I find this is how I eat. I occasionally will add something carby like a small red potato or sweet potato, maybe a couple bites of rice. Though for snacks, I have made some pretty cool low carb rhubarb desserts and also a cheesecake baked in an almond crust (my cousin's recipe who has severe celiac's). I see no problem with this being the rest of my life.

evepet, sorry to hear about the ice storm. Good you didn't have to be out in it. I'm sure spring will make its way north soon. We are going to Michigan next week. I will try to bring as much of it with me as I can. LOL.

I'm preparing for this trip up north. Last year for all our trips, I was still on P1 and found it very easy to eat on the road and especially to organize and pack the food I needed to take for our time up there. Now on maintenance, I found I've collected up all these specialty items to cook with and I have about three times as much to take with me. I've even taken pint and quart canning jars to divide and store my flours, etc. DH is telling me not to get too carried away. But, I just don't want to buy duplicates as expensive as this stuff is. We're hauling one of the classic cars on a trailer, so I have a whole extra car to use for packing.

Going to another car show tomorrow. This one is in the home town of former US President Jimmy Carter. He is supposed to come and pick out his personal favorite and award that car along with the other awards that will be given. We don't expect any awards, we just like to go and watch the people and talk to them. I'll try to get some pictures and post later tomorrow.

Molly

I'd love to see the recipe for the cheesecake and the rhubarb desserts, Molly.

I had decided to,go on P2 after my Wednesday weigh in, even if I didn't see 150 on my home scale, but I saw it this morning! I've been weighing myself daily other every other day and got as low as 151.5 until this morning, it's been going up and down. I actually gained .2 at my weigh in this week. I don't think I'll look good thinner, plus I've bought a bunch of clothes and think I look really good in them.

I need to do some research for lunches other than chicken on top of lettuce. I'm going to grill a bunch of chicken breasts this weekend and slice them and freeze them for linch. I was going to get the Tyson Grilled and Ready chicken, but its just as easy to do it myself.

Can't wait to start phasing off on Thursday- It's been quite the year!

Hi, Molly - would you share the cheesecake recipe? I love, love, love cheesecake! For me, most of my maintenance dessers so far have been true cheats, and so very limited, sadly... Would love to have a dessert recipe I could use more often, other than fruit and yogurt.

Remember, you can always revert to something more phase 1-ish when traveling. For our recent trip I found it easier to take some shakes, bars, and veggies for lunches on the road.

If I remember correctly, you'll be relocating permanently there at some pont. How far off is that? I've been wanting to visit Michigan for a while - to check it out as a place for a vacation home, but haven't been there since I was a kid. Wherever we end up - good fishing will be required for DH.

Wow, Lynnie! 108 pounds is amazing!! I just started phase 3 today. This certainly has been a year! Welcome to this thread!

Molly, how strange that we now need more food paraphernalia to travel with now that we're not on P1!! I remember being so careful to take the right number of packets and RTDs. Hope you have fun at the car show today. I'm going to our local Jazz/R&B Festival. I live in the historic district of our town, so I can walk there! Several of my students are playing so I'm looking forward to seeing them!

BTW, I took the plunge and ate my P2 breakfast today! Yay! Onward!

I've posted the recipes on the Maintenance recipe thread Scorbett started. For the blueberry rhubarb pie, I made the filling, but was bad and used a Pillsbury refrigerated crust. The recipe includes a crust, which would probably be somewhat better than the store bought one. I had hoped to used a low carb, but it really needs a top crust. I will probably continue to come up with a better crust, but I loved the filling.

The cheesecake needs to coordinate with your fat meal.

To answer you question about me moving. Yes, we are working on moving to our place in Michigan. It will probably take us a year. The place up there is already fully furnished and I've been in my house down in Georgia for over 18 years. It is a larger house and packed. We have all those classic cars that will have to be trailered up one at a time. We have to determine what from each place we keep and what goes. A long tedious process. DH is not really into rushing and getting things done very fast. BUT, on retirement income, we really can't afford two places. Got to work on getting this one sold.

If you decide to check out Michigan, PM me, we'll catch up. I originally bought this as a vacation home, but decided to retire up there. Being the analyst I am, I spent a lot of time researching. I also grew up in Michigan and know a lot about the state. Greeniris is only about 50 miles from me. We had dinner together last summer. She also knows the state.

