great detail almost precisely what I've eaten day by day for a year now. But doing this sure does keep me honest, and pulls me up before I drift too far in to a massive carb attack.
I got the idea while in the supermarket of picking up a couple of cans of Campbell's Light Chicken Noodle soup, draining the solids off, and blending some protein powder into the liquids. Then putting blended liquids/protein powder (with a little xanthan gum added) into a sauce pan, adding back the solids, and heating. The goal being to increase the protein level of the soup so it's a better balance of protein/carb/fat. I wasn't very hungry (probably because of my attack on the mini pitas) for dinner tonight, and so I did this. I ended up with a bowl of chicken noodle soup in a cream base, because of the whey protein. It seemed like a hardier, more filling bowl of soup - probably because of the added protein. The nutritional values were: Cals 118; Fat 3.4g; Sat Fat 0.9g; Carbs 7.3g; Fibre 1.3g; Sugar 2.8g; Protein 14.25g; Sodium 536mcg; Potassium 414mcg; Chol 34mcg. I ate that with a salad, and feel quite satisfied. A can of the soup is two servings, so I have half of it leftover, probably for lunch tomorrow or Monday. I can't help but wonder if I should be using protein powder to supplement my protein intake this way in Maintenance? But - It's just so handy!
Molly - Sorry for your travel delay, and the upset with your meal planning, etc. Hope you don't run into too much bad weather.
Joysh - Two things I'm doing consistently this time that I never did before when I finished a dieting stage, is that I still track everything I eat to the best of my ability - and I weigh myself every morning. The combination of seeing what the scale shows me, and being able to review my previous (and current) day's eating really helps me feel more in control. I've not yet gone over my ceiling, but on days that I'm almost there I curb back the carb intake. Not a P1 or even a P2 day necessarily, but just more restricted. I find I have many days where my calorie breakdowns %s from carbs/proteins/fat are relatively even. I'm not sure if this is the best combo - I think the Zone diet is based on this? I seem somehow to just end up this way fairly often. I'm only three weeks in, but so far it's working. But I know that a daily morning weigh-in and consistent logging of my food/drink intake is crucial for me. Otherwise it's just too easy to ignore what's really going on.
Patns - Welcome back!
New Englander - I've read a lot of your posts over the course of my year here at 3FatChicks. Welcome!
MaMaZu - Your trip sounds wonderful! Sorry about the foot though.
DRegan - I remember being awfully nervous about being in Maintenance too. But like the others, I've been taking it quite slow and just sampling some of the things I've been missing and adding in this and that on occasion. I'm just entering my 4th week of Maintenance, so obviously a newbie. But what I'm doing so far seems to be keeping me where I want to be weight-wise, so I figure I'll just continue on the same path.
My exercise routines have suffered this past week or so, due to the problems I was having with my lower back. Now that it seems to be more or less mended again, I've got to get back to my former routine. I think that one of the abdominal exercises I was doing on the Vibracize machine may have been bad for my back and will likely avoid it for a while.
Did some long awaited shopping today! I'm down to size 4
pants, totally unbelievable to me! Could never get past the 8's.
By the way I'm very short,5'1" lol!!
So I will be very careful going into maintenance because I want
to wear my new pants(capris) for along time!!!! I got rid of alot
of old clothes, so no going back now!! My DD was very helpful
and encouraging. She's got 4 inches on me, thank God! I tell
her how lucky she is to be 5'5", she loves being taller than me,
teenagers!
Ok thanks again! Enjoy the rest of he weekend everyone!
Hi everyone! I've been away for most of the last week, and finished up P3 while I was gone. I've started adding in foods little by little (cheese, a couple of almonds, more varied salad dressings, red wine, a cracker or two) but was really nervous getting any more adventurous without a scale in sight. So far I'm exactly the same as when I left so that's good news - although I do know that flight time can sometimes cause weight to get a bit wonky.
I'm still doing P3 breakfasts and am sticking close to what has become my norm for lunch and dinners, and also still using bars as snacks in the mid-afternoon.
One interesting situation from a dinner out with my DH and another couple with whom we are close friends. My friend was saying how good I looked and saying that I shouldn't lose any more. Then she asked how much I weighed. I have never, ever shared my weight with anyone, especially my DH. Well, before I knew it, the words were formed and my weight was out of my mouth. No hesitation whatsoever. It was kind of a shock to me that I could feel that there was nothing to be ashamed of regarding my weight, since it was "normal" for once! And I was sitting at a table with all thin people, where normally I'd be feeling like the chubby one. (I'm still heavier than my friend, who is about my height and weighs around 10-125, but I'm comfortable where I am.) Anyway, it just was interesting to me since I know that normally I would have provided an evasive answer, such as, "I'll tell you later on when we're not in mixed company" - and then probably would never have gotten around to telling.
Anyway, just wanted to say hi. I'm happy to finally be joining your ranks!
Started P3 this weekend....OMG, those breakfasts are so filling and a struggle to finish. Yesterday I wasn't at all hungry the rest of the day, but ate anyway as I know I need to stick to the P3 plan.
Scorbett--like Joy I love the "trusting the weight loss is real" phrase. I was shopping yesterday as I have no spring/summer clothes that fit, and left the mall with size small tops and size 4 pants...and even 1 pair of size 2 pants! I look at myself in the mirror and part of me understands how I lost the weight and believes that it's really gone, but another part of me is waiting to wake up and realize it was a really nice dream but I'm still overweight. Acceptance will come....
Bubble--I too now have no problem sharing my weight with people....I also am comfortable sharing how much total weight I lost and where I started from. I guess it's because when I look in the mirror I am really happy with what I see, and also I want people who are unhappy with their own weight to know that such a weight loss is possible and I am living proof.
DRegan - I think of maintenance as phase 3 with extras. I eat everything, including the big breakfasts I had in phase 3, plus snacks, an occasional sweet potato, whole grain dinner roll, nuts etc. I still make sure to get I the 4 cups of veggies. I was careful with adding things in at first, but I religiously track everything on MFP. Initially I continued to lose and kept adding things in until I found a calorie level where I could maintain. A typical day would be the full phase 3 menu plus a coupe of apples, a protein bar, whole grain roll with dinner, and yogurt with fruit in the evening. Good luck!
I'm not sure what prompted me to read the posts today. I do check back every month or so but haven't since I got back from Europe 6 weeks ago. I've stuck fairly close to goal but I'd pretty much decided to lose another 10 pounds when I got home and today, seeing so many great friends again. . . . Well, I sure would like the support.
So I sat down and logged in the nutritional details at FatSecret.com to help keep myself honest. It sometimes makes me laugh at myself to know that I could sit down and review in great detail almost precisely what I've eaten day by day for a year now. 
So far I'm exactly the same as when I left so that's good news - although I do know that flight time can sometimes cause weight to get a bit wonky.
