You are from Boulder! I see that now! DUH me! My little blogger friend that I went to meet in MD, her hubby was here in Boulder for 6 weeks working for some of his friends. I got to meet him too, but we met here in Denver.

The last time I was in Boulder, I was driving thru, making my way to Longmont to go Skydiving.

Well my tummy is full of my oatmeal packet and now I'm sleepy.. lol.

Woolberger, I'll pop in again and see if your around. It was nice chatting with ya and sorry that I got you in to the bogus trial, what a bunch of sh!t.
Sorry, if I could find those jurors, I would shake the **** out of them!

Happy night and happy week Wool!

Howdy! So far I have been maintaining, even though I have not been eating the way it says to everyday. I have been tracking my calories, it's been anywhere between 1100 and 1500 calories a day. When I have had carbs and fats together, I try to keep the serving small. My schedule has been out of whack, though, as I have been off work, and getting the kids back to school, and preparing to go to Vegas. I am looking forward to Vegas this weekend, but I am also anticipating next week when I can get into a groove with all of this.

And boy, did I forget how filling carbs are. I feel like a pig when I eat them, and then guilty, even when I do it right.

I appreciated it too, I was gonna post a "I concur" but I was short of time. Everything you said is true. I will never be happy with the way my body looks, but I knew that going into this. I knew I would have a wrinkly stomach and other saggy parts. I knew would never be a swimsuit model. When I was 18 and weighed 140 I wasn't happy then (boy, do I wish I would've known then what I know now) so why would I be happy now at 36 and 150? I shouldn't say that I am not happy, because I am (emotionally). But I still don't line the way my body looks. But I wasn't losing weight to try and solve other problems in my life the way some do. I guess my expectations weren't real high that losing weight would make my life wonderful and fix all my problems. I still don't like what I see in the mirror before I get into the shower. My body is just as imperfect as it ever was. Maybe I have body dismorphic (sp?) disorder, I don't know. Losing weight surely won't fix that, and I spent all my money on this diet, so no money left for therapy...so I'll just go with complacency.

But there are other benefits other than vanity. I feel so much better, I sleep better, I breathe better, My knees and hips don't hurt, I can buy cuter clothes (ok that one is a vanity).

What about making your own chips with tortillas? There are some that are lower in net carbs (high fiber) and I think there are some that are lower in overall carbs (gross carbs? lol) I have no idea how they taste, because I haven't tried any yet.

I go about 10-11 hours. I am still eating a snack at night, because I am a night snacker. Of course I have only been on maintenance for 5 days, so we'll see. I need to go back and read the book again.

Actually, I am in Louisville, #1 small town in America (I am so smug!! Just ignore me!). Great to talk to you. The trial kept my Dad occupied this summer. Thanks. Glad you are doing well.

Lynn

Well, my upward trend may have turned back to a downward trend. Here's hoping. Just as I started to worry I got a pair of pants back from the cleaners that I had sent to get hemmed. They were one of the size 4s I bought when I first went into maintenance and they fit. I need to relax. 4s and 6s are fine with me. 4s and 6s are fine with me. (repeat as necessary)

Sherry, it is great to see you pop in. Your cheerleading has been missed!

Brandy,

It sounds like you are doing well. I too do not follow phase 4 as written. I do better tracking.

You are right about the chips. Genisoy actually makes a chip that contains soy. It's available on Netrition. They have less fat and more protein than regular chips. I could also bake some high fiber tortillas as you suggest. I am just trying to work the system so I will be able to eat as much as I want. That has never worked for me before and it won't work now. Thanks for the kick in the pants.

I need to read the book again too. I don't remember anything about a fasting period.

Lynn

Had my first Phase 3 weigh in today. No weight gain and even lost an inch! Yay. DH was actually down a couple pounds. So I'm feeling more confident that keeping it off is possible. I'm loving My Fitness Pal. Brandy mentioned keeping calories between 1100 and 1500 per day. Are the other maintainers here finding that is a good range for maintenance?

Welcome back you have been missed as well, you went off to watch the trial and never came back...

This is great information that I am going to store away so when I get to maintenance I will have it.


