Maintainer's Vol. 6
 

Thanks for opening new thread Wuv-
I am still struggling to get back on the wagon- Did great over weekend then last night, lost control and ate not one, but 2 bowls of cereal. grrrrrrrr. Don't understand why it is so hard to get back to it when originally it seemed effortless.

Thank you Cap for all the great info on that book! And a big thanks to everyone else for suggesting the amazon.ca website to get it now. I think this is just what I've been looking for! The past couple weeks I've read Atkins Diet (to find out how to slowly ease back starchy carbs into my diet), Glycemic Index for Dummies, and Wheat Belly. My husband must think I'm crazy since I've just started Phase 4 of IP but I have always wondered why carbs effect me the way they do...headaches, weight gain around my middle (tummy and love-handles), bloating, muscle aches, sinus problems, fatigue, brain fog, etc. etc. etc.!!! I feel like I'm getting so close to finding out! I LOVE this website/blog/thread...thank you all so much :)

UGH. I haven't been on this site in almost a week and a half. I am SO NERVOUS about giving a presentation tomorrow that it has taken all my energy to not focus on eating bad food for stress relief. I feel such a tightness in my stomach about giving public speeches and I cannot wait for tomorrow to be over.

Even though I have been following good eating habits.... I have gained 3 lbs! I am so upset. I am hoping it is just stress weight and that it will disappear in a few days. It is pretty disappointing though.

Hope you all are in better spirits than me.... Sorry to be a wet blanket.

Stress can cause weight gain! Good luck with your presentation!
I am enjoying my ip chicken soup with curry and cauliflower. I have not come up with a non ip lunch I like any better. Paired with a salad I am full and satisfied. I guess ip will be getting my $$ for a while yet!

You were able to order it on amazon.ca even though you are US? If so, I am going to go get a copy as well!

Thanks WUV, You are looking so hot young lady....

Stress can definately cause weight gain. I hope everyone has a great day, mine has been pretty good as the grand opening of our new area went on without a hitch and everything looks so shiny and new.

I was able to order it with no problems. When I logged in, I thought I would be asked to open a new account but I used the same user name/password as my amazon.com account and it had all my info. I also got a confirmation emailed to me, so all looks good!

Sarahbean- stress is a huge factor in weight. When stressed say hello to cortisol and nasty side kick grehlin. Grehlin will make you want and want and want what you don't need. Cortisol is actually the most dominant hormone we have. Can override all the rest. It is the boss. And it will do a whole slough of things from getting you to eat to storing it around your middle to making you depressed so that you will eat more. It is one big nasty cycle. It will hold onto water (probably what you have going on). It is unfortunate that you are so stressed about public speaking- is it because you are nervous to talk in front of so many? Try not to focus on your nervousness (easier said than done I know) but rather on your preparation. Repeating the speech over and over and over and over to yourself to your friends to your husband. And focus on your success in presenting a well thought out and rehearsed speech- you deserve that success so consider it yours! I wish you the best of luck with it...
Once this speech is done at least you know you'll be ridding yourself of a very large stressor and your hormones should return to normal.
GoodEats&Wine- I hear ya! I've read Atkins site and bought the cookbook (it was a bit higher in calories than I felt was necessarily warranted), walked on the Paleo side of life a bit and even went exploring in the raw zone (this one led to my unfortunate run in with dried fruit), mixed in the clean eating all the way through. IP is a great program that works extremely well for weight loss but I do think that it's maintenance program should be a bit more defined. But there isn't a program out there that is one size fits all. Some will do alright with having carbs for breakfast... some will crash & burn. Some will be able to have pasta in the evenings... some would gain 3 pounds for having done so. There's a lot of carbs out there and they are not created equal and then this again has to translate over to the individual. Better for each of us to discover our carb tolerances and intolerances.
I also think the 'free for all day' is setting many up for failure. Because if you ended up overweight in the first place you have issues with food such as overeating or late night eating or binge eating. The free day allows all of these behaviors that we have modified out of ourselves while dieting to make a cameo appearance once a week. It isn't long before they root in and take over. Better to take the new fresh you that has just lost a bunch of weight and shed a bunch of bad habits and keep yourself that way for as long as possible. A treat meal once a week is proven to be good for both body & mind. A day of behaving badly only leads to more and more and more of those days...
Maile & Mom2cs- Thank you both for your support about the cookie. This is a lifestyle. The further I progress the more I feel I'm able to set boundaries for myself and stick to them. Still really dislike feeling socially awkward but some part of me feels that if it is the right choice for me I am warranted in my refusal. It does seem like society is coming around slowly. More and more emphasis is being placed on bringing healthy snacks for the kids. And when I spoke more at length with my daughter about the cookie issue and explained to her that treats will always be readily available so we need to be choosy about what we partake in rather than accepting everything. I try to explain this in terms of health rather than weight. And to explain some of the health issues that arise from not properly nourishing our bodies. Because really, the amount of disease that is associated with improper nutrition is astronomical. You are at more risk for pretty much everything. Diabetes, cancer, autoimmune issues. It's not worth the cookie.
Mom2cs- the almond butter tastes fantastic in the shake- if you're having it for breakfast throw some chia seeds in there too... they're a great tasting thickener that will keep you regular ;)
Maile- I hope you like the book. You've done so well with your maintenance- congrats on month 7 by the way!!- this book will probably just be interesting reading for the hormonal aspect. But I do like the in depth understanding of what hormone is coming into play- rather than just feeling it and having no idea where it's coming from (re: cravings).
I read something interesting in a fitness mag yesterday. A study has apparently proven that while a calorie is a calorie when subjects were tested for how many calories the body used to process a whole, clean meal (whole wheat bread with real cheese) vs. process a refined processed meal (white bread with processed cheese) the subjects used almost double the amount of calories (137) to process the whole meal vs. the processed one (74)...