I posted about the car show on the 50+ thread, but I'll share here. It was a beautiful day. We didn't win any trophies, but DH got the thrill of a lifetime. He talked and shook hands with former US president Jimmy Carter. I was able to snap a picture of them by our Corvair wagon. Not bad for an 88 year old former US president.

Good luck on your Phase 3 breakfast journey. It's really like going down the yellow brick road in the Wizard of OZ. It's just so delightful IMO.

Molly

Quick question - there's been some threads lately on the cleanse - novi-cleanse or novi-cure. My coach has always said she wouldn't recommend me doing it until I'm in maintenance. Has anyone else heard this? Anyone tried it in maintenance?

Here are two excellent articles that I found.
The first is on how to talk to your scale. It gives good insight into scale fluctuations..including the lovely fact that 1 molecule of salt needs 52 molecuels of water..and that there is water retention in building muscles...as well as the fact that fruit, vegetables, and water all have weight.

The second is the most comprehensive explanation I have seen explaining the findings of the registry. It is entitled: How to maintain a 30 pound or more weight loss.


http://www.alphabetsolution.com/?p=96

www.rimed.org/medhealthri/2009-02/20
09-02-53.pdf

I read somewhere that when you have lost weight and you have developed muscles, you tend to gain weight around the belly. That seems to be where I feel any up pounds..as others here have mentioned.

Scorbette: I am excited to try that ginger tea for that reason. Thanks.

Molly: Meeting Jimmy Carter must have been so exciting for your husband. You did well with planning ahead to eat healthfully with your trip. I can remember having a suitcase loaded with packets and wf products.

Joysh: How did you enjoy your breakfast? I am still eating lunches and dinners that I ate in p1 and p2..maybe with a little more sauces or marinades.

Lynnie63: Losing 108 pounds is fantastic. I make turkey burgers for lunch or use salmon patties.

Momto2cs: I plan on looking for that recipe using greek yogurt for mushroom soup.

Ishbel: You are right..the anxiety has lessoned a great deal as time goes on. In that registry article, it mentions again that it gets easier with time! Right now I am feeling positive and looking ahead to my 2yr goal. I also love mushroom soup as a sauce.

Evepet: Sorry to hear about the storm! My son had a hail storm yesterday and we are supposed to have snow flurries here today. I hope your back is feeling better.

The name of the book is Beat Sugar Addiction Now by Dr. jacob Teitelbaum

The four types of sugar addiction are:
Type1: Sugar as an Energy Loan Shark: chronically exhausted and hooked on quick hits of caffeine and sugar. Daily fatigue causes sugar and caffeine cravings, which can be cured through nutrition, sleep and exercise.

Type2: "Feed me now or I'll kill you." When life's stress has exhausted your stress-handling adrenal glands. For those people who get irritable when hungry and crash under stress, it is important to treat your adrenal exhaustion.

Type3: The happy Ho-ho hunter: Sugar cravings caused by yeast/candida overgrowth.People who have chronic nasal congestion, sinusitis, spastic colon, irritable bowel syndrome, treating yeast overgrowth is critical.
**By the way I had no idea that antibiotics could cause yeast growth.

Type 4: Depressed and Craving Carbs, Sugar cravings caused by your period, menopause or andropause. The estrogen and progesterone deficiency caused by PMS or menopause produces increased sugar cravings, fatigue, moodiness,insomnia.

He has a detailed check list to see which category you fall in. He offers medical and nutritional treatments.
I sort of have a mild type 1..I do need coffee to get jump started in the mornings and can experience a tired slump in the afternoon some days..but I do not repeatedly crave sugar and caffein to get me through the day...nor do I feel tired all of the time..

My last comment on this short blog: This made me laugh.." You cannot out run your fork! " This was reminding people that your weight is 80 percent nutrition and 20 percent exercise..No matter how much you exercise, you still need to watch what you eat!

