Just a reminder that you don't gain fat weight quite that quickly, 4 lbs is approx. 11,200 - 14,800 calories worth. (UK obesity journal that says that human fat tissue can be 87% lipid also says that it may be as low as 72% lipid (Ref 4))
Pretty sure you didn't eat that much over your maintenance calories, lol.
It may take a few days to drop it again, but try not to stress over it. You gave your body a bit of a shock, it's going to react, lol. Eat P1 or 2 style the next day if you have a full Funday, perhaps try a Funmeal next time. Then just go back to your normal LC eating for maintenance plan. And there's nothing that really necessitates the weekly schedule, it's just that most people have regular events and they don't want to have to focus on food while they are there (ie: regular movie night, wine with the girls, date night with DH, etc). You could go for a longer period between Fundays/meals... If you don't have a special event and don't really need to 'cheat' then there's no point doing it just because. Sleep/relaxation from stress is a big one in this equation.
Breathe deeply.... we have all been there, and we're OK (I think) LOL
canadjineh, thanks for the reminder about how much I would have had to eat! I know it isn't possible for me to have gained 3.5 lbs of fat in a matter of days, especially since I only had the one fun meal. I really only weighed myself the day after my fun meal because I was curious how long it would take for my body to reset. Now I'm keeping an eye on things because despite being below 1000 calories/day I have gained another pound literally overnight. Now I'm monitoring things to see if perhaps there's something else going on that's accounting for the weight gain and may require me to see a doctor.
Lex, how long had you been on P4 before you had your first heavier meal? How long in total were you on P1? And how long did you do P2 and P3? And do you have a coach? I’m curious of your body might be having a kind of insulin reaction… I don’t know much about these things but just curious.
Also, your body might be reacting to something it doesn’t like or has a mild allergy to…. I know for me my body needed about a month or two for the digestive enzymes to catch up to the new foods, and my colon just had some trouble still for a while. It helped some to take digestive enzymes and also I increased magnesium and started taking something at night called “ColonMax”….and at first when I ate things for the first time, for example melon, I really bloated for a few days and my stomach hurt, but now I can eat it without difficulty. I just had to add things one by one. Some corns, glutens, and soy don't seem to agree with me, and cause bloating, so I have to decide if those things are worth how I’m going to feel later. Also salty meats like sausage, even really high quality, will cause it.
I also have had to keep adjusting my thyroid and progesterone, which I am not sure is related or not, or just because I’m getting closer to menopause. But not having enough progesterone can cause bloating and water retention.
Like Liana said, the biggest thing for me has been stress vs. rest/sleep/relaxation. This has a HUGE HUGE HUGE effect on the scale for me. Bigger than anything else. I can lose 4 up lbs after sleeping 12 hours with no change in food.
You’ll work these things out step by step, I’m trusting that I am…. I am a little grasshopper still too
Last edited by Grateful4Health; 06-24-2015 at 01:52 AM.
Grateful4Health, I was on IP for 10 months. I did the full two weeks of P2 and full two weeks of P3. I have only been on maintenance two weeks. So I had my first 'fun meal' a little over a week into maintenance. I do have a coach, but she was pretty useless when it came to maintenance (didn't even give me the P4 sheet!), so I have opted not to follow up regularly with her now that I am no longer using IP products.
I had the same thought about a sensitivity, or perhaps a thyroid issue (been tested in the past). I'm happy to report that this morning I am now only up two pounds from where I was on Saturday. I'm still optimistic that weight will mostly come off before I officially weigh-in again.
My body has not reacted as my coach predicted for the entire course of IP, so it shouldn't really be a surprise that it would be any different in maintenance. While my coach told me most people gain during that time of the month, it was always the week I had my biggest loss. While she said most people continue to maintain or loose in P2 and then gain in P3, I gained in P2 and lost in P3.
I've always had digestive issues (backed up a lot of the time), so perhaps it's time for me to look into some kind of supplement to support that. I had been hoping that now that I'm eating yogurt with added probiotics things would improve in that area, but no such luck.
Hi there. It's been a while since I've posted, but I've been lurking occasionally, and wanted to post an update. I didn't fall off the face of the earth.
Weight-wise, I am still exactly where I was at the beginning of the year, maintaining in the low 170s, under my initial IP goal of -50. I fluctuate between 171 and 174 pretty consistently depending on water intake, TOM, salt intake etc.
