Hello everyone. I have not posted much but have been a lurker on this forum since starting IP 10/05/12 and the support, advice, and overall dialogue about the process has been a tremendous help for me. My goal was to loose 15 before Thanksgiving and I did plus three pounds. I am starting maintence on Turkey day and looking forward to managing my current weight until after the holidays. We are traveling a great deal, work is incredibly stressfull around this time, and overall I felt like two heats of IP would be better for me in the long run (I admire everyone who can go the distance and loose all their weight in one fell swoop).

Has anyone else done two "heats"? I have read a lot of literature about taking short breaks from dieting as it creates a great deal of mental stress (I am sure we all can relate) and it can be helpful to break it up. I starting IP weighing 172 and today weighed 153. I would love to be around the 125-130 range...I cannot remember when I weighed under 130...must have been 10. Any words of advice?

So In 2010 I started my journey and lost 80 pounds....I have been in maintenance for over 20 months now. My advice...if you truely want to keep the weight off...learning how to turn it on and off and live within a moderate lifestyle will be a part of your life forever. If you can't take time off and get back on then you will never be able to maintain the loss. So go for, but make a plan, set limits, and pick a date....trust me you could be back to square one if you don't plan carefully. Have fun and enjoy the holidays. I am going to try and lose another 10 or so January 1st.

I am newish. I just started on Oct 22. I really don't understand your logic here. According to the plan you are supposed to transition for a few weeks before you try to maintain. I think if you hit the" Thanksgiving buffet " you are going to be very sorry. Your body will not have had a chance to " learn to digest carbs" yet. I think you are headed to a slippery slpe and you will regain the weight so much faster than you lost it.
I hope I am wrong. But it seems to me the work you put into it so far would be worth the effort to stay on plan.
Good luck.
Come back to the board in January to tell me I was wrong.

You might want to read this:

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

Thank you for your advice. I did phase 2 for a week and phase 3 will be a total of 13 days (Thanksgiving) so I am transitioning off the right way and not diving diving into the holiday festivities. Also, I am starting yoga several days a week at a studio down the street next week too. My idea was to make an effort at maintaing the right way (sticking to good choices and exercise) for a little over a month and start phase 1 again in early January. I like the idea of picking a date and sticking with it because you are right, it's easy to go back to sqare one and start over which is not something I want to do. The reason behind the "break" is the travel. I think it would be easier to try and maintain then to do phase 1 for an entire 2 weeks while I am all over the place. However, I feel pretty good about the information I have about maintenence and what I need to do to keep myself at my current weight. I have been in phase 3 since Monday and have not gained any weight. That being said, I have also considered, but not talked to my coach about yet, doing phase 1 again for weeks before my traveling and then going back to Phase 3? Any thoughts on that? So for example, could I maintain for a week, start phase 1 until the 11th of December and then transition back to maintenence before I leave for my trip? What are your thoughts?

My advice comes from 6 months on the diet (at 100%...not a bite, lick, or taste) then 2 additional months on the diet to lose extra weight (not originally planned) after I returned from vacation. Then 20 months in maintenance....those 20 months in maintenance have taught me a million times more than those strict months where I never faced reality...the reality that I will have to use IP forever...and I mean forever. To keep this weight off...you need to be able to have your "free" day followed by a phase 1 day. Not following with a phase 1 day will put the weight on. Also check out the reboot thread...you will need to reboot with several weeks on phase 1 at least once or twice a year.

Now personally I choose to stay 100% on plan through Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, and even a trip to Vegas (short 3 day) so that I could be at my goal weight by my February cruise (and I made it) back in 2010 when I did the diet.

But I was a major 100% advocater back then...because I was 100% to the max! It is hard for me to give advice because this 3-year journey has taught me quite a bit.

Good luck with whatever you choose...but be very careful...10 or 15 pounds can come on very easily over the holidays after strict dieting.