Hi all, I started back on P1 on Tuesday, and it looks like I've lost 6 lbs already! But the weird thing is that I don't think I'm in ketosis. I'm hungry nearly all the time, and haven't had any physical difficulties this week besides the headache I had for a week before beginning P1; no metallic taste in my mouth or the funky BO I had before. The headache finally went away after I took a Lily out of my office on Wednesday. Anyone else go 6 days before without getting into ketosis? (edit: I meant "go 6 days on P1 without getting into ketosis.) I've been fully IP, except I've had 2 'restricteds' on some days. Ketosis or not, I'm super happy to have lost what I have so far!

I don't have much time now, but will come back later to comment on some of your posts. Enjoy your day!

Hi everyone. I'm enjoying a lazy Sunday, and thought I'd check in.

Nothing new in particular, just curious to see what's going on here.


Wingnut - Yes - please bring spring this way!! And thanks for the cheesecake recipe. I'm another big cheesecake fan, and it's great to have a recipe that is fairly health conscious. Oh! Almost forgot!! - I LUV your DH's picture with President Carter! That's a keepsake!

Lizzy - Hi! Glad things continue to go well. Like you, I'm always on the lookout for tasty, but health conscious desserts that will satisfy my sweet tooth but not leave me wanting 'more'. I love fruit and yogourt - but sometimes they just don't fill the requirement.

Lynnie - You've done so well - Congrats! We're about the same height, and I've used 150 as my 'ceiling'. I actually kept dieting until I was a couple of lbs below that, as sure enough I've regain 2lbs of glycogen weight. So now I just monitor myself closely and if I creep over 150lbs it will be back to P1-P2 low carb eating for a few days again. So far, I've been fine - but it's early days... only switched from P3 to Maintenance on April 1st.

Joysh - my big thing with the P3 breakfasts was craving fruit and yogourt. I really didn't care about the protein and grain side of the equation... but bring on the fruit & yogourt! Odd, because I wasn't even a big fruit eater before. I'm still not, although one of my favorite snacks is a sliced up apple with low fat ricotta cheese. Anyhoo... glad you've made the transition, and as you say 'Onward'!

knm - I did an alternate cleanse while dieting, at around the 2 month point. I was without a coach for most of my dieting journey here, so haven't heard that about doing a cleanse now we're in Maintenance. I'll be interested in hearing what the others have to say. Or more about what your coach says on the subject. Welcome!

Maile - Thanks for that informative post. Lots of useful info there. I like your idea of using turkey or fish burgers for lunch. It would be easy, handy, and economical. I made a turkey loaf last Monday, and ate the leftovers for lunches for a couple of days after... but individual burgers would be just as good. I like tuna burgers with lots of veggies quite well too... with a bit of salsa. Yum.

'Beat Sugar Addiction Now' by Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, sounds like a good book to read. I'm thinking that I have elements of Type 1, particularly in the mid afternoon... and I'm suspicious of Type 3 as well, although I think the past year's way of eating has helped that. Around 1997 I had a live blood cell analysis done, and the naturopath/technician pointed out what she identified as an excess of candida in my blood stream. I followed a specific low sugar/carb eating protocol for about 6 months, lost weight, and felt much better. However, I've been suspicious over the past few years that it had returned. In addition to the pre-IP diet cravings for sugary and carby foodstuff, I've had a mild chronic sinus congestion that defies logic and never seems to get permanently cleared up with traditional therapies. I also have a fungus on one little toenail that's been there for a couple of years. I've tried all sorts of self-cures over the past 2-3 years, but the low sugar/carb WOE over the past year has produced the most significant results. During the first two months of following the IP-diet protocol, I was also taking a 2 month therapeutic dosage of a probiotic that was supposedly specially formulated to kill and control candida overgrowth. The low sugar & low carb eating lifestyle of this diet was the perfect compliment, and has improved all of my candida-related symptoms tremendously. It's definitely another good incentive to stick to this style of eating and minimize the sugars and carbs, even if I'm in maintenance and technically 'allowed' to indulge in them. While I've been enjoying a few sweet treats these past two weeks, I think it's in my best interests to keep minimizing the sugar/carb intake over the long term.