Determined- 50 pounds provides a lot more motivation than 10 does. Do you have any 'before' pics kicking around? Might be useful to look at them...
If you find yourself wanting to snack in the evenings it's time to incorporate exercise right at that point. Go for a walk, jog, do a dvd, skip rope. It will refocus you, curb your appetite and retrain your response to boredom. It sounds a heck of a lot less appealing than a bowl of cereal I know- but it works. Nothing will kick a night time eating habit like exercise. You won't even want to reach for the cereal because you won't like being forced to exercise instead :P

You should find the children's book, I think it is called the Emperor's Clothes?

Capricious - thank you for your advice. that is what I have been doing. practicing practicing practicing :) I HATE public speaking to begin with and the added stress of getting a pass / fail grade based on my research makes it even more stressful. you are right. it will be great to have this huge stress behind me...... and hopefully my cravings and weight gain will follow....

It will be great to get this behind you.
I took a course once where we had to give a talk which was taped. Then we got feedback from the group and we reawatched the tape and told the group how we felt while giving the talk. Everyone described being far more nervous than they appeared to the group. I hope it goes well.

I am making shakes from whey powder. One ingredient called for is flaxseed. I reached on the shelf at the store for ground flaxseed. But when I got home I realized what I had was roasted flaxseed. It smells and tastes delicious in the shake.
But I think I had read somewhere that whole flaxseeds don't have any benefit because they just go right throgh you. Does anyone know if that is right?

Pat

Yup very hard...I seem to have a 13 day limit to my phase 1 movement and then I bust on day 14....and it hurts...really physcially...because I am so deep in ketosis and then bam...I am out.

I was 15 pounds above my maintenance weight when I started my reboot back at the end of March...I have only done 13 days at a time...each then busting with one day off...back in April I had a whole week off around Easter....but currently only 4 away from my maintenance weight....but now finding it impossible to jump back on after Saturday's bust. I think I will just learn to be happy here.

I as well find that doing phase 1 is soooo much harder. I can be good for 2 - 3 weeks and then find I am not losing, (which I should) and then just give up and have that teaspoon or 3 of peanut butter or whatever... Lately it is the air popped fake chips that only have 90 cal per 2 cups... so I thought bonus... somewhere my brain left me and I didn't bother to look at the carbs... well that 2 cups has 18 little grams of carbs.... so my cravings are back, and here I go another day back to phase 1. Have my herbal iced tea, my chai tea and my water all sitting on my desk ready to consume... we just have to do the best we can and eat healthy, I too want to lose the 15 lbs I have gained it is an immense struggle this time around but my size 8s are tight and I am not buying more clothes.

I've recently started eating flaxseeds as well. I bought ground flaxseeds but now I'm not sure if they are roasted or not...I'll have to check later tonight when I get home! I did a little search regarding your question on whole flaxseeds and found this website:

http://www.flaxseedshop.com/content/Whole-Flax-Seed.asp

Looks pretty informative, so I thought I would pass it on!