So...hooray for that relatively straight line trend, but, this hasn't been true "maintenance." It's been a mix of P1 and falling off the wagon, getting back on, falling off again. I attempted several reboots to get another 10-15 pounds off to get into the healthy BMI range, but haven't been able to stick to P1 for more than a week. I tried the P1 alternative plan, P1 with extra fats (some cheese and nuts), a mix of P2 and P3, but I always derailed myself.
Small victory is that I've never been derailed by anything outrageous...really quite reasonable when viewed in the context of "healthy lifestyle," like a small ice cream after a day of rigorous hiking, or a glass of wine on the weekend, an apple for a snack. But the science of keto and IP is such that those things will throw you out of fat-burning and you'll spend three days making up for it before you start fat burning again. And IP is too expensive and too much work for me to only do it halfway. Even at the low calorie level, I haven't been making progress. My stress levels with work and volunteer commitments is so high, that I wouldn't be making progress even if I was 100% OP.
Anyway, it dawned on me over the weekend that I've been dieting, or feeling guilty about not dieting for the entire first half of the year. Not how I envisioned my first year post-IP going, and not a healthy mental state. So, I talked it through with my coach and we agreed that focusing on maintaining is the best plan for now. My coach was actually wonderful, and was totally supportive. I'll be going in to weigh in every two weeks for the next couple of months, and then I'll move to a monthly weigh in to keep myself accountable.
So I'm back with you guys here. Looking forward to getting active on this thread again. Your top 5 tips for successful maintenance have been really helpful too as I've been planning.
This is my loose plan for now:
-Track everything in MFP, start at 1500 calories a day and slowly increase to see how it goes.
-Try to keep fat/carb ratios, but will be ok with 2:1 if that's how it works out
-Keep bulk of calorie/carb intake to the morning. Follow the mantra of eating breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a pauper. (this is just personal preference, and makes me feel better overall)
-Aim for 20 minutes of sweat-inducing exercise 5 times a week (shouldn't be hard with it so hot out).
-Keep to "fun meals" for now rather than fun days...a whole day is an easy trigger for me to let it spiral into a whole week.
Thanks all for your wisdom and continued sharing! Already feeling better!
Pishposh, great to hear from you. I have been in a very similar situation for the last 9 months, and in March decided to maintain. I did tough it out and drop 8 lbs during that time, but 5 went back up, and I vacillate around the 5 lb range. It’s funny I had a similar realization this morning, that I’ve been within 5 lbs of my current weight for nearly 9 months. And that’s a huge success. Like you and a few of us here, my body doesn’t want to be on P1 for very long. I think it’s at the weight it wants to be, and that’s it.
Lex, sounds like you’re doing well, some of the other folks here may be able to add more.
I have similar digestive/back up issues I always have to stay on top of. For sure that will cause up lbs until I handle it. My doctor suggested a few weeks ago that I take liquid Magnesium Citrate maybe every 3 or 4 days (I take a powder form both at night and in the morning - I didn’t know that Magnesium only lasts 8 to 10 hrs in your system, and was having a lot of inflammation and other “low magnesium” symptoms staring around 4pm, and we realized it was because I needed to take Magnesium in the morning also). The doctor said that the liquid form is the most intense and most absorbable, and my body seems to respond to it the best, so the doctor said just use it consistently so I don’t get too backed up - kind of like solve the problem before it actually shows up as a problem.
Probiotics in general haven’t worked well for me, but I finally found a very high dose one that worked well, and seemed to help a lot of the problems.
I think it’s just a trial and error thing…. like Liana told someone on another thread yesterday, maintenance really is a process of getting to know our own body really, really well.
Last edited by Grateful4Health; 06-24-2015 at 11:29 AM.
POSH!!! Yaaay, so good to see you again! Vital to track for a bit in MFP - even the little cheats... I found when I neglected that earlier the little cheats became too often and easily justifiable (after all, they didn't appear on my food journal so they weren't really adding to my carb/calorie count in my body, lol). You haven't given up, & that is WHAT REALLY COUNTS! Try regular maintenance and then later when you feel you have a bit more handle on your stress, you could always do VLCarb or P1 again.
