I agree! Started phase 2 on Saturday and am looking for to the new challenge of maintaining. This thread is very helpful.

I've been using MFP and trying to get off a few holiday lbs. since, errr, 1/2/14. I made some turkey burgers yesterday and only later realized they had 13% fat, so was well over my daily calorie count. No wonder I didn't feel hungry the rest of the day! Today the scale showed a 1 lb drop. Chalk one up for fat over carbs! As I'm trying to eat through the last of my WF products, I tried the ketchup--lurid red coloring, but wow it tasted good on those burgers. Have a great week everyone!

Hello fellow maintainers!!

It has been awhile since I've posted. Last time I had a rough 4day weekend (Valentines!). Since then...I did a P1 week...& then headed to Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City with DH & girls. Had an awesome time...and looked & felt great in a two piece!

Infoplease...thank you for the 100% P4 advice...with P2 lunch + 1fat & P2 dinner with 1carb. This will take the pressure off of being on/off diet that I do experience. Also, thanks for the P4 sample menu & meal planner...some very handy tools!!

Mars...I do think that we are very similar. Like I said, last week I did P1, then did a fun night last night, & , well it continued this morning...it's hard for me to get right back to P1. Right now I feel pretty yucky again, so I'm going to do P1 for awhile (20 days) to reset (I chose 20 because that will get me through a conference after which I will start working out again)...phase off again with P2 & P3...and then do 100% P4 with extra healthy foods on Sundays. We will see how this works...

Maile...as always, thanks for your tips, too. I am going to order the Brain over Binge book that both you & Mars mentioned.

A topic came up in another thread that I was hoping maintainers might have some perspective on.

IP "as written" assumes we will gain 5 to 7 lbs over the course of the year and thus will need to "reset" each January (only), although I am not really clear if that is really just meant as an annual two week process or something else.

So the question becomes, are we really supposed to be modifying maintenance during the year when we start to see weight creep or do we keep trying to get it down with p1 days ? I'm now of the opinion that the real learning is how to balance the p4/fun day/p1 day cycle and to use that and take a bit longer to get rid of the up pounds so that the reset isn't needed or is done for just a short amount of time to get too many holiday sugars out of the system. I think IP is just only now realizing there are differences between formerly obese maintainers, vanity pound maintainers and athletes.

Maile has brought forward some great resources on maintenance and binging (and sometimes I think the fun day can create bingers from nonbingers).

Has anyone had recent feedback from IP coaches on this?

Does anyone have some insights or "been there, done that" as to why p4 breaks down for them?

I find I am typically fine if I can just make my food at home. When I go out to someone's house or an event, it then becomes a special occasion and I am starting to tend to binge and don't have a set of rules to reign it in. It is usually no more than once or twice a month, but when it can get to be twice a week in November & December, I start to get in trouble, or at least the weight goes up and then I look to January and this time February to get it back. I'm trying to figure out if that is normal and OK or if I need to look at the overall food picture differently.

infoplease - I hear you, I have been sticking to my maintenance plan, but I do decide to have a cheat day, it's been due to events. I have a party or a dinner so I decided that's the day I'll just say what the heck and eat everything. then I follow it up with a P1 day. So what I've found - it's only been 2 weeks - is that I really let myself go and just pig out. I went to a champagne party this weekend and I ate everything and drank everything. Then I got home, wasn't really hungry, but ate more, and the 'more' was chocolate, candy and potato chips cause it was my 'cheat day' and I don't eat those things the rest of the week. So I think I'm still in that place where I am strict with myself until my free day and then I go hog wild. It's not great, but I'm not beating myself up - this, like P1, 2 and 3 is a process, and I need to figure out how to maintain some equilibrium.

Ecdcslim & infoplease...I'm finding the exact same thing!! I just literally pig out knowing it's my day. Then...my stomach hurts. Hmmm....you'd think I would learn! I guess this learning phase...is just that...understanding our bodies in maintenance, learning what works for each of us individually.

infoplease, ecdcslom, & Fitmom02, Wow, your experiences are so similar to mine. It's so nice to know I'm not the only one with these issues. I especially agree with you infoplease that cheat days can create bingers from nonbingers. Also that social events become the cheat days and lead to bingeing. I think it was Maile who said that she doesn't really do a cheat day but has small treats once in a while.

Today is 10 days since my last cheat-turned-binge day and I feel more equanimity about eating. No more longing for cheat day. I don't miss the morning after feeling of wanting to continue the cheats but having to go on P1 (for 2-3 days after MY cheats!). And I'm not very tolerant of hunger pangs anymore. I tried to do 2 weeks of P1 to reset my appetite and after a week, I went off the deep end.

Social occasions are tricky and I haven't yet figured out how to handle them.My goal is to just avoid going hog wild. Overall, I'm eating something like P2 with a few more carbs and mostly natural protein. For a sweet treat, I can be happy with WF chocolate dip--it tastes like pudding.

Fitmom, hope you'll keep us posted about how it goes. May the longer daylight give you a boost!

If you read thru the various p4 documents over the years, they go from p4 in the "voice" of Dr Tran saying that you can go all out FOR A MEAL, ordering wine, appetizers and dessert. The fun day is to be followed by only ONE DAY of p1. Later ones do say the fun day is "mandatory" and a day where dieters go all out and enjoy whatever they want. The point of phase 4 is supposed to be to learn to eat for pleasure and not from compulsion and/or emotion.