Good answer I found:
While whole and ground flax have the same nutritional content, your body gets far more benefit from ground flax. That's because the goodness in flax is wrapped up in a hard, shiny seed coat that's hard to crack, even with careful chewing. Grinding or roasting flax breaks this seed coat making all the nutrients easy to digest. Flaxseeds are easy to grind at home using a coffee grinder, food processor or blender. You also can buy ground or "milled" flaxseed in most stores where whole flax is sold.

I am now afraid that when I go to England on Saturday I will go crazy! I love being more lenient on weekends, but am strict about getting back on track week days. A week away might be dangerous!
I will have everything ready to go for phase 1 the day I return. I normally focus on low carb, even if splurging on wine with it, but I know the fish and chips will get me!

Enjoy your fish & chips Mom2cs! Whenever I indulge when I'm away I still try to keep it very very low carb the next (a la Phase 1) to combat the indulgence. Found it helps keep the head in the game as well.
I had a great lunch today that I really enjoyed. It is a recipe from my book.
Cucumber Cottage Cheese Salad (Sounds weird... but I loved it!)
1 cucumber diced
1 large tomato seeded & diced
1 T garlic powder
1 T dill weed
Mix these together then add
3/4 Cup Cottage Cheese
Salt & pepper to taste
The garlic does give it a bit of a kick but I'm a dill nut and this salad was awesome!
Patns- do you have a food processor? Or maybe just toss the seeds into the blender first and blend them a bit. They keep much better in whole form but it seems you are right that to fully reap the benefits they need to be ground...
2ride- Seriously, between the stress of your job and your disrupted sleeping patterns- these can both have such a detrimental effect on weight management. I really hope for you that now you have opened the new area that things will begin to stabilize for you.

Good afternoon everyone! I've been MIA for a while. I guess I just haven't had too much to say. Still plugging along in maintenance right at my goal weight. I'm still tracking daily in MFP and passed my 7 month mark a few weeks ago. I'm not always making the best food choices, but apparently I'm doing enough to maintain (along with the jogging).

I am interested to hear how the public speaking engagement goes, as that is my #1 fear as well. I keep getting asked to speak at conferences and keep refusing to do it. Fortunately, my boss has not fired me for the refusal yet. I applaud you for doing it in spite of your fear!

Mom2 - I found England to be a pretty good place to diet. It will be interesting to see what you think, but I found the food pretty unappetizing. That was not a vacation that caused weight gain for me.

I am sure enjoying watching the transformation of Wuv. Amazing. Just amazing.

Thanks for the info on the flaxseed Goodeats and Cap. It reinforced what I did know before. The seeds do need to be broken down. I did have a coffee grinder at one point, I need to look though the cupboards and see if I can find it.I cleared out so many things when we moved a few years ago.
If I don't find it I will have to buy a new one tomorrow.

I had always bought flaxseed preground but I can't believe how good the roasted whole ones taste.
I put them in the whey protein shakes and it tastes like I put peanut butter in them. They will taste just as well if I grind they ones I have.

I hope the hard copy of the carb sensitive book gets here today. I really like the recipes I used so far but it is hard getting them all using my kindle.

I have gotten down to the weight my doctor wants me to get to. I will be 65 this summer. I have been very overweight all my life, I got from 204 to 160
5 years ago when a naturopath (sp) told me I had to give up wheat. I was not able to get below 160 (at 5'1") no matter what I did. So I am thrilled that I got to 130 on IP.

My doctor picked that goal weight for me because he says research shows that people at the higher end of the healthy weight range live the longest. He said that as you get older it is best not to be at the lower end because if you suddenly have a health issue it is best to have a little bit of girth to fall back on.
Hubby is also not too keen on me going lighter because my 88 year old mother has been steadily shrinking for the past number of years and is becoming more and more frail. So he too thinks it's better to have a few pounds extra as we get older.

But I really want to get down a bit lower because I still have a big roll right around my middle which makes it difficult to get a good fit with clothes. I was wearing size 14 pants when I started and have only gotten down to a size 10. I say "only" because I am always amazed to see people posting their sizes on this board. People not much taller than me and around the same weight are wearing much smaller sizes. I need size 10 with my belly but then have excess fabric flapping around the rest of me. But the big problem is most summer things come in the S-M-L range. The medium is 10 - 12 which is too big; the S is 6-8 which is too small.I can't believe how fussy I have become about things fitting well. I used to just grap whatever fit around me in the morning and be off to work in a minute. Now maybe I cahnge 3 times trying fo a fit that is comfortable.

