Miss fruit and dairy..
 

Shockingly I do not miss carbs and candies.. Go figure. But I miss having bananas and strawberries and frozen berries in a smoothie. I miss my Greek yogurt and my glass of milk.

I know it's not forever but I am really missing the option to have them.

Anyone else?

Yes! I crave banana with peanut butter and a glass of ice cold milk! Soon enough, just not now.....

Time to focus on what we CAN have! There will always be things we are missing (if we are to maintain well).

IP has banana pudding that I make into muffins, strawberry pudding that is pretty good frozen into "ice cream", and wild berry yogurt.

Focus on the benefits!

Can you share the banana pudding/muffin recipe? Sounds yummy!

It gets easier the longer you are on IP. I bet you don't miss the 11 lbs you lost so far.;)

I hear you - it's tough even in maintenance because bananas are too high in carbs for me to have them - once in a great while I may have half a banana but that's about it.

What I DON'T miss is all of my larger sized clothes - so if that means I have to save bananas for my "Fun" day in maintenance I will just enjoy them as something special, while I wear my size 8's all week ;)

I miss fruit too, but like everyone else. I don't miss the 9 pounds I've released and know that I can eat fruit again some day.

I drink the 'fruit' drinks and know that is what is helping me be healthy and my body to figure things out! YOU CAN DO IT!

I'm pretty sure its in the recipe thread. I'll put it there again, just be be sure

LOVE THIS!!!!:carrot:


AND THIS!!!!:carrot:

;)

I am a complete cinnamon roll junkie! I have missed that flavor SO MUCH! When I found out that Quest made a Cinnamon roll bar I HAD to try it! Now I have one of those and don't feel left out a bit. True, the texture is not the same, but warmed up, the flavor is awesome!
My advice is to find something to fill the void that is OP. I haven't tried it (because I can't find rubarb) but lots of people use rubarb to fill a fruit craving as well as jicama. Search the threads for recipes.
You have a plethora of great suggestions from pros on this forum (myself excluded - nowhere near pro yet:dizzy:).

I totally agree with the replacement of your craving with something that comes "close" that is OP to fill the void. Those quest bars are great. Also, my saving grace with the sweet things is my HealthSmart Carmel Crunch bar. I look forward to that dang thing every day! Making a smoothie with the fruit drinks is a great idea also! I feel your pain, I really do, but when i went shopping this week and bought size 8 pants instead of 18's, that was PRICELESS and I didn't miss anything at that point :D

The strawberry banana RTD is amazing for a fruit fix. It's my favorite!! I loved bananas before, and was missing them until this drink came out.

The bold line above is what I am SO ready for...
Congrats, Suchawittygal. :)

I just gotta pipe in and say, you guys are so darn supportive! Thanks for all that, and girl, you are not alone, I dreamt of biting into an apple, lol!!!
I am though, learning to tell the difference between a "craving" and just hunger. Sometimes if I'm "craving" something, I look at the clock and realize it's been 3hrs since I ate. So, really, I'm not craving, but legit hungry. I go make my OP food and voila! Cravings all better! But if something sticks (like chocolate before TOM) I substitute and so far, have not felt "stuck". And yeah, not missing the 12lbs at all, lol!!

It's hard not to focus on those foods we don't eat anymore. I am with you, I miss cheese more than I thought I would, much more than chocolate, etc.
As somebody already mentioned, those Strawberry Banana drinks are really good, you might want to try those. There is also a mango drink made by IP, maybe that will help with your fruit cravings.

My new absolute favorite thing, thanks to Debrasb, is a Frosty-like drink made with the dark chocolate pudding. Here's her recipe:

Frosty- esque Milkshake with Dark Chocolate Pudding Packet
1 cup water
Dash of stevia to taste
Dash of salt
Flavor add ins (try a variety): Walden Farms Chocolate Syrup, Walden Farms Marshmallow Fluff, Almond Extract, Vanilla Extract, Cinnamon, Peppermint Extract, Chili Pepper or Cayanne (goes good with the almond and/or cinnamon.
1 Ideal Protein Dark Chocolate Pudding Packet
10 ice cubes (adjust amount for taste and consistency)

Put the water, stevia, salt and flavor add ins into a blender pitcher. Add in the pudding packet. Blend on low to combine all ingredients well. Scrape down any powder from the sides to be sure everything is well incorporated.

Add in the ice. Start blender on low (I use level 3 on my Vitamix) to break up the cubes, and work up to high (level 8 or so). Blend until all of the ice is incorporated and the mixture is very creamy. It will have expanded by more than double, and the color will change from dark brown (color of the pudding) to a very light creamy brown.

So far I've made it with almond extract, sugar free caramel syrup and WF chcolate syrup--all were great! So good, so creamy, it's almost like eating dairy again. And VERY filling! Debrasb, hope it's OK that I posted this recipe here! :)