Maybe the part I am missing is the eating for pleasure and not compulsion. Really, the food during the week is pretty tasty and very nourishing, although I am still weaning off the IP foods (no sucralose deficiency anymore) which let me keep the overall sugars within range. I really like Maile's idea of the chocolate covered almonds as a snack built in each day. I may look for something along those lines (counting out the dark chocolate chips to add up to 80 calories, maybe).

Maybe another piece of long term maintenance is finetuning that fun day, whether it means eliminating it, limiting it or just approaching it with the right attitude.

I also find social situations stressful. People are actually getting used to me not eating what they are eating, but there definitely is pressure.

I did not do a reset in Jan. I think the idea of continually going on P1 to get down the off pounds throughout the year is what I strive for.

I have spent a lifetime of binge eating. It took me a year to lose all of my weight. I decided that sugar was addictive for me. I know when I eat lots of sugar or refined carbs, my blood sugar drops and I want more.

Since I have eaten low sugar and low carb for over 3 years, I have stopped bingeing for the first time in my life. I have found that I have stopped craving the sweets I used to.
My fun meals are really low carb higher fat meals..like a good Indian curry or ordering a cheese plate at a restaurant. Once in awhile I might have a mai tai or margarita ..or eat teriyaki with sugar.

I know everyone here will find their way of maintaining. Many people do fine with fun days and eating what they want.

By the way that taste of chocolate is satisfying. I know others who have a small square of chocolate as a treat.

Thanks for these great ideas Maile. I think using P1 will be less daunting when I'm not approaching it from a massive sugar indulgence.

Reflecting on the first 6 months of maintenance and weight gain, I have noticed 2 things, and maybe this can serve as a cautionary tale for new maintainers:

1) Phasing off in Sept coincided with shortening daylight hours and upcoming holidays for which I was unprepared. Maybe being established in P4 already will ease this time of year, but if you have any mood/daylight issues such as SAD, suggestion is to plan for it, consider a SAD light, too.

2) My metabolism initially kicked up in P4 and more weight came off effortlessly. With perhaps some overconfidence, I eventually took the plunge into cheat days. They became less than a week apart, progressively spaced closer in time.

For a while, the weight was fine. By New Years, I had gained 12 lbs! Snugly-fitting "small" clothes got my attention. I've noticed this phenomenon in the past when I lost weight: for a while, I can cheat and the scale doesn't budge. But right about the time it finally registers a weight gain, I'm already hooked into cravings and old eating patterns. The scale can be used as a reality check or an enabler!

Congratulations on your pregnancy. It is a wonderful time in your life and you will look back and miss it at times. I was quite sick during each of my three pregnancies, so I feel for you with the morning sickness (why is it named that? mine was all day! lol.)

Tnx
How to Stop Blushing

Maile, did I read your comment correctly? You are using p1 to get down when you feel you are at the top of the range? Do you do this for a set number of days or for a set number on the scale?

Does anyone just use p4 days with portion control for up pounds?

The SAD comments are interesting. Even when our days are shortened, we still get over 300 days a year of sunshine. I didn't grow up where I live now (I grew up in the midwest) so I truly appreciate the difference sunny days make, even cold ones. I can definitely see how they could impact eating and it might be part of my tendency to gain in November/December, yet I typically get fed up in January and have embarked on various diets in the January timeframe in the past, with IP ironically in November of 2011.

Infoplease: I do what I call a P1 until I go back down to what I want to weigh. Basically I change breakfast to a low carb omelette or to cottage cheese. I also try to eat lower fat meals for lunch and dinner. Instead of my exciting ethnic foods, I stick to plain grilled fish or chicken.

Sometimes I have stayed with P4 to lose pounds. I cut back on the PB at breakfast and cut back on the salad dressing at lunch..and try to eat plain grilled protein for dinner. If that does not work, I go to my P1.

What are you doing to work off your up pounds? Do you jump back on an IP P1 or do you try to lose with a modified P4?

You are lucky you have 300 days of sunshine! I grew up with more sunshine than I have now and I miss it.

Mars: That was good advice. I have been thinking of getting one of those sun lamps. This has been a long dark winter with a lack of sun. I know it has affected my mood.
The holidays are so difficult as food is a central part of the celebrations. That was a hard time for you to start P4.
The scale can be tricky.Some people have called it their parole officer.
It does not surprise me that no weight gain showed for awhile and then it appeared.


We are having people to dinner next weekend. It is a Morocan theme and people are bringing various dishes...some of which I am sure i will be unable to eat. I was pleased to hear my husband telling someone..that they could bring deserts, but that he and I really don't eat deserts much anymore. That is progress for my husband..who is still trying to lose weight.

Thanks for more good ideas Maile! I attribute so much of my success on maintenance to your advice on this thread. Moroccan party sounds delightful. I like the way your husband put it, that you don't really eat desserts rather than 'can't eat dessert' or 'on a diet'. Making our healthy habits mainstream can be a good thing for everyone, imho.

Thanks for the good advice! I have been wondering about this as I approach maintenance in a couple of weeks. This makes sense to me, changing back to lower fat and simple meals on Phase 1 to lose a few lbs. I was nervous about what to do if that happens.