I am beginning to think simplest is the best but the b'fast IP proposes, to me, is much more complex than I think is good for a transitional phase. So many are sensitive to dairy, and grains and sugar. I wish there were a way to double up the items we are most comfortable with in lieu of the more troubling ones. The diet is so restrictive and so controlled for so long it seems odd to sort of let loose like this and this is a key and pivotal phase. It has an impact how we will maintain. Getting our bodies to releases insulin appropriately will be very, very important to our future success.

patns It sounds like you do fine with the protein and the fruit side of this, right? So, the main issue is the grain side and to a lesser extent the dairy side. I can do yogurt over straight milk but am fine with goat's milk. Right now I am just doing almond milk. Have you experimented with other "milks" Coconut? Rice? Oat?

Regarding grains, is it all grains? Or, mostly wheat. Julian Bakery has some options but they are really pricey and I don't know if they ship outside the states but maybe looking at the ingredients of some of their breads might help you find the type of bread that could work for you.

http://www.julianbakery.com/bread-pr...3-gluten-free/
Here is one with millet

http://www.julianbakery.com/bread-pr...d-gluten-free/
This has brown rice and pinto beans. Dunno.

http://www.julianbakery.com/bread-pr...a-from-heaven/
I got Manna from heaven because it sounded nice.
It has this weird stuff in it.
Ingredients: Sprouted whole grains of *kamut®, *spelt, *rye, *millet, *quinoa, *amaranth, lentils, sesame & flax seeds & sea salt.

But, these breads are clean so I don't have to worry about sugars and hidden ingredients I cannot pronounce.

In the future, I will get something else because this stuff is pricey but I got these to help me transition off IP.

Thanks Purple Sky. I have studied my reaction to grains for years. I went from 204 to 160 by giving up wheat totally about 5 years ago.

I know I can handle oats and brown rice.

Also I use soy milk and almond milk too.

I need lots of protein. I have to be careful that I don't overdo fruit as I can binge on it.

I think I will do OK on maintenance. I have always been a daily weigher so will keep that up.
I will likely follow something like phase 2. I had done a plan before that I really like. I didn't lose on it because it was based on a lot of fruit. But it had great recipes for soups, chilis and such. It's called Let's Do Lunch.

So for breakfast I plan to do a protein shake made with almond milk and a cup of spinach chopped in. This will work great on my long commute.I am now making a big pot of chili and will freeze portions to bring for lunches this week. For snacks I will have greek yogurt and mix berries in. For evening meal I will make a salad and have some sort of animal protein likely sliced chicken breast.
I'll take it a week at a time and see how it goes.

Thanks for checking out all the sites for me. I have tried all kinds of alternative breads over the years but I just can't handle them. So I just got used to not eating them.

Pat

So I went for my weigh in. I only ended up gaining 1 pound. But I only started phase 3 on Saturday. My coach said probiotics. So tomorrow I will go and buy my probiotics. I'm still looking forward to breakfast tomorrow and will just trust if I follow protocol things will work out fine.

Phase 3 first day tomorrow! I'm so excited to be winding down this whole process. Can't believe how successful it was. Actually had to call my coach and tell him I didn't want to lose anymore weight. The size 4's I never thought I would wear are starting to get baggy. AMAZING! Thanks for all the breakfast ideas. I think I'll need a little help getting through this.

I might also have a grain sensitivity. The Manna bread (no wheat) did not exactly go over well. I may try again next week. Wasn't bad. Just might be grain sensitive too.

Does anyone know how I can share a spreadsheet? It's nothing fancy but I found that it helped me to track P3 meals.

In the meantime I can share what I did.

I had these categories going across the top.
Brand...Item...Serving Size...Carbs...Protein...Fat...Calories.
Chobani... Greek Yogurt... 6 oz ...7 ...17... 3.5... 130

Each day I copy the lines from the master for the day and then I add up the totals.

So, this was yesterday.

Item............... .Serving Size Carbs Protein Fat Calories
Greek Yogurt.....6 oz.......7 carbs...17g protein... 3.5fat... 130 calories
Blackberries..... 1 cup .....18..... 7..... 1..... 75.....
Kashi Puffs .......1 cup... 15 ...2... 0.5... 70
Almond Milk..... 1 cup..... 2... 1... 3.5... 40
Almond Milk..... 1 cup .....2..... 1..... 3.5..... 40
.....................................44 .....28..... 12 ..... 355


Too hard to copy but I hope you get the idea. I may try to come later to edit this. It copies really messy.

I had my p3 breakfast a bit ago. YUM! I had FiberOne vanilla yogurt, strawberries, muesli all mixed together. 1 slice of toast with PB and 2 sausage links. OMG YUM!!! I think the yogurt, strawberries and muelsi was my favorite!
My coach said to start working out and to "exercise my butt off" so later i'll head to the gym. I'm still expecting the crash that you guys had but so far I feel energized. Woo Hoo!

Edit: Oh, I'm also having a cup of almond milk with chia seeds and cinnamon hopefully to help with big C issues. It still fit into the counts.

Congratulations, CassiR. You may feel fine. I don't think the sluggishness hits everyone. I had it like twice or something. Also, I have been putting Almond Milk in my coffee for a while without problems.

Has anyone been unusually hungry while pn P3? I really feel like I am eating more. Also having some trouble stopping at one bar. I guess this must be what it is like to be out of ketosis.

