Thanks for the info on snacks I wonder about this too.

It was also helpful to see the 1500- 1600 calorie range for a day. That's about where I am eating am holding steady so far. It just seems like such a high number after IP - seeing it here reassures me.

I'm still wondering about a fun day. Saw a different coach today who also said I HAVE to have one. What if I don't want to. Please chime in with what you do - and if you don't do a fun day do you still do a Phase 1 day each week. I honestly have not eaten any IP food in at least a month. I do feel like notice my skