good morning all. Big NSV for me last night. Still maintaining in my 3 pound window. yay. Big time stress at work- one of those political nightmares. Big meeting last night where i was stuck in the middle of a big argument. My new confidence allowed me to present my position from strength, not weakness or apology. And afterwards, when the emotions usually hit and I dissolve in tears, I held it together. Yay me!! Also, in the past, the old me would have stopped for a DQ Blizzard and a family size bag of cheetos. I went home and had some Jerky, greek yogurt and strawberries. I did not eat the house!! Or the sink. or the dog. lol

Maile

I am a routine girl and when in town am at the gym 5-6 days a week. I crave the stress relief and satisfaction of working out!
Traveling has been harder-we went to a small town for a week with no gym.

I am back at it and glad to see I feel the same as when I left-except for about 5 extra pounds!! On strict phase 1 until they are gone! It is definitely working as I peed 20 times yesterday and feel way less bloated already and this is only day 3.

Fell off the wagon...ugh

The good thing is that my butt seems to have come back, or some of it. Nice to have the padding again but not everywhere else. Super hungry. Super bloatded. Oh well.

I think I was testing and testing perhaps to see just how far I could go. Well, I figured it out. Too far. Too thick. Too bloated. So hopefully soon I'll get back on track because this is not fun.

The unfortunate part in all of this is that pretty much since Saturday I have felt good, like calmer or something. I wonder if carbs do that for you, so this is gonna be tough. To trade in my butt and my calmer to get into those jeans I bought last week.

Stuff tastes good in the mouth but soon after just feels bad. And worse the days after.

Thanx guys for the suggestions for pizza and eating clean.

Yeah Ishbel for running.
And yippy Maile for your NSV. And more importantly the shrunken nodules.

I almost made it to 90 days in maintenance staying right at 125, give or take a pound or two. That's my comfort zone, right in that range.

Okay guys catch ya later. I hope I will be a good girl tomorrow.

Momto2cs, peeing is good. Peeing is awesome. I also gotta do the other one which I suspect might be part of the problem.

Been on softer foods cause of dental work. Did not realize how much chewing we did on this diet.

Okay, catch ya later. This bleeps.

Swimcoachmomma: What a great turning point for you at work. You dealt with that stress very well..both during the problem and later coming home and eating healthy food. ..very inspirational.

Momto2cs: I must admit that when I travel and do not have access to a gym I miss it also. It does give a stability to your life.good luck on getting those pounds off..I agree ..peeing means it is working.

Purple Sky: You are definitely experimenting and learning. Hope today goes well and you feel better! I hope you get into those jeans soon. SugarCarbs can make me feel better initially..but then low blood sugar hits and I feel sad and sleepy.

I though this was a light hearted look at maintenance.


Phases of Maintenance

1) Honeymoon Phase
“Woo hoo! I’m smaller! I can wear normal-sized clothes! Who IS that person in the mirror, anyway?!”
“Wait a minute, what should I be eating, now? How much should I be eating now?”

2) Is this it?
“Is this all there is?”
“How come my life isn’t magically better in all aspects?”
“Sure I look better and can move better, but this sure feels like a lot of work. Can I stop tracking, now?”

3) Regain. Ouch.
“Maybe It’s just water gain. Maybe this is just normal fluctuation. Maybe the goal weight I’d picked isn’t sustainable.”
“OMG, it’s starting all over again. I’m going back to square one, I can feel it. I’m going to gain it all back again! Damn, damn, damn.”
“Do I have enough courage to admit there’s a problem and I need to track more carefully and increase my exercise?”

4) Re-loss. Sigh.
“Well, this situation isn’t pretty, but it’s reality. At least I know how to get the weight back off. Ugh.”
“I can’t believe I let this get away from me. Never again.”

5) Yay, I’m finally back in my “Happy Range.”
“This isn’t as exciting as it was the first time I was here, but it’s nice in a homey sort of way. I like wearing my favorite jeans.”
“Yeah, tracking is a pain, but I like my life at this size, so I’m gonna do it.”

