I'm not phase 1'ing right now, so breakfast for me is plain greek yogurt (fage 2%), berries, and low-sugar granols... I like Bear Naked, but just found another one with more fiber that I am going to try.

Here is what I would suggest:

Breakfast:
1) eggs with additional egg whites, potentially some chopped up veggies to add variety.
2) various egg-type things that you can make ahead and either eat cold or heat up. See recipe link at the bottom of the post. zucchini tots, frittata cups, etc. Eggs are all the cornerstone of these recipes.

Lunch:
yep. salad. everyday. I'm with ya on that one.

Snacks: almonds, cheese, veggies cut up. Every now and then, I still cave and have an ip-style product. Garden lites frozen veggie souffles... (These aren't that great carb-wise, but I've had them from time to time in the afternoon when I am starving and need more than a few nuts to get by).

Dinner: grilled meat of some kind with low-carb veggies.

I've been following some paleo recipes and set up a recipe board on pinterest. Feel free to "follow" me. If you haven't joined and want to, I can invite you. Send me a PM with an email address if you want me to send an invite.

http://pinterest.com/marshcl/recipes/

Re: processed meats. I sometimes eat chicken sausages from trader joe's, but other than that we buy no-antiobiotic chicken and/or steak from the local grocery store or BJs (warehouse store). I still fall for the convenience of a rotisserie chicken sometimes, but if that's the worst of my problems, I'll take it.

Pxlkitty your meal plan is almost exactly what I eat if not doing phase 1 with packets. This will be the basis for my lifelong diet.
I do have bars-I use the simply bar as it has no artificial sugar.
I also try to add fat, butter, salad dressing, full fat cheese, ribs, chicken eings etc. I think we all need more fat.
I do occasionally indulge in the salty snacks-chips, pretzels, crackers. The next day my hands always swell, showing how much water retention carbs cause me.
I find if I buy salted almonds it helps!

Our new favourite is asparagus wrapper with prosciutto, brushed with olive oil and grilled. Delicious!

I feel like "snacks" are the HARDEST part of eliminating packets. Bars are so darn easy and convenient. I am going to have to look back through some of my old journals for when I am back on maintenance. I feel like meals are easy, and I eat salad EVERY. SINGLE. DAY for lunch- P1 or P4.

Momto2- what do you have a post workout snack? I usually have a protein drink (either EAS, Muscle milk light or IP packet). I am wondering what I will do when I am trying to eat real, whole foods?

Anyway, once I am done with this stretch of losing 10#, I am all aboard the whole foods train.

Oh, and prosciutto wrapped asparagus sounds divine, but I try to stay away from processed meats (too salty) and especially cured meats.

I love salt. I really find the more I have the better I feel and the less I swell. But I do sweat a lot at the gym.

I eat dinner right after my workout. I usually go to class from 6-7 and dinner is ready and waiting when I get home. I am pretty boring. Lots of chicken, steak, pork chops with asparagus and broccoli! As long as I only have to heat it up I am fine.

I usually have a bar at 3:30 to tide me over. If not it is sometimes a shake, sometimes eggs and almonds.

I'm following you now on Pinterest; you have a great collection of recipes! Thanks

I feel the same way..I am still surprised that I fit small clothes.
I was also scared about P4 and travel. Just take it slow. You do not have to add things back at once. I very slowly and cautiously would add a food back ..and watched to see if I gained.
Where are you going on your vacation?

Pixl: I am going to send you my email. I would love to see your recipes. I also get hungry in the afternoon. Thanks for sharing.

Do you let the berries dry before putting them back in the fridge? I tried this once with blueberries and they got mushy.

Wow. Well, it's been awhile since I posted... Which is usually never a good sign
Darbs I completely agree with your rules for maintenance. If you are avoiding the scale there is a reason why. The unfortunate flip side of this is how absolutely crazy one can make oneself standing on it everyday. Think I'm going to have settle on once every couple days because weighing in once a month has led to me gaining two pounds a month for the past three months.