I am wearing an 8 on top. I have always had to wear petite sizes for proportion because I have very narrow shoulders.
I have stuck to the IP plan since August. The weight has really come off the top end of me but doesn't seem to want to budge around the middle.

For the past three months I was really still following phase 1 but the weight has just not moved. So I have actually maintained for 3 months on phase 1. I did have a very scary venture into phase 3 so don't plan to go down that path again.

Anyway, I am very interested about what will happen with the carb sensitive plan. At the very least it will be change for my body.

Mom, funny you mentioned the fish and chips! I am going back home to Nova Scotia for the first week in June. My mom has finally agreed to move to assisted living which she surprisingly really likes. I have to go help my siblings clear out her condo. She has not gone out since she moved but says she wants me to take her for some new clothes and fish and chips when I get there. She is from England originally and Nova Scotia is a fantastic place for fish and chips. I keep telling myself that I lived there for 50 years and didn't have fish and chips everyday so don't need to now.

I will watch to see if you avoid falling deeply down that hole while in England. But you have far more lean muscle than me to fight off the gain from fish and chips.
Good luck!!

I hope everyone is have a healthy and happy day.

Pat

Pat, I am heading to nova scotia in the summer! I will have to focus on unbattered fish...finding veggies will be the tough part as we are going to a small town in cape Breton. Everything comes with potatoes! My mom was raised there, do that was how I ate all my like.
Funny, I was always thin until after my kids were born. So either age, pregnancy or both really did something bad to my metabolism!

Ha, we are likely related. I am from Cape Breton too but all my family is in Halifax now.

I have had a bad metabolism all my life. I started to gain weight when I was 8. My mom went back home to England for a visit and I didn't like the food the housekeeper made and I survived on apples. As you said elsewhere, little sugar bombs. My mother almost didn't recognize me when she came back.
My daughter is leaving for NS tomorrow. She met the love of her life and he is from Glace Bay. She is going to meet his mom.
I had to laugh because we have an eastern European last name now due to hubby. I always told her she would latch onto a Scot just to get a name like my original last name. That's what happened and dad is not too pleased.

Mom's short term memory is not good now. Maybe she will forget about the fish and chips!
Keep us posted about the trip to England.

Pat

I posted these handouts I got when I started Phase 4, on another thread (Phase 4 - Transitioning), but thought they might be helpful here as well. Since I can only upload 5 at a time, I had to break it up into two parts. LOL! I always feel like I post two-in-a-row comments. Sorry to be a thread hog :)

The recipes weren't too exciting but at least you get the idea of a fat meal versus a carb meal. I really liked the snack ideas shown in the sample week menu handout. 3 cups of popcorn!! Remember these are suggestions and you should still go slow to see how much you can handle.

If I ate three cups of popcorn I would be up the next day!
I much prefer nuts, cheese, eggs, pepperoni...
No gain
I don't know why carbs hate me do much after never thinking about any of this my entire life and never exercising. Now it's 1-2 hours a day and very restricted...
I do enjoy some wine though!

Pat, it is probably just your body "shape" and it could be that you need to find a designer that caters to your shape. I am about 8 pounds heavier and right around the same height and I wear a 4. However, I would be what you consider "curvy". I have a very small waist (26.5") and larger hips and butt (36").

I have found that Ann Taylor (&Loft) and Banana Republic fit my shape the best for pants. I cannot wear ANY pants from Gap or Old Navy because there is way too much room in the waist for me. So it might just be a matter of brand too. Also, I always look for "curvy" cuts of pants if designers make them.

Oh, and as an FYI for any other curvy ladies out there, I have found the most amazing jeans for us "apple bottomed girls". It is called PZI Jeans and believe they are only available on line. They are the most flattering and comfortable jeans I have ever owned.

I totally agree with you! My carb meal (dinner) is just another fat/protein meal for me and it seems to work just fine so far. I'm also with you on the wine!!