6) Body Recomposition and new goals.
“I wonder if I could benefit from skin removal?”
“What about body fat and muscle? How can I manipulate them?”
“I wonder if I would prefer to be more (or fewer) pounds?”
“What would it be like to run a marathon? Squat more than my body weight? Kayak cleanly down a class IV-V river?”

Day 4. I can't believe how hungry I have been all week. I know it's part carb withdrawal and part Pms. But it's killing me!
Last night I resisted drinking wine with a friend who was down. For me that's a big one. I am easily swayed! My goal is to stick on phase 1 over the weekend. I still need at least 3 more pounds to whoosh away to be back in my comfort zone. It is a long weekend for us in Alberta...this will be a real challenge!

yup. that is all so true. I really enjoy your posts. keep them coming.

Maile! That was fantastic! You have really captured the true phases of maintenance!

I am so at phase 6- I keep trying to find a new goal for myself. A big goal. I'm just not sure what it is yet...

That's awesome Maile, I may have to print that out and post it in my office.

Today I'm definately at 2....backed into someone in a parking lot yesterday and had a horrible HORRIBLE day. So disgusted with myself, I totally looked over my shoulder but NOT both shoulders and he was already by me...and I bumped his back fender...so yes I'm wondering why my life isn't better in all aspects! lol

And with a trip to Europe coming up I'm sure I'll be hitting 3 soon...lol. So if I print it out maybe it will remind me there are other phase's to maintenance and to not stress about any potential gain as I've changed my lifestyle and it will be 'ok'.

I'm off to Calgary this weekend, going to hit up the running room. My 10k with the wrong shoes has caused me to NOT run for a while (hopeful this Sunday though), so apparently I need to spend the $$ on the shoes this weekend.

Momto2cs Sending you 'get thru the weekend' vibes!
purple Sending you 'get into those jeans' vibes

Hi everyone,

I am on my Day 1 of Phase 4 and I am really unsure about what to eat for lunch/dinner. Breakfast will remain Phase 3. I need rules! )

I'm just not sure what are the general rules regarding protein & fat meals and protein & carb meals. I have heard that protein and carb meals can have approx 5g fat total, but what about with the protein and fat meals - can I have 'any' carbs at all? i.e. carbs in fruit etc.?? Any help, advice, lunch ideas would be appreciated. I haven't really decided when in the day I will have each type of meal - i.e. dinner or lunch so that is still up in the air and may even switch from time to time depending on what I see on the scale.

Kelly

[QUOTE=KChapman;4424937]Hi everyone,

I am on my Day 1 of Phase 4 and I am really unsure about what to eat for lunch/dinner. Breakfast will remain Phase 3. I need rules! )

I'm just not sure what are the general rules regarding protein & fat meals and protein & carb meals. I have heard that protein and carb meals can have approx 5g fat total, but what about with the protein and fat meals - can I have 'any' carbs at all? i.e. carbs in fruit etc.?? Any help, advice, lunch ideas would be appreciated. I haven't really decided when in the day I will have each type of meal - i.e. dinner or lunch so that is still up in the air and may even switch from time to time depending on what I see on the scale.



Can't answer this because I am confused too. I think I am over thinking how to count the fat. Do you just count fats the same as they are listed on the protocols or the fats that are in the meats etc? I know to count it all to get the total (e.g. 5 grams) but it's the combining I'm confused about.

What I actually find the easiest is to have phase 2 days throught the week and a few extras on the weeks ends, just as a glass or two of wine; a slice of my low glycemic bread at weekend breakfast.

But I am 3 pounds about my upper goal now and need to buckle down.

I know I need to start building up muscle so I don't regain so easily.

But a real key has to be to get the few pounds up off right away. I don't want to be dealing with any more than a few pounds.

Maile, loved your summary of maintenance, it hit the nail on the head!