So, here I am confessing what went wrong this past month. I was doing well with the clean eating and staying away from refined sugars but then I discovered that I have got a real thing for dried fruit and nuts. Which would be alright if I were to have been a bit more considerate of portion sizes...
This mixed with still having an indulgence here and there was far more calories than I'm used to.
But some part of me thought that it could and should even out with the amount of activity I partake in. It didn't. There goes that notion.
Sometimes just have to learn the hard way. So forward I go.
I found a book that I highly recommend. It is called "Carb Sensitivity Program" written by Dr. Natasha Turner a Canadian Naturopath. She explains so much about the hormones that are involved in weight (she also penned 'The Hormone Diet') which I'd caught snippets of here and there but it was nice to have an in depth explanation of each one and how to tell if that particular hormone is out of whack in you.
She goes on to outline a six phase program to see how carb sensitive you are. Phase 1 lasts for a week and has a detailed description of what can and cannot be eaten, what should be eaten with what and how much and when all of this should be eaten. I'm a girl who loves structure so this played well to me. At the end of the week there is a checklist (1. Failed to lose 1- 2 pounds 2. Fatigue or sleepiness after meals 3. Increased cravings etc....) This is a 12 point list so I won't name them all but if you check off any of them then you are to go to the Metabolic Repair Diet. Which is incredibly close to all cutting diets (and phase 1 with a few more calories & more fat). In the middle of Phase 1 now so will see on Monday whether I'm going to the Metabolic Repair Diet. It includes proteins & fats in 5 small meals with non starchy green veggies (asparagus, broccoli etc) Dr. Turner claims that insulin resistance can be reversed to a certain extent and metabolism can be increased. This is an experiment I'm willing to sign up for. Another major difference is that she claims eating a carbohydrate upon waking is very hard on the body and will increase cravings for carbs throughout the day. Which is a statement I have found to be very true for myself. A smaller carb free breakfast has greatly enhanced my feelings of satiety through the day.
So if on Monday I haven't lost 2 pounds I'll convert to the Metabolic repair. It lasts 4 weeks. If that still doesn't get me where I'm going (I'm doubtful that it won't though- it's engineered so closely to Phase 1) then I'll consider a full Phase 1 reboot. But I would like to get off the carb roller coaster even if it means that I lose weight more slowly. And it will be interesting to see which carbs make me gain (in each phase a new carb is introduced and the same checklist is applied at the end).
Mom2cs. From everything I've read and experienced- you are right. Lower Carb- Higher Fat (especially in active women) is absolutely the way to go.
I find the same with salt as well- I'm less swollen with it than without it.
Maile- thank you for the well wishes while I was gone. Sorry that it was for so long. I got caught up in thinking that if I wasn't abiding by IP that I shouldn't (didn't need to) post. This is also another major pitfall in maintenance. It seems to indicate that weight is taking a backseat to life and those sneaky pounds come back quickly and quietly.
Darbs- I would have to add that one to your list-
If you find yourself not posting- ask yourself why.
We need each other's support, going it alone in the wilds of weight management is NOT a good idea. Too easy to forget where you came from and what your goal is.
As I have been following the recipes in given in the book's meal plan I have come to realize how vital trying new things and changing it up is in maintenance to not feel deprived. I love making something that I truly enjoy and is as good as any restaurant food without worrying about what's in it and whether it's okay for me to eat it. That my taste buds can be tantalized by fare that is low carb & low cal. It definitely helps to lessen the feelings of deprivation. Good Eats & Wine- you're a wonderful new addition to the maintenance crowd with so many pleasing recipes to offer- thank you!
There's more I'd like to write to each of you but duty calls...Have a great day all!

We're just taking off for a few days to AZ. Because we know it we can plan out some of the restaurants ahead of time. I hope I am doing the right thing going from P3 to vacation instead of spending a little more time in P4.

I am experiencing some "old symptoms" in week 2 of phase 3 so I have to really play around with these recently added items. I was fine week one so I am not sure which item or items are the culprits.

Thank you, Maile.