Also does anyone feel heavy? I feel unusually heavy especially in my legs. It's a kind of funny feeling. It's not like the "fat" days on P1. I am not bloated or poofy just heavy in some parts.

Thanks Purple, I see you lost a bit in ph 3 so that gives me hope. I wanted to be well below goal to add in cushion but I think working out will tone some places i'm still insecure with. Have you been working out at all?
I logged my food that i'll be eating on a normal day and it is a lot.. even with no carbs or fat in dinner or lunch.. hmm?
The bars for me are a slippery slope! I had my bar snack last night and ended up having two.. I can only assume it's going to get worse as I get knocked out of ketosis. I think that I'm going to stay away from them once they are gone because it scares me. I don't want to go overboard on them.
You should try the Almond Chia Shake that I'm having.. it's super good! No blender needed and I used my shaker to make it. I seen it on Dr. Oz and just cut the serving in half.. their serving was 16 oz and it seemed like a lot to me since normally I don't drink milk.
http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/super...k-young?page=2
The chia seeds have tons of fiber in them so I hope it will keep me "normal".

The bars are a problem. I can't stop. One day the only thing that stopped me was being out of them. For some reason I won't make a pudding or a drink. I could probably stop there and it's less of an issue to have two of those. So, that behavior concerns me a bit for the future. BTW, I did not eat bars on this diet. I did other restricted. I just started snatching DH's and finished his.

There were a couple days where I skipped my snack because I did not feel I needed it. I seem to do better without it. But, to take my evening supplements I have to take something and that's when I get into trouble, especially if I had a snack before dinner. It gets messy. I will be happy when I am off the product next week and can try to replace snack with something else. See if that helps. I think the bars trigger something. And I don't have ketosis to do the work for me. Eeeh.

Ah, how do I say this. The big release.Early in P3, I had the big release, actually several but there was a big one that resulted in me seeing a difference in the scale. I did not add chia seeds or nuthin. Well, I continued my slippery elm. I was surprised at a loss but then again I was surprised at my low loss the week before. Sometimes the scale registers lower than home and sometimes higher. But, I'll take it. Coach thinks I may not have released my glycogen stores yet so my gain could be coming. Dunno. Also, I was due to release because of TOM. So, we'll see what happens this week. I remember wanting to extend P2 and delay P3 for that reason. I wanted to see a greater loss. LOL! Also, for me starting things post TOM is much better than during or before as I am a bit of a mess then and can't always think clearly.

Now, this makes me a little nervous as I want to start adding things this week, like the meusli and granola which have sweeteners in them and banana, maybe apples. And my favorite mangoes are in the stores now. But, this is what P3 is about, testing the waters. Coach said we don't have to have the full 400+ calories, which I found hard to do. She also said I could have extra yogurt if I wanted. She said these were just guidelines.

I will check out that shake. I have chia seeds. Keep forgetting to add them to things. I could use a little assistance this week. The big release was last week.

So here's what I figured out about P3 for me. I don't do well with yogurt. I was eating the Fage 0% Greek yogurt for a couple days. I gained about 3 lbs. I didn't go to the bathroom very much. I added probiotics once a day and stopped the yogurt. And walah! Bathroom everyday and the 3 lbs I gained are gone. I was freaking out because it was suggested I had a gluten or wheat intolerance. The english muffins, waffles, and fruit (I guess the entire breakfast) are my favorite part. I was dying that I might have to give up the grains. But it seems like yogurt was the culprit.
Thanks, everybody, for your advice and telling me to just stick to the process. It really, really works!

That's interesting. Can you handle milk?

Does anyone do the English breakfast? Bacon eggs and toast?

Today I had egg, turkey bacon and my manna bread (no wheat) with my yogurt and berries. Lots of food.

Purple,
Yes, the bars are something that will have to be a treat in maintenance. That can turn into a mess for me as well.
I'm glad I'm not the only one that had the "C" issues in ph2. Ugh. Still waiting on the big release..
The muesli I got was unsweetened so it had less sugars in it and I thought it was delicious in my yogurt. I'll also try banana later on this week. I'm lovin the strawberries though! It's funny that your coach said that just 400 calories were fine because when mine looked at my sheets today and seen 483 for one of my meals she said to aim higher, for 500 calories.. sheesh. I think the almond milk and chia seeds took it closer to that but not sure I can handle MORE food.
I'm going to assume the extra packet before/after workouts is not necessary in phase 3? I think I'll do my snack close to when I workout anyways. But in maintenance I may do the Chia Seed Shake closer to the workout. It seems like a protein drink anyways..

VickyR,
You may have a dairy issue. Maybe try a coconut or almond yogurt if you are really craving it.
I found that my favorite part of the breakfast is my yogurt mixed with muesli and berries. Yum yum yum! I had a slice of toast with PB and maybe it's just me but it wasn't as tasty as i thought it would be.. It could be that I burnt the toast a little.. hehe. I may end up having more yogurt and muesli in place of the slice of toast. It's funny how our tastes and wants change after losing the weight. Now to just keep those nasty old habits at bay.

I have been in maintenance for 4 weeks. Lost 3 lbs thru phase 3...ate 2 eggs, canadian bacon, toast and berries everyday. Seems to really fuel me for the day and I find I am not thinking about food all the time if I eat this breakfast.