Woolberger - hey #1 small town? as in the best? or the smallest town? just wondering as my sister lived in Kevin MT and there was maybe 50 people.. and now lives just outside of Sweetgrass MT and has less... but if it is the best small town you could be right.

So did you try the kohlrabi Chips? They would be great with a yogurt dip, or I make the cilantro pesto and dip the chips in that.
Thanks for this thread, I can't wait to say I am a maintainer.

I thought I would post this in here too. I am just confused. I am not sure what I should do.

I am in a healthy weight range right now, but at the upper end. I am at the lowest weight I have been at in 10 years. My brain still hasn't caught up with my body yet. I don't feel skinny or the see the fact that I have lost almost 30 lbs.

My problem is that I am getting too comfortable. I keep cheating. Has anyone when to Phase 4 for a while to try to maintain and then go back to Phase 1 to lose the last bit of weight?

I was 144.4 this morning and am about 5'4". I was thinking on trying to aim towards 130. But I am wondering if I sit at this weight for a while to get used to it and then try to lose the last bit using alternative products. If I keep cheating, they will throw me out of the program anyways. I am going to go 100% until my next WI on Tuesday, so hopefully, I will show a good loss.

I suggest talking to your coach on Tuesday. If you are happy at your weight than start phasing out. The key I hear is to phase out properly just don't go to phase 4 from phase 1, make it a slow waking up of your pancreaus, this will help you maintain until you feel the need to lose the last little bit you want to.

Hello!!!

I went into maintenance in May of this year (I think). I was doing well staying at the weight I was at when I went into maintenance, but now I've gained 4-5 pounds. My clothes still fit, but I still want to lose this last 10 pounds to get me closer to my original goal weight. I just started using My Fitness Pal, as suggested in this thread and I have to say I really like it. I just need to find all of my paperwork that shows how many carbs, fat, protein, etc that I should be trying to maintain. So far, I've been unsuccessful but I will keep looking through the threads. Writing down everything that I eat is a real eye opener and makes me want to make better choices so that my end-of-the-day totals look good..LOL

Everyone have a good weekend!!!

People may not want to hear it, but they need to. I'm proud of you for speaking up.

I had the same thought the other day: "I am never going to be happy..." After all I've gone through, was this how I expected to feel at this stage? I have only 5lbs to lose. I never thought that I would feel so critical and negative. Don't get me wrong, I also have periods of utter joy... But the proportion of time I spend feeling bad about myself is staggering when I think about it.

For example, I bought a Pilates for Weight Loss DVD the other day and the person who sold it to me looked me up and down as if to say "why are YOU buying this?" I should have been thrilled, but I spiralled down into a feeling of despair.

So glad I'm not alone.

I have a theory that I'm still experiencing the effects of the hormones that are released while we lose weight. I feel even more emotional now than I did at any point on the diet. This is probably because I'm losing fat that has been trapped in my body for years. Don't know if there's any scientific evidence to back that up, but it works it my warped little head.

Becca - I am in a similar boat. I joined IP with 20 pounds to lose. I lost just under 12, even with lots of small cheats (i.e. peanut butter). I then decided that I couldn't afford to keep doing it totally IP and I wasn't loving the restrictiveness of the diet, so I started "my own diet". There are some other considerations (medicines, hormones, exercise), but in the last 2 weeks I am up 3 pounds rather than down.

I completely fell off the wagon yesterday after reading about shocking the body - so I maxed out my calories and had carbs (almost 200gm). I am so wishy-washy that I don't know what I am doing. I am contemplating staying off for a bit (since I already blew it yesterday anyway) and just counting calories then coming back on. But then, this morning I keep thinking "if I would only just stick to the diet, I could lose the last 8-10 pounds." Then a little negative voice in the back of my mind says that I am more likely going to lose only at about 1.5 pounds per week no matter what I do so there's no reason to kill myself to be OP on IP.

I would be curious how the "maintainers" experienced losses for the last 10 pounds or so. Was it ridiculously slow (i.e. a normal rate of weight loss compared to the initial fast IP weight loss)? Did you find it more challenging to adhere to the plan? Any thoughts/advice/suggestions to those of us who have fallen down the slippery slope of not being 100% OP?

BTW - I forget who said it, but I love the line above about spending all your money on IP so there's none left for therapy . . . I had to laugh =)