So really interested in the plan you talked about. I need to kick the packets. I want to continue with phase 1 and lose another 5 or so pounds, but I want to get away from fake foods.

The scale issue is major, because I find I obssess over it. I need to find a happy medium. Maybe I will go to once a week to start.

Glad you are doing well

Capricious-that's interesting you mentioned that book. My coach wanted me to read the hormone diet (I am her book reviewer lol)...but I thought I would start eith the carb one you mentioned.

I also have trouble eith nuts, and only buy the 100 calorie bags as I bought a can the other day and ate them all! All 1000 calories! Yikes!

I avoid dried fruit. It is just candy in my eyes.

Yes, keep posting. It is so great to see other peoples experiences! I look at your stats and they could be mine! My highest weight on a scale was also 181. But I started ip myself before my first weigh in, so I was down and I used that weight on my tracker. When I tell people I lost almost 40 pounds they are always so surprised because I exercise do much. Activity just cannot overcome diet!

Wow to your whole post, capricious. Just what I needed this morning. There's so much that I want to reply to but I think you are spot on about the hormonal issues. As a matter of fact I think that may be what I am struggling with now. At least that's what it feels like. I feel off, not good, moody, irritable, sicklike, heavy (lead), itchy. Basically running through the 7 dwarves and them some. I am mid-40's and it's just that special time of life.

But, I truly believe diet is a big part of it. My "hormonal stuff" got so bad a bit into my 40's that I stopped to watch an infomercial on bio-identical hormones and was seriously considering them. Could not stand myself. Then, I tried some supplements. The two were not connected. It was just that in addition to improved skin and energy I noticed or rather forgot about the need for bio-identical hormones until a friend told me she had found a Doc for me. At that time I had no need for it.

That's why I believe in the power of food both as a blessing and a curse. I know everyone understands the latter. That's what got us here and that's what we struggle with. But, food has power and I started to understand when I took plant-based supplements. Basically a berry antioxidant deal. Lots of things like gogi, mangosteen, acai, any and all buzzworthy superfoods. I also dabble on the green side, with alkalizing greens like cereal grasses (including wheat grasses - yuck)etc. Again another super concentrated supplement type deal (powder) that made me feel better.

Don't ask me why I stop these things. I just do sometimes. Often it's cost or boredom. And they have no impact on weight loss. (at least they did not when they were the only healthy thing I was consuming for the day) Since I was getting ready to start taking care of myself at the beginning of this year I was either going to get back on these supplements or IP. Unfortunately on IP, I could not take these because of carbs, sugars etc. etc. And IP does super weird things with your hormones. Super weird things.

I think there is a lot to be said about hormones and diets and moods and supplements and foods and I don't think the connection is always made. I would not be surprised if depression lifts for many without taking prozac or something similar and just making dietary changes. But, that's just me, my thinking.

Oh and I also wonder about the carbs in the morning. I can understand the necessity of P3 but my cravings have been crazy. I am sometimes snarfing down 2 restricted daily. But, this started in P2. I also remember that my cravings were worse when I had my restricted for breakfast. I was fighting the urges to have more restricted all day. But, if I did not have it, I would often forget to have my daily restricted for evening snack.

I am very interested in getting this "Finns" website address... can you share please???? lol

Not sure he has a website but he has a thread on this blog. Its:

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/idea...x-finland.html

He's also on Facebook but for some reason I can't find his page now.

Another good blog for maintenance recipes is:

http://mariahealth.blogspot.com/

If you keep scrolling "older posts" you run into loads of recipes that are sugar-free and wheat-free; each recipe also has really good health/diet information! The sweetners she uses might be uncommon (at least they are to me) but I'm sure they can be substituted for stevia, truvia or whatever you commonly use.

For example on some of her recipes I've copied so far:
tortillas, cinnabons, chocolate chip cookies, pancakes, eggplant fries, calzones, gnocci, deep dish pizza, chicken pot pie, protein bread, pecan pie, rhubarb crisp, carrot cake, etc.

She also has several cookbooks available if you don't want to search out her recipes on the blog...I totally recommend it if you have time because of the health/diet info!