Update.. So I was able to dump that 1.5 lbs from last week and am holding steady, yay! Vacation starts in 5 days and I know there will be some booze involved, lol. Hope I can manage the jolt and get back on track when I return.

And I'm with you Purple Sky, those bars need to go away. Those 150 calories worth of yum will not bring me down...literally and figuratively!!

Things are starting to become semi-routine which is good...I do my best with boundaries and knowledge in place.

1st real day of maintenance. The official first day I had my cheat day and then yesterday was doing p1.
So anyways, I had a p3 breakfast, but a bit smaller. Around 390 cals.
As a snack I did apple chips.. I know they said stay away from dried fruit but this brand I found literally had only apples and cinnamon in the ingredients list. One serving is only 29 calories.
For lunch I had a small slice of Eggplant Parmesan. It was small but really filling and yummy. I hope it was within the guidlines. Don't think I'll be having it again anytime soon though. Since the eggplant parm didn't have protein I had a greek yogurt. Hope that was OK too.
I have 1oz of almonds in my purse in case I get hungry again before dinner.
For dinner I'm just going to have my normal 4 oz tempeh and roasted zucchini. I will probably allow myself more zucchini now. I always wanted more before!
I think an after dinner/before bed snack is going to be a banana. I really really want to stay away from the bars! They are a slippery slope!

I logged my food on a calorie count site and says I'm at nearly 1400 calories! I'm not sure how much the eggplant parm but is I'm assuming between 250-300 calories? About how many calories are you maintainers having each day? I didn't even add in carbs for dinner..yet...

2Poles1Girl
Please keep us posted after your vacation. My situation eneded up being easier than I thought and the small amt I lost a few days after was quite nice. I overworried about it when where was no need to.

CassiR
I've been meaning to ask. Are you a vegetarian? I don't usually eat meat at lunch and almost never at breakfast. I am going to post my favorite quinoia recipe in here. Such a comforting dish. I have no idea what the nutritional information is. When I made it I made it with Red Quinoia so it was real pretty.

Historically I plumped up but felt good when I would eat vegetarian so I have to play with it a little as I now realize I went carb heavy. I will post a link for a site I found on this site. Some nice clean vegetarian stuff but no nutritional information. I guess if it looks like trouble we stay away.

Purple, No, I'm not vegetarian but DH is vegan so I adapt really well to whatever he has. It is very easy to slip into a diet of rice and grains.. I remember having multiple onion bagels with vegan butter in one day! wow. That man can eat anything and everything and not gain a pound. He kept up with me on Saturday for my cheat day and then yesterday as I was doing p1, he ate all the leftovers. lol
He is normally pretty healthy, or healthier, when I'm trying to be though. I feel good not eating many animal products. Like I'm helping or something! :D
Plus I really don't mind the meat substitutes. I'm trying to reduce my soy intake though.. especialy the GMO soy products. I love my tempeh though. I need to find a Non-GMO soy tempeh and I'll be happy.

Anyways, I really need to figure out a time to meet with my coach about this p4 business after my vacation. I'm very overwhelmed about the snacks and meals. When I log my food it shows a high amount of calories being consumed and that leads me to think there will be weight gain.

oh and please share the quinoa recipe! I love quinoa!

Sorry, I am replying out of order. I just had a chance to get through this whole thread.

Aha, I like that idea. I have a bar problem that I want to cut out. I will try that for an evening snack. Might help. Lately, I have been doing my Iced Decaf Venti Americano's in the evening. They make me want to eat the bars with them. Vacation habit. Long term, this may not be a good idea. But since TOM is approaching I might wait to make a change. I already do a container of berries and yogurt every morning. Starbucks and an IP bar are not helping with reducing the cost of no longer being on IP. I've got clothes to buy. LOL!

I did order The Simply Bar per suggestion on this board. Slightly cheaper and they seem to be picky about the ingredients they put in their bars so we will see if they pass the taste and muchie craving tests.

