Wow Maile,
I was just looking at your stats. 5'6 and 128 pounds. You are quite thin! And I admire that you have been able to maintain that weight. Are you a big exerciser? Or do you just mostly follow the eating guidelines?
I also am impressed with how you try to offer to support to each person who posts. Your posts are not just about you you you. You are definitely the one to watch and pay attention to on this board! Good work.:cool:

I too seem to have stabilized but at the 5 pounds up I regained in phase 3. So I will reboot seriously after the holidays.

I was interested to see that someone had posted about the number of calories necessary in maintenance. Her coach had told her to go by the readout from the last weigh-in on the Omron scale. I had been wondering about that my scale says 1250 calories a day to maintain which seems reasonable to me but lower than I would have predicted based on all I used to believe about weight loss. So really need to stick with the veggie habit which gives the most bang for the buck.

I am noticing on this board that the people who do well in maintenance really get into exercise when they reach maintenance.
My long commute to and from work each day really cuts into my time and with our bitter climate for many months getting around takes so much longer.

I'm just wondering if anyone actually notices the "pancreas reset " thing. I sure don't, if I eat things that are bad for me I gain as quickly as I always did.

But I did notice a "sweet-tooth"reset. The hardest thing for me when I was on phase 1 was when I had to make something for get togethers and couldn't taste it. I hate serving something when not knowing if I did it right. Hubby was used constantly as my official taster.
Yesterday I did some Christmas baking for several things I have to go to in the next few weeks. This time I was able to taste them myself and was surprised that one taste was more than enough. I made two kinds of cookies and each seemed so sweet and rich with just one bite. I thought anymore than that I would be sick.
Luckily hubby's doctor would like to see him gain a few pounds as he willingly gobbled up the ones that didn't fit in the container to go in the freezer.
Maybe it's because I have always been and salty/crunchy fanatic rather than a sweets one. Probably if I ever had chips again I'd be a goner.

I hope everyone is doing well negotiating this trap filled time of year.
Pat

Maile, just noticed your stats again. Each time I do I am so surprised at how much weight you lost and how successful you have been in keeping it off.

Thank you for providing such a long term model of success. it is so easy to slip back into old habits and your posts remind us of the never ending vigilance that is necessary.

Pat

[QUOTE=Maile;4551813]JKfrom IL:
CBL70 is still losing also. I lost weight on Phase 4 for awhile also. Then I stabilized. Are you worried about still losing or do you want to keep losing?[/QUOTE
IGuess I am a little concerned and I wanted to make sure that I was not alone. I would really love to stabilize so that I could go from weekly WIs to monthly .

I am in the same place as you. I have been on maintenance for 6 wks now and I have lost every week. I was told to try to add another serving of fat or carb in a day. I have tried to add that in, although as you said I am afraid of Carbs. I do try to have baked sweet potato fries a couple nights a week ( which feels like cheating to me) I am going to try to add more at breakfast this week to see of it helps stabilize things. I plan to add either an granola or almonds and see if that helps. Who would have every thought I would have trouble stooping the lose??? Glad I not alone :)

Can't say I'm feeling sorry for you!:)

Determined: That was a very sweet post. Thanks for your support. I have been overweight all of my life. Heading into year 2 of maintenance and year 3 of no bingeing, I am determined not to return to being the fat girl. I do exercise 6-7 times a week. My motto is never two days without exercise. I keep to a 3 pound above and below goal weight range. This flexibility allows me to feel stable. I am eating basically Phase 3 with indulgences now and then of carbs. What has helped me the most has been finding low carb foods that I truly love. I do not feel deprived.

JKfromIL: are you eating a Phase 3 breakfast with fats, carbs, protein? Adding nuts is a good idea. Or being generous with a salad dressing at lunch.

Patns:Thanks so much for your support. You are right. It is never ending vigilence. Unlike most people here I weigh myself everyday. If I am in my range, I am keep eating what I usually do. If I am up at the high end or over, I switch to low carb. I am not a good one to ask about the pancreas reset..I just do low carb until I lose and then switch back to higher carb in the mornings.Good for you stopping after one bite. I still have a sweet tooth and depend on WF syrup to keep it at bay. It is hard to exercise with the winter days and the long commute. I still eat the 2 c of lettuce and 2 c of veges for lunch and dinner. You are right about veges giving you the most bang for the buck!
Thanks for your support maintainers. The holidays are not easy. It is going to be a hectic week.

I like this comment: The scale simply tells you what you need to do. This avoids the emotional reaction to the scale, and simply focuses on the action.

Hey Hey Everyone!!

maile Agree with Determined, you're posts are always so calming! Glad you're around! Love your scale quote, might have to add that to my list of quotes I look at everyday.

Lizzy, Holly, Greeniris & fitgirl You have your own graduation class! :)

Cbl70 & JKfromIL I can lose in Phase 4 if I really want to (without doing anything but subtracting calories (specifically carbs). So add a little carbs in, a granola bar at supper is a good 'dessert'.

So I started Yoga, two sessions into it and I can feel and see a difference in my flexibility and feel a difference in my hips. I'm hopeful to start running again in Jan but I did promise myself to take it easy until I know for 'sure'.

I went to a Christmas party this weekend, apparently if you put a spread out in front of me and it's my fun day the old personality takes over and it's on the donkey kong! Whoa, I tried a little of EVERYTHING and then some! Definately felt gross yesterday...ugh! :dizzy: :)

My response to this was "oooooo" - thought I'd share for those who have not 'liked' her (Beck Diet Solution) on facebook yet.

Monday Motivation: The most successful dieters and maintainers are NOT those who never make mistakes – rather they are those who make mistakes and then get right back on track. You do not have to be perfect in order to lose weight and keep it off. What you do need is to be willing to accept mistakes and recover from them right away.

Me too....glad to know I'm not alone. I going to try adding some sweet potatoes. I used to have roasted sweet potatoes and onions all the time before IP.

I have been doing Phase 3 ish breakfasts. Either LizRR's cheesecakes or yogurt with Kashi cereal and a banana. On the weekends I do LizRR's Apple and Oatmeal pancakes. YUM! Breakfast has become my favorite meal.

Maile,
Thanks so much for you input and support. It really helps. And it's so good to know that maintenance IS possible.
What kind of salad dressings do you use? I'm still doing WF or vinegar and olive oil.

How is this for a Phase 4 day??
 

Gawd, I feel like I've been thrown to the wind here. . . . can you guys let me know what this looks like? Please and thanks. . . .

BF (as I've been doing in P3)
100 grams No fat Greek Yogurt with Strawberries and half small banana
1 cup Kashi Cereal with half cup 2% milk

Lunch
2 slices whole grain or whole wheat bread
2 ounces white tuna (in water)
1 TBS Miracle Whip non fat
1 Slice Light Swiss Cheese

2:00
Fruit of some sort

4:00
IP Snack (restricted)

6:00 - Dinner
Grilled Chicken brushed with BBQ sauce (NOT WF!!)
2 cups vegies roasted or maybe sweet potato fries or turnip fries

8:00 pm
1 ounce cheese or some nuts or grapes

Or this
 

Some days I'll do carbs at lunch and some days I'll do them at dinner. Here is the dinner version:

BF (as I've been doing in P3)
100 grams No fat Greek Yogurt with Strawberries and half small banana
1 cup Kashi Cereal with half cup 2% milk

Lunch
Salad made with vegies, 1 ounce cheese, 1 ounce nuts, and some deli meat and light Kraft dressing

2:00
Fruit of some sort

4:00
IP Snack (restricted)

6:00 - Dinner
1 cup Pasta, half cup low fat (or home made) sauce and 2-3 TBS parmesan

8:00 pm
1 ounce cheese or some nuts or grapes

Slow2lose - I just started maintenance today. Your menus look pretty low cal to me - I'm thinking I'll be eating more than this, but I am also planning to maintain at 145 or so. Talked with my coach today about the fat/carb separation thing and he though a small amount of fat with carbs is OK so I think, for example, that the Parmesan cheese with the pasta is OK.

I am tracking everything on MFP so if I do start to gain, I'll have a baseline to work from.

Good luck!

I might track in Fitday like I have been for breakfasts.

I have no freaking idea what to have for lunches - I can't eat the P3 meal replacements every day LOL. I'm actually sick to death of salads - that may change after a while but I've had salad every day for 10 weeks - right now if I never see another salad that's fine by me.

I guess Lean Cuisines aren't good?

I think I'd like a simple ham and cheese sandwich with some baby carrots on the side.

I think it looks very good. When you are smaller unfortunately you do need pretty low calorie compared to bigger/taller people. I would try a menu like that for a few days and see what happens with your weight.