Ishbel, so sorry about your minor accident, there is nothing like an unexpected bump in the road like that to make you feel sick with stress. I hope by today you start to feel that it could be much worse.

We are going to Toronto on the 15th for a few days. I really have to get these few extra pounds off before then as I will want to do some shopping.

But I likely won't buy much because I hate paying taxes when I'm used to shopping in Alberta.

Pat

LOL! Phase 3 Maile. Thank you. And I definitely used more language than that.

Phase 4 does not really have rules. It's your experimentation phase where you try out different things to see what works for you.

Some add their fats to their lunch. So, if they are going to have say a salad with chicken, they add their fats to that. Things like cheese, nuts. I would initially stay away from dried fruit because of the sugar. Avocado is also considered a good fat. I don't know how many grams it is.

Some then add their carb to dinner. This might be rice or potato. Generally speaking a sweet potato might be a better choice over a white potato. Now what I don't know is if people add butter to that potato because then you are having fat and carbs. This is where people get confused with the rule and try to do their best. I also think some add pasta but limit the portion size. A red sauce over pasta might be better than a cream sauce again because of the carb and fat.

Snack choices may include things like string cheese, jerky (watch this as I have seen sugar on a lot of labels) almonds, hummus. . And fruit works for some while some stay away from fruit (sugar)

We all lost weight similarly on the diet with hard and fast rules. This is not the case for maintenance. You will find that some can regularly have some bread and pasta while others cannot. Some can have nuts. Others might overindulge in them. The same can be said for fruits.

The basic rule people follow is to try something out and if the scale is not up the next day, it's probably okay. In my experience this is not a hard and fast rule as some foods initially trigger a reaction and then if I keep on eating it I am fine. I thought I could not have strawberries but then I was fine. Had them daily. Then I tried a mango. Nothing happened. But, when I continued to eat them, the scale went up.

I think sometimes our bodies react to certain foods because we have not had them in a long time. Sometimes it takes a while to get used to it in the beginning. Sometimes it's just a no.

Enjoy day 1.

I started P4 just as we left for vacation so I didn't focus too much on how to plan my meals except I did try and stay away from carbs in the evening because I was drinking a fair amount of wine. I tried to make sure I got in enough protein but found it hard to get as many veggies as I am use to. I had a 2 1/2 lb gain but one day back on P1 put me back on track and down the 2 1/2. I am glad to see that others are a little confused about the not combining carbs and fats at lunch and/or dinner. I am a little nervous about the freedom I have in eating now, but also realize that, as you have said, it is experimentation to see what works and what doesn't. I love that as long as I don't let myself get totally out of control as I have in the past I can turn it around pretty quickly. I love the phases of maintenance someone posted because it is so true and right now, I am excited to continue this journey of feeling and looking good!

Ok i need experienced maintainers help here.

Last Saturday’s cheat day..ended up being a cheat week-end (Sunday wasn’t major just a few extra).

Ok so on Monday i weight in at 156.4 which is a lot but figured its ok after a cheat day eventhough i’m only usually up about 2lbs...not 7! So P1 Monday, lose only 0.6, ok so P1 again on Tuesday, only lose 0.8 so starting to freak out a little. Did a STRICT P3 yesterday (seriously, i could not have picked lower calories/carb/fat veggies and protein). This morning UP 1lb!

So now i’m pretty much back to where i was after TWO days of cheating. I’m totally freaking out and not sure what to do!

I went to the dr. yesterday due to TOM not showing up for the past 2 months and she thinks my hormones are out of whack so i’m going to go for blood test next week. But don't think it has anything to do with the gain.

My stomach has also being going a little nutty. No C problems but i’m dealing with gurgling sounds (very loud and i can even feel it) non-stop, constantly, 24 hours a day since Monday, any ideas what’s up with that?

So what should I do here? Was thinking of going back to phase 1 but so upset cause after 2 days of it, i had no results and its not supposed to be that way