Speaking of cravings, I could not handle MIO when in P1. Gave me insane cravings around TOM. Now, not an issue. It confused me back then because I used to drink Crystal Light. As well, I can tolerate bars now. I almost never ate them on P1. Had a reaction to them. I am soy sensitive yet I do 1 or 2 (shhh...sometimes 3 a day).

Nice, I have not yet added pasta back but this will help. It's not something I am craving. I have wanted potatoes recently so I might start there.

Thank you. These look yummy.

Recipes
 

Here is the blog I found on this site.
http://mynewroots.blogspot.com/

She makes very clean food. No nutritional info.
http://mynewroots.blogspot.com/2012/...ubergines.html
This eggplant dish looks like something we can eat.

This is my favorite quinoa dish.
I added garbanzo beans and then cilantro and green onions, at the end, because that is what I like. I think roasted zucchini or anything could go in there. Black beans?? Anything you like. I will say this, the parsnip/carrot combo was lovely. Yum. They go beautifully together and I think the sweet potato would have added something very nice. I think I used less olive oil too and made it to taste. DH loved this and ate it as a side dish. It is hearty enough. I ate it as a meal. I found it to be comforting. Works cold or hot.

http://www.oprah.com/own-cristinas-b...-Quinoa-Recipe

Roasted Vegetable Quinoa
From: Mind, Body and Soul
Recipe courtesy of Cristina Ferrare

Roasted Vegetable Quinoa
Servings: Serves 4–6
Ingredients
Roasted Vegetable Quinoa

3 parsnips , peeled and chopped
1 large onion, chopped
6 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. Kosher salt
1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped (optional)
6-8 sprigs fresh thyme
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper (optional)
1 cup quinoa, rinsed

Dressing

3 Tbsp. olive oil
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. honey or agave nectar
1 tsp. chopped fresh parsley
1 clove garlic, crushed (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 400° for vegetables.

To roast vegetables: Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Toss vegetables with olive oil, salt, thyme and pepper. Arrange vegetables in a single layer and bake for 40 minutes. Stir vegetables once and turn baking sheet halfway through cooking.

To prepare the quinoa: Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add quinoa and bring to a boil again. Reduce heat, cover and let simmer for 12 to 14 minutes until fully cooked. Fluff with a fork.

To make dressing: Whisk together all the ingredients in a medium-size bowl.

To assemble, mix the dressing and the quinoa, then add vegetables and toss to combine.

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 0 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes

This recipe may appear slightly modified from what you've seen on television.
Published on January 26, 2011

Read more: http://www.oprah.com/own-cristinas-b...#ixzz1vY2HUtSp

Purple, I love mynewroots!! I think you posted this a few months ago and since then i've made a lot of stuff from her blog. DH loves the leek pesto. I haven't tried it yet. I'm actually making the cashew cake this weekend when my mom comes for vacation. Excited!! I've been wanting to try the eggplant recipe! It looks great!

I'm defiantly going to make this quinoa recipe. I love roasted veggies so I'm sure I'll love this. Thanks so much!!

I also really want to try GoodEat's mushroom cap "pizza"!

I planned out my meals for tomorrow so I hope it will be a better p4 day. I made egg salad with full fat vegan mayo for lunch. I love egg salad so I'm sure I'll enjoy this. I have my spinning class tomorrow and normally those day's I'm extra hungry. It's better to be prepared.

Thanks for this link. I'll have to go thru her recipes...the food has very tempting photos! and thanks for the Quinoa recipe. Looks delish!