I like & totally agree with the comment "You can not outrun your fork!". No matter what 'maintenance protocol' we follow, I believe we have to be mindful of the overall calorie intake. Things like separating fat from carbs, etc., are doubtless helpful, but pounds will still creep on regardless of those types of considerations if our calorie intake is consistently too high. I find myself checking my daily calorie average at the end of each week I'm on maintenance. My first week it was averaged around 1250 cals/day. This past week I loosened up quite a bit and I found the average was closer to 1700 cals/day. Seems high to me, but the scale is still showing me below my 150lb ceiling so all is well. This probably explains why I'm feeling 'heavier' through the stomach though - that extra 500 cals/day has to make a difference.

Speaking of 'heaviness' through the stomach - I've got some of Scorbett's ginger tea recipe brewing right now, and will be soon enjoying it instead of my usual afternoon herb tea. It will make a nice change of pace for a hot afternoon drink, and even better that I can count it towards my daily water intake.

GreenIris - Glad that your week on P1 is going well, and that you've not suffered too many nasty physical symptoms this time around. You're doing great! Sounds like the lily was the culprit re the headache. Hope you get into the stage of no longer being so hungry really soon! For me that was such a blessing - gotta love ketosis just for that one reason alone.

Guess that's all folks - Cheers for now. Hope each & everyone of you is having a lovely Sunday.

Hello Maintainers! I've been lurking here for a few weeks as I was approaching goal. I'm at goal now (actually a little below) and am starting 1 week of P2. This coming weekend I'll start P3, then in a couple more weeks I will officially be a maintainer! Nervous and excited at the same time, but definitely more on the excited side.....especially excited about the P3 breakfasts. Went to the grocery store this morning and stocked up on 100% whole wheat english muffins, granola, fat-free greek yogurt, and low-fat turkey sausage. At the end of the week I'll go back and get the fresh fruit. Can't wait!

Molly - I'm going to re-visit the maintainers recipe thread too. I had forgotten about that one, and knowing you, you've put some great additions on it!

Love the saying "You can't outrun your fork"! Another one to post in the kitchen

Pocahontas - Congratulations on reaching your goal and phasing off! Welcome to the maintainers thread too

knm - I never did a cleanse. That kind of thing just doesn't appeal to me.


I am so hungry and it's still an hour to lunch...will try a cup of hot tea to see if that helps. Also, 'C' strikes again...had a cup of Smooth Move Tea the past 2 mornings, but it's not working yet. ugh...

VIP is slowly beginning to feel better. He's been sick since last Thursday (temp of 101.5 for a couple of days). Today is his 4th day of missing work, and he is so bored (when he isn't sleeping). I feel bad for him, but he won't go to the dr. Is taking some amoxicillin he had, but I don't think it's helping. Stubborn man!

Wingnutandme 18 years in a house...wow that would be hard for me to move. How many cars do you guys have? I love your avatar, my dad was HUGE into old cars. VIP likes the new shiny sporty ones and I keep trying to move him in the direction of an old sporty one.

pocahontas812 Welcome!

greeniris I always used floralax and it works well for me in maintenance (when I need it occasionally)...I can't remember if you did your original Phase 1 with alternatives or with IP (or if you started with IP) but you should be able to go back to your old clinic to see if they have floralax...it's just ground up prunes. Lots of other things out there too though so you don't 'need' IP, just that floralax works for me. As for the ketosis, are you tracking your carb counts...pretty sure you're doing it alternatively right now. Some people have different amounts of carbs they need to get themselves into ketosis...or you could just be having a difficult week.

knm Sorry, I never did a cleanse so I can't answer any questions.

Maile Antibodics cause yeast growth because they kill off all the other good bacteria allowing the yeast to multiply exponentially. This is why I love my probiotics. I got very very ill when I was 23 and received interveinus antibiotics...very hard on your body. That coupled with how I was eating (too much sugar) I'm sure caused a HUGE imbalance in my body. IF I looked at antibodics I'd get an over growth of candiada (this went on for YEARS!)...which caused more medication...yadda yadda yadda. I've had two sinus infections since I've been in maintenance and I truly believe the probotics and lack of sugar in my diet made my body ready to handle those antibiotics better then ever before. The more I research on probiotics the more I believe how good they are for you. I started them in Phase 1 and won't ever remove them. Coupled with the copious amounts of yogurt (ok really not that much but I never ate it before) has really helped my immune system (this is what I think lol)

