Just keep fats and carbs separated. Try not to stress about it. If you have a ham and cheese sandwich one day it's just a minor slip. Just don't make a habit of it everyday. I think you will be pleasantly surprised how well you do in phase 4. Just use the sheet as a guideline. My coach said you don't have to be perfect like phase 1.

RE: store bought sauces, dressings,etc - I really think the "restrictions" on those are due to the amount of sugar used unnecessarily in them. Hidden carbs are everywhere in shelf stable food. At least if I make it myself I know exactly what's gone into it. I have a husband who is a Type 1 diabetic and man, you learn fast that carbs show up where they really shouldn't be.

Agreed....teach yourself with your own body....maintenance really only has one rule. Fats and carbs don't go together....the rest are rules you make for yourself.

Lets get you some help. As you know I am a fan of science. One of my favorite experts is Alan Aragon. Here is what he has to say about the combining of carbs and fats.

"The bottom line is that as long as you’re aware of your macronutrient targets for the day, go ahead and sludge that peanut butter into your oatmeal if your little heart desires it. Leave the neurotic eating behaviors for those with a lot of faith in fairy tales."

Full article here.

As for eating meat. Not important. What is important is getting enough protein. The amount of protein you need really depends on how active you are. However - 100g of protein is overkill unless you're planning on being a professional bodybuilder. Protein requirements are higher when you're dieting to retain LBM but when you're maintaining they go down quite a bit. How much you need depends on whom you ask but even the high range would only be 60-75g at your small size.

Calories matter - protein matters. How you fill in the rest is up to you. This is why I constantly urge people to find a WOE (Way of eating) that works for them and they can live with for a long time. Dieting is actually easy. Keeping it off and not reverting to old habits is the tough part. So make it easy on yourself. Low carb, low fat - counting calories - following rules - there are many ways to attack it. Personally I loosely track calories and intermittent fast.

Timing doesn't matter. Number of meals doesn't matter. Calories matter. Protein matters. Micronutrients matter. The rest depends but if you're getting most of your food from whole food sources you're doing good.

On the point with sauces - you can of course have them but it might be best to mostly avoid them simply because calories are extremely difficult to track and most sauces are heavily calorie laden. So making them an occasional thing is probably the best plan if you're not willing to live without them.

Honest go God John - you are always the voice of reason. Just reading your posts calms me - you should be a yoga instructor LOL. I'm all zen now. :D

Yeah I did go into a bit of a panic. I don't want to slather sauces on everything I eat - I know and understand nutrtion - I know my body very well and it's nutrtion needs - and I know I had a helluva time losing that 20+ pounds and I never ever want to go through that again. I was just scared of my life losing all spontenaity and fun and becoming a boring person planning out every single meal for the rest of my life. It's all about balance - eating so that I don't gain that weight back, but also being able to enjoy life without feeling like I'm stuck in food prison.

Thanks for the reality check - you ROCK!! And I will read your article.

Thanks for all that - my Coach also said I was overthinking it. It's great to see that you are having some of the things I mentioned and are doing well! Big relief for me!

Thanks for this - I'm glad I'm not the only one who found that sheet a bit crazy - it just didn't seem realistic to me at all - esp. the continued use of the WF products. Ick. My Coach also said she will work with me and help me get it fugured out.

Yes dumbing in down is what I need to do! It was a Phase 4 sheet that was posted somewhere on here and was different that the handout my Coach gave me - it had more guidelines and also more restrictions.

Well after I have my yummy Phase 3 breakfast I'm going for a workout so I'm glad to have that back in my life - and hoping it will help with maintenance. As I mentioned to John - I'm not looking to go back to how I ate before IP but I want some flexibility too. I think I've calmed down now and will be able to make this work.

I never had one cheat in Phase 1 but it was pretty stressful! I was thinking I had to practice that kind of perfection 6 out of 7 days for the rest of my life and knew that wasn't realistic. The cheat day is great but sometimes life throws something unexpected at you and I never want to order another salad with no dressing at a restaurant!!

I don't plan to go nuts with those things but if I want a tsp. of light mayo on my sandwich or want to have some light dressing on my salad I'm hoping I can make that work. Even with all the leaps and bounds I've made with my cooking skills on IP I'll never be one of those people who wants to spend hours in the kitchen and still don't enjoy food prep. I guess I'll just have to try things out and see how they work. I've always read labels so I'm used to looking for the bad stuff, but I don't think I have to be totally perfect - at least that's what I'm hoping.


Thanks to everyone for taking the the time to respond - you guys are great and have really helped as I enter into making this work!! :hug:

That's the voice of science, not mine.:cool:

IP is a rules based diet. While you're losing weight following rules works for most because it's temporary. The real challenge is maintaining. If the rules of IP phase four would never work for me personally.

I added my own personal WOE to my sig. The rules I've come up with work for me and I think they could work for a lot of people with a little bit of individual modification.