I am also curvy-although I am a lot taller than you guys! I. An never find pants that fit in the legs and waist. My thighs and calves are big...but extremely muscular. They will never be small.
I love banana republic too. The gap perfect trouser is also good. Both have wider leg pants. I have some Ann Taylor's as weel that I like-I can often fit a 4 there which makes me feel good!
Body shape can be so funny. I wish I had skinny legs and ok'd wear all those cute straight legged capris, but I never could, even when I was 17 and weighed 110. Bad leg genes :(

I just received this book and I only just ordered it on Tuesday the 15th! I thought it would have taken much longer since it was international delivery. So exciting for a person that has no patience whatsoever :D

GEAW- That is awesome! I ordered mine and they are saying it will ship the week of the 29th. I am hoping it will ship before, but either way, it beats waiting until August :)

Mom- check out PZI Jeans. They even have short, regular and tall lengths and they really are made for those of us with bigger legs and rears. I always loved the knee high boots trends, but my calves NEVER fit into boots :( I also can't wear skinny jeans, my calves don't fit into them.

I know i'm not in maintenance but always read the thread and just wanted to post to you cause i'm so glad i'm not the only one with big calves, its one of my issues and don't know how to get them smaller (you can look at my profile picture how big they are compared to the rest of me).

Very nice picture. Your legs don't look that big! I think mine are 16" in the ip measure. And no ankles. I have always hated them, I should have been 5'9"! My upper body is very long and thin, bottom very short and squat.

Sigh. At least they don't jiggle anymore!

Sadly, my dd seems to have inherited them...maybe not quite as bad, as she looks like she might get to 5'10" plus based on head measurements at the neurologist...I hope so!

I haven't lost anything in my calves, so I don't think there really is anything we can do. Sigh. Oh well.

Hide ho neighbours! Didn't get to have my first meal in maintenance the way I wanted it...but hey, I did it and it fit the rules! I finished phase 3 business travel and Im still not home! But will be home tomorrow and in time to go grocery shopping and get proper grains, have some quinoa recipes I'd like to try.

Definately feel a difference between sprouted grain and just whole grain flour....never thought I'd notice a difference. Apparently having a huge elimination diet and slowly adding things in allows you to really listen to your body! ;)

Looking awesome-way to go!!!!!!

Good for you, it is very difficult to handle the phasing off while travelling. You will so enjoy being home and having your own kitchen again.
I think I will try quinoa too.


Bustmom, what an incredible difference in your profife pictures! I am so jealous of how well you can go "sleeveless".

Pat

I'm a disaster. Went out of town last weekend and had 3 free-ish days. Came home and have tried to get back to P1. I do pretty well during the day, but I've been snacking every night. Tonight I just went ahead and had a free night. I totally lost control. This week has been stressful which adds to the desire to eat. I think Cap is right about the danger of IP advocating a free day to people who obviously have eating-in-moderation issues. I need to do P1/2 until I get back down to my normal thin weight, then eat P2 most of the time, 1400 calories per day and Saturdays will be a nice meal and maybe a sweet treat, not a free-for- all. I finished my 8 week challenge with friends and immediately stopped logging and exercising. I need something to motivate me to keep logging, exercising and keeping my weight low. Discipline is so hard:(

Did you find the Carb Sensitivity Program on Kindle? I can't find it. I'm so spoiled by my iPad, I am no longer capable of reading actual paper books.

I'm only 5'5"and mine are 16' too and they still gigge lol

I know i have lost a lot there too but even when younger and thin, they've always been bigger than average. My trainer showed me and exercise to sretch them, hopefully it will thin them out, i was soo looking forward to wearing high leg boots, its bumming me out.
Btw, i checked the site you mentioned for the jeans and in checking the measurement, my waist is 31' and hips 40', which puts me in 2 different sizes, which one should i pick?
Was thinking the one for my hips cause at the waist i have lots of loose skin which can be squeezed in lol.

Aww thank you so much :)

Well there's little sleeve on that dress but i usually have a sweater over lol. And I'm good as long as i don't lift my arms, then i could hit someone with my major bat wings lol

Starting Maintenance tomorrow
 

Morning all!
Looks like i'll be joining you maintainers tomorrow! Today is my last day of p3 and I have my final WI tomorrow morning. Hope you don't mind if I join you from time to time! This forum has been so helpful this entire journey.
When did you all have your first free day? I've been craving chinese and want to get that out of my system!
I go on vacation this week as well. I'm hoping to stay within p4 guidlines as best I can so I do not have to go back to p1. But it's still nice to know that p1 is there just in case.
I bought a "Spirooli" off amazon! It's this little kitchen gadget that turns any vegetable into noodles. You can even make your own curly fries with it. I'm going to try making zucchini noodles with it this weekend. I'll let you guys know how it turns out!
:dance: