I agree and that is great that your batwings are disappearing... Your pic you look so healthy and happy.

Woolberger have you started separating your carbs & fats now? I'm wondering about this as so many things have fruit, veggies & dressing (salad wise at least)- if I should just leave the fruit behind or if it's okay to have it all... Were you super conscientious about it in the beginning and the just eased up over time? Or did you always dabble? Five months seems like a pretty good amount of time to have maintained for- the body has had a chance to even out. Are you planning a tune-up? My coach had mentioned that it is recommended to go back to Phase 1 once a year roughly to 'tune- up' as there is a natural weight gain to be expected throughout the year of roughly 5- 8 Pounds. Sorry for the 20 questions and picking your brain...:D

2Ride we're supposed to slip remember ;) Dr. Tran said so :D Although it is VERY hard to give in to having something you would not otherwise let yourself have. Throughout the first two phases I fantasized about everything I would eat and drink when I hit my first maintenance cheat day- and it never materialized. You work way too hard to get to your goal and it requires such an intense amount of focus to get there that easing up is very hard to do which is probably for the best because if I were to go back to eating the way I did before then I will go back to looking the way I did before... No thanks... And you, I absolutely believe can succeed in maintenance. You've lost a lot of weight and stayed focused throughout your journey. You check the boards frequently and ergo have a lot of support. I thank Woolberger for having started this thread because maintenance is just as important as the diet itself and the need for support remains just as recovering alcoholics who have not had a drink in years still attend an AA meeting so do us carb addicts need to support each other in not overdoing the carbs. There is a reason support groups exist and it is because they work. I thank all of you for being mine! (Please forgive my ranting:o)

Sorry SunnyMae I got so caught up in my rant- I forgot to say :welcome3: BACK! Looking forward to maintaining with you. Congrats on having maintained since February- that's awesome! If I'm only five pounds from where I am now in 8 months I will be one very happy lady :D:yes:

For those of you who use My Fitness Pal for maintenance, I see that we can change the percentages for carbs, protein, etc in our goals. The automatic setting has carbs at 55%, protein at 30%, and fat at 15%. Does anyone have an idea of what percentage protein, carbs, fat, etc we should strive for on Phase 4?

Thanks everyone for chiming in. For some of you with questions, I notice when I watch the carbs I see/feel a pretty immediate difference in that "bloat" weight. It just still boils down to that darn sugar for me. In the form of alcohol, bread or dessert type stuff. I woulc like to do a round of ph 1 I'd say the end of october which will be a year since I started IP. Anyone know what the Dr's recommended time frame is a a part of maintenance? Maybe some of us in maintenance can do it together, or at least report in while we are doing it. Let me know if you want to join me. I think it's important for me to know that I have the discipline to clean out, go back into those fat reserves and do a little housekeeping.
Thanks everyone. Being a sugar/carb addict, I'd rather err on the side of being overly concerned about weight gain, than gaining 35 pounds back and landing up where I first started. I think the choice for lots of us on this list is either being obsessed about not gaining back, or obsessed about losing it again. I'd rather be **** bent on not gaining it back. You guys are the best!

I am trying to separate fats & carbs. Went to company picnic last night. Had hamburger with tomato & onion on lettuce bun with mustard. Actually was very filling. Friday night had Peru trip reunion. I made a quinoa pilaf with tomatoes, green chile, black beans, sauteed colored bell peppers, green onion and topped with fat free cheddar cheese. I love quinoa! I have never been a big fruit person. I love an apple in the morning with greek yogurt but otherwise don't eat it as a snack. I don't think I ever did phase 4 the way I was supposed to. I did phase off on phase 2 & 3 exactly as written. I use MFP to track and try to keep my daily carbs under 100 grams.

I would love to join you for a tune-up! I also started in October 2010. I will be traveling starting October 20th through November 20th so it would have to be before or after that for me but I'm in!

I was wondering if anyone would be up for an informal phase 4 challenge? So many people are getting to maintenance (yay!) We could all help each other by following the phase 4 recommendations and posting our meal ideas for the dinner (good carb) meal. Rocky Monarch always made it sound so easy but I just couldn't seem to get the hang of it.

Have a wonderful Sunday. My thoughts are with the east coasters.

I'm up for sharing any phase 4 dinner meals I come up with. Tonight, our first Phase 4 night, we had only meat and veggies:( Other than spaghetti with a fat free marinara, I am having trouble thinking of no-fat carb dishes, so I'm looking forward to sharing ideas.

ETA: Just found some fat free muffin recipes. Maybe meat and veggie for dinner followed by a fat free muffin for dessert?

Im about here. 7 pounds to go. Thinking about starting phase 2. Looking forward to all the tips and support.

As long as the muffin is whole grain without a lot of sugars, I think that works. I am going to try making my evening meal without any higher fat meats because isn't a good steak with brown rice still combining fats & carbs? That is where I get confused. I'm thinking:

97% FF hotdog in a whole wheat bun,
vegetarian chili with soy crumbles,
quinoa pilaf with vegies and soy crumbles,
whole grain/high fiber pasta with FF sauce with reduced fat parm cheese,
grilled cheese sandwich made with whole grain/high fiber bread and FF cheddar cheese (spray bread with Pam instead of butter).

What are some other ideas?

We've done grilled chicken with brown rice, sauteed turkey breast cutlets with quinoa, Turkey tacos with whole wheat tortillas and FF cheese/sour cream

Over all I lost my butt at the slots! I only really played the penny slots, so we're not talking high stakes. But there was a casino downtown where I started with $20 and walked out with $65!

I am back down to 152 from 156 when we got back. Still working to get down to 150, mostly doing phase 2. I have also been exercising 4-5 days a week. Nothing vigorous yet, just walking videos or pilates videos in the morning. I want to add in elliptical training, and some light weight lifting for toning (Gotta do something about the bat wings). I am gonna start this later this week, or next week.
Sounds like a good idea! I am going back to Phase 4 protocol next week, I will post some of my meal ideas when I come up with them. I went through some of my old standby recipes over the weekend, and I think I can modify some of them to fit into maintenance, as alot of them were low fat already.

Have you all seen the new Phase 4 sheet? Brummie posted it in the Experienced thread.

I confirmed with my coach that this IS the correct new Phase 4 sheet. Notice it says lunch is "poor" in carbs and dinner is "poor" in fats, which makes more sense to me than "no" carbs/fas set forth in the prior Phase 4 sheet. But I wish they gave us some guidelines as to how many grams of carbs to stay under at lunch and how many grams of fat to stay under at dinner. Any ideas?

Hi All- I am a lurker but don't post much. Have been on phase 4 for about 2 months. I am doing fine weight -wise but am becoming bored with r=eating the same things everyday....am looking forward to some more ideas for "fat" lunches and carb , no-fat dinner. here is what I have been eating:
Breakfast: 2 slices light wheat toast with peanut butter, 2 pieces lean turkey bacon, 1/2 c greek yogurt (fat free)with 1c strawberries and 1c light soy milk

Lunch: chicken salad with veggies and full-fat dressing for fat......sometimes a few prok rinds if i want a crunch or some sunflower seeds on my salad (getting VERY boring)

Dinner: Protein and veggies, salad with WF dressing and either a roll or a small baked potatoe with I can't believe its not butter sparay, and some strawberries or a peach after dinner

Snack: IP food or some almonds

HELP!