I found a new favorite for my fat meal. The taste is so pleasing but beware, it is very filling!! That's a good thing but if you try to eat a normal serving size you're likely to bust! I got these ideas from that website I mentioned before - http://mariahealth.blogspot.com/

Out of the possibilities she's posted, I tried her healthy grilled cheese-tomato style (slightly altered version below):
(1 serving)
2 thick slices of a large tomato (this will be the 'bread')
3 tbsp almond meal/flour
grated parmigiano reggiano (approx. 1.5 tbsp)
1 egg white
seasonings (I used salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano)
1 slice of cheddar, goat or other cheese (approx. 1oz)
coconut oil, macadamia nut oil, olive oil or butter for frying

While oil is heating in a pan on medium heat, combine almond meal/flour, parmigiano reggiano and seasonings on a salad plate and put the egg white on another salad plate. Dip the tomato slices in the egg and then the dry mixture. Make sure it is well coated (I patted the dry ingredients onto the tomato slices). Then grill your tomato for about 3-5 minutes. Flip to other side and top the cooked side with the cheddar (or other cheese) slice. You're suppose to then make a sandwich with the two slices but I left them open-faced and topped both sides with cheese slices using thinner slices.

OMG, this was so good! With your meal, in my case, my giant salad with protein (chicken, beef, or whatever) it was very filling! I calc'd out the nutrition value and got the approximately the following for the grilled cheese tomato: Calories 225, carb 2.25g, protein 15g, fat 16g

My clinic's guidelines for the fat meal is to keep the fat around 10-20g; done!

Her other options for this (eggwhite then almond/cheese coating) is to make 'fries' using portobello mushrooms, eggplant or turnips. Then they are baked:
portobello mushroom fries - baked at 350 degrees for 15 minutes;
eggplant fries - baked at 400 degrees for 15 minutes;
turnip fries - baked at 425 degrees for 20 minutes;

Luvin' all these recipes.

Here is a another blog I like. But, warning, she does not count calories so for those of you who are creative and can figure the nutritional info yourself or who feel comfortable altering recipes to reduce, fat and carb content, you might like her.

http://www.elanaspantry.com/
This is Elena's Pantry and she has Celiac so everything on her site is gluten free. Now, as others have learned, we don't always do well with all items even if they are healthy. I remember pudging out a little on her recipes like I did with vegetarian foods sometimes.

I am sharing this because her recipes are really clean and simple. She appears to use almond or coconut flour in almost everything which gives people who are wheat and grain sensitive a chance at a baked good. DH liked some items I made as they were dense and weighty. I guess things like Almond and Coconut flour will do that.

http://www.elanaspantry.com/silver-dollar-pancakes/
These look good. Don't know what the calorie/carb count is for this but certainly fine for the free day. I love breakfast. I think it was my downfall back in the day. Can eat it all day.

http://www.elanaspantry.com/paleo-breakfast-bread/
Forgot to add these. Apparently, these are very light. Could be high in calories and fat because of the amt of almond butter (1/2 cup) but would also be high in protein.
There is a video of her making these.

I guess it is just going to be a matter of playing with things or just using them on the free day.

Thanks for the recommendation! Luckily, I seem to be okay with high protein and fat foods...not so good with starchy carbs, so her recipes will work well with me! Especially those with almond and coconut flours. Like you said, they are really dense so you don't need a whole lot and they stay with you for a long time, as far as keeping you full!

Leek pesto sounds good. I will look it up. Yes, those Mushroom cap pizzas are talking to me. Not sure if I am going to try that or the tomato "grilled cheese" first. Just picked up some quinoia. I think I will try your porridge. Just have to remember where i saw your recipe.

Oh good, her recipes are very clean but could be high in calories. I don't know. It is interesting learning what we can and can't eat. Sometime this week I will try quinoia to see if that works for me. I tried Yogurt and berries last night in lieu of the bars. Not sure if I liked that. Felt different in the evening. So, I will have to find other snack options. I eat 1-2 bars in a sitting.

Do you guys ever eat cereal for lunch? Do you think that is okay?

Yes, I had it for lunch yesterday. I swapped out my carb dinner because I wanted the red meat offered last night, so...it was an All Bran lunch, lol.

Thanx, 2Poles1Girl, because yesterday I was craving it

So, I have been doing mainly P3 . I know I need to graduate soon but it works mostly. It seems to be a comfort zone for me. I want to branch out but I don't seem to be ready. My Simply Bars come next week. Hoping they will wean me off IP bars. I have tried a few other bars and they just don't work.