Lori, thank you for taking the time to share your success on maintenance and P3! I am so excited that you continued to lose during P3 and maintenance. This is extremely encouraging and motivating! What are your favorite breakfasts?

NewPath...I have found that reading through these threads have helped me realize that I am not the only one going through this process and I have seen that the feelings and emotions I have are not exclusive just to me. It really is very encouraging and motivating to read about the successes that others are having as well as the struggles.

My favorite go to breakfast is Fage greek yogurt with about 2 cups of fruit and 1/4 c of granola. I also will have 2 slices turkey bacon or Morningstar sausage patties and occasionally a slice of Ezekiel bread toasted with 1T almond butter on it.
I love big breakfasts and thats when I do my carbo loading. Lunch is a little lighter and dinner is usually just protein and veggies.
I am still working on adding more healthy calories, but (and I NEVER thought this would be a problem!!) I am very rarely hungry with all the fruit, protein and veggies I eat, so I often will forget to have snacks. It certainly is a balancing act, but kind of fun to try and figure out what works.
Good luck and I look forward to hearing how it is going for you!

LoriT, I'm wondering how long you've been doing IP? I love reading your posts...you're a HUGE inspiration to me! Thanks so much for sharing your story.:flow1:

:smug:I started January 1st of this year and the weight just seemed to fall off! I really stuck to the program with very little deviations because in the past when I would go on WW or another program I would "cheat" and just could never quite get all the way down. IP seemed so easy to stick with for me and I knew my weight wasn't going to come off on its own and I was beginning to have some health issues I didn't want to deal with.
I truly believe that this is a lifestyle I can live with and as good as I feel, can't imagine ever going back to the old ways!

New Path: that sounds like a good breakfast. You could cut the bread to one slice..and see if that does anything or try oatmeal. How are you feeling?

Lori: I like to load the carbs in the morning also. My breakfast is similar to your except I eat a low carb high protein pancake with berries and yogurt and PB.

Happy Monday Maintainers.

maile Wow, what a lovely photo of you! I love all the fall colours! Can you tell me more about your pancake?

Newpath Welcome!!

So we were talking about how alone we sometimes feel making the good choices...this is what was on the Diet Beck Solution today:

Monday Motivation: If you think, “Everyone else gets to eat normally, why can’t I?” Remind yourself that you ARE eating normally for someone trying to lose weight (or keep it off)! It’s important to change your definition of ‘normal’ eating and remember that your eating is 100% normal for someone with your goals.

Which is exactly what I need today! I think the three day thanksgiving weekend...where I moved my fun day has caught up to me...so today is my second day of Phase 1...first time in a long time I've decided to do a complete second day of Phase 1. Sometimes I just have the shake in the morning to cut the calories and keep my fruit after supper. But...I'm gonna nip the two lbs now. Boy do I miss my fruit though :)

Later skaters! :)

Maile, I would also like to hear more about your high protein pancake? I am always trying to find new foods to add variety even though I love my traditional breakfast.

Ishbel, thanks for the Monday Motivation quote. I love it and have copied it down for future reference.

I hope you all have a great week!

Wheat is a bad cause of belly bloat for many people. Read the book "Wheat Belly, Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight". It explains why. I have also noticed dairy can cause belly bloat too. Not so much if I don't eat wheat with it, but if I eat wheat and yogurt together uh oh!!!

I was going to start phase 1 on Saturday, and I didn't. I did do very low carb, and I am down 2 pounds already. I am going to continue with my very low carb way for a few more days and see if it works. More like phase 2.

cheat day on maintenance
 

Okay, this is my first post, though I've been reading these threads for a long time. I started IP in Feb, went from 187 to 120 lbs (I'm 5 foot 1), so a slower weight loss than many, I believe. But I am happy with it!! Just started maintenance yesterday - and it ended up, in my head at least, being a cheat day, because we had a potluck at church and I ate a small plateful (some salad and veggies - but also pasta and other goodies) - and then I had a small cheeseburger and small fries for supper (just had to taste it - and it didn't taste as good as I expected!) It didn't help that I hadn't had enough sleep the night before and had a very full and tiring day. But I'm wondering...today I thought I should go on phase 1 just for today, but my coach says you only do that if you've done more than 1 cheat day in a row, not every week. What are your coaches telling you?

Hi, My coach did not tell me that. She said to take a cheat day whenever you wanted and go to Phase 1 after the cheat day if needed. Every week was fine. Even if you only took one cheat day, you could go to Phase 1.

Mooselover: I have tried the very low carb approach..not total Phase 1 and had success.

Ishbel: I love that quote and have copied it also. Very true.

Ishbel and Lori; I order from Netrition.com. I order the Big Train pancake mix and another one. I will look up the stats. It is an indulgence, but they are good and I do not get any reaction from them.
Big train buttermilk pancake and waffle mix: 90 cal .5 fat 7 carb 11 protein..I use eggbeaters so it is lower. I cook the whole mix and freeze them.
I alsolike the Toufayan Low carb Pita: 11 g protein. 7 carb,

I also indulge in dixie Dinner Carrot Muffin Mix and make them into pancakes,...not as high protein.

Thanks for you compliments on the new fall photo.

Wow- you guys have been ROCKING it!!!

I had a bit of a hiccup in a house guest for a week, but I've been doing amazing. I started Insanity when she came to visit and have been doing it for two weeks, just started my third week. LOVING IT! I do find myself a lot more hungry, but I'm making healthy choices so its going well.

Had a WI today and I was up 3lbs, but I had gained over 2 lbs in lean muscle mass and .5 in water, so all in all I'm pleased with the number. My clothes are feeling great and I can tell that I'm physically in much better shape.

I'm so excited to see all these new faces and everyone else that has continued to maintain! Keep it up everyone!!!

Phase 1 day for me today after a fun weekend. Scale was up 2# so P1 until it is gone.

Ish- great quote! I often find myself thinking that exact thing!

I try to keep both wheat and dairy to a minimum (except for cream in my coffee) but wheat is the worst offender for me. My best choices for carbs are fruit, legumes and potatoes (besides veggies, of course). I try to stay away from most grains, flours and rice. They all affect me negatively.

I also highly recommend Wheat Belly. GREAT book!

Maile, it is a great picture!

Oh, I have Insanity! I haven't done the workouts though! I have been doing the Les Mills Pump ones from Beachbody. After my vacation next week I want to switch it up.

Thanks Maile for the info on the pancake mix. I have never been to the Netrition site but have heard about it from others. I will definately check it out and the mixes you mentioned.