I am still pondering my five personal do's & don'ts.... will post that later Bootros, once I've consolidated my thoughts.
Lots going on in my household/both sides of the family these days. MIL may not get out of the hospital... and I think she is coming to that understanding herself . She just turned 89 a few months ago and really was quite healthy til lately. DH's sis phoned to tell him that their mom is going to give all the kids a large lump sum now and not just leave it all for the will.... $25,000 each. This means she understands just how serious her situation is and wants to see the kids enjoy/get use out of the money, but I hope this doesn't mean she is just giving up, because that will be a self fulfilling prophecy.
It's been a busy week so far. End of the month billings begin(I'm in accounting) so not much free time at work to post.
Lex: I'm a bit concerned that you are in Maintenance and only eating 1000 calories a day. This is still diet mode, not Maintenance. My personal experience was to up my calories about 200 every 2 weeks and ease back into a normal WOE. At first this caused pretty wild fluctuations but I was eating healthy, hitting the 3:1 ratios religiously and I knew any fluctuations were not fat. I now average out at 1700 per day and am maintaining pretty well within 3-4 lbs. of my beginning Maint. weight. I think after a long time on IP P1 your body will need time to adjust. Eat more and you will be surprised to see that not only do you level off but you feel better. Try using Calm at night a couple times a week. Keeps me moving...if you know what I mean!
Pishposh: Good to see you. Hang in there. Maintenance is a roller coaster for all of us. You will find your way.
Liana: Sending good thoughts about your MI.
Last edited by catlady1981; 06-24-2015 at 03:32 PM.
Nice to hear from you Andrea, hope billing goes well.
Liana I hope things for your MI go OK - the death process is a significant thing for sure.
Lex I second what Andrea mentioned - I went up about 200 calories a week and am around 1700 to 1800 now at Maintenance, 200 or 300 if I am extremely active/exercising.
Hi ladies, thanks for the insight. I should point out that my first week of maintenance I was actually eating around 1600-1700 calories and was able to maintain within half a pound of my finish weight. It was only the past three days I was that low. I am aiming to be around 1200-1300 today and work back up to 1700 from there.
So now what? I know I am going to fluctuate. However, I know this is a direct result of putting food in my body that is not used to being there. I want to lose those 3 pounds. What phase should I do? Or just stay on maintenance and try to exercise to my goal.
So now what? I know I am going to fluctuate. However, I know this is a direct result of putting food in my body that is not used to being there. I want to lose those 3 pounds. What phase should I do? Or just stay on maintenance and try to exercise to my goal.
Hi Bootros!
On the 23rd you were up 4 lbs... so are you only up 3 now from goal number? That means you lost some of the bloat... Or are you now up 7 from goal number?
Stick to Maintenance plan, since you've just started, and let your body get used to the new amounts of food. Any body process requires water, and that includes digesting your food. Your body will hold some extra water to facilitate digestion. Concentrate on choosing lower carb foods while enjoying your added amount of calories and your exercise plan. Things will even out in a bit. It is a learning process, body and mind.
My 5 tips are similar to the other gals:
1 - watch how your formfitting clothes feel and use that as a guide - not just weight
2 - log for the first while til you get to know food macros better, and after that at least make a mental note of what you are eating (mindfulness). If you start to have trouble, go back to actually measuring and logging.
3 - remember your maintenance is a range and not a single number.
4 - focus on keeping to a regular exercise plan.
5 - choose a Funmeal instead of a whole Funday.
For me personally, the carb/fat separation rule works best, as I tend to overeat mindlessly when I combine them and don't stay between at least 2:1 to 4:1 ratios. You may find with time, other ways work better for you... keeping track of calories alone, or keeping net carbs under a certain number, but give yourself a chance to get comfortable with this new way of eating before you play around a bit. It helps with 'P1 separation anxiety', lol. (the idea of being separated from your beloved P1 plan)
Countdown now, eh, Marci??
Glad to have you join us!
) LOL
. She just turned 89 a few months ago and really was quite healthy til lately. DH's sis phoned to tell him that their mom is going to give all the kids a large lump sum now and not just leave it all for the will.... $25,000 each. This means she understands just how serious her situation is and wants to see the kids enjoy/get use out of the money, but I hope this doesn't mean she is just giving up, because that will be a self fulfilling prophecy.