Lizzy63 I agree with reverting back to Phase 1 ish when traveling. I used bars for breakfast while in Scotland even just to cut the calories.

joysh Hows Phase 3 treating you?

scorbette/evepet & gazelle

++++++++++++

VIP had a great weekend last weekend (4 days more or less not following the rules)...that really effected his weight. So he tackled it last week and said that he wasn't going to have a crazy fun day...which turned crazy. It's down significantly but not down where it 'should' be for him on a Monday morning. So we had a little talk yesterday...cause I gain strength from his strength and back and forth. And that when he's sucessful I am sucessful and his little road into 'before' land scared me...he said he listened and two hours later he said "ok, so how does a gym membership work?"....so he was listening (he's SO very busy right now that it's the only part of the maintenance puzzle he's missing right now). I honestly think that we'd both be lost in this maintenance without each other. He's SO strong and I'm the one that cooks LOL. If you had told me 5 years ago that I would be the 'cook' I would have laughed at you...now I need to know what I eating. I 'heart' my VIP

I've aquired a huge new stack of cookbooks. Slowly going through and trying things. Will post anything I find that seems like everyone will like. I have sort of odd tastes.

Cindy, I was hungry through most all of P1, especially in the AM. I've enjoyed the breakfasts now and don't get hungry until about 1. Hang in there, it will be so worth getting rid of those pounds.

Sorry about VIP, but I understand about men. DH will only go to a doctor if he's unconscious and I've called an ambulance. LOL. Good luck, they are usually babies too when it comes to being sick.

Frustration. Had to order tow hooks to tie down the car we're hauling. Ordered them last Wednesday. Called Friday and was told they would most likely be shipped that day since they were in stock. Called today. They had a computer glitch and our order was caught in the glitch. NOW it is all set to ship. I told them our leaving was dependent on those hooks. Couldn't they overnight them since this was THEIR problem. Doubt that will ever happen. Now, the weather is going to be bad Friday. We wont have the hooks in time to leave Wednesday (2 day trip) to beat the bad weather. I hate traveling on the weekends. Those people are crazed. I'm not sure now when we'll get to leave.

Sorry for venting. Thanks thoguh, it'll keep me from eating something I should not.

Have a great day.
Molly

I took a few minutes today to catch up on the threads but I don't have the energy to post replies to everyone. Sorry this will then become a 'me' post. I'm busy doing moving stuff mostly but have had a couple events that have taken me out for long late evenings too. Yesterday I slept in a bit bit then have to move out of bed and quickly into overdrive for the day. Today I am off work and also slept in but again need to move a lot once I'm out of bed. I have been taking lots of tylenol to deal with headaches and body aches but I hope in a week I can just slow down and have some physical recovery time.

This morning my scale was up over my max limit. I know it is partly muscle inflammation and also waiting for Novi-lax to kick in. I need to restock my smooth move tea. I think I should move to P1 for a day or two but I'm nervous about losing energy because of it. So I'm going to hang in a more careful P3 for the rest of this week and not add any evening carb. I may also eliminate a fruit/yogurt snack and have an IP pudding or bar instead.

And I was feeling better over the weekend even with the activity levels, but probably because it was sunny and up to plus 8 at my house. Today I'm supposed to be packing a load of boxes to a friend's place for temporary storage and it's minus 1, windy and snowing sideways with at least 4 inches on the ground already. I hate winter, I want spring!!!

Ishbel, I used to move every few years as a way to control accumulating stuff. Now it's out of control after 18 years.

As for our classics we definitely will haul six up, plus a pink 4x4 Ford F150 (yes, pink). We have three more classics here that really need to be sold, but might end up going if the right buyer doesn't come along. There are two already up in Michigan. Yes, we got a little carried away on "that's really neat, let's buy it."

Found today's quote on the Beck website appropriate. Probably more so for us maintainers, but I can also see it working for P1 in some areas that aren't really specifically desserts, like restricteds.

"Cutting out all desserts never works for the long term because you’ll eventually eat them again and, when you do, go way overboard. Because of this, it’s actually IMPORTANT that you work treats into your diet to prove to yourself that you can eat them in reasonable portions. Desserts are a necessary part of rest-of-your-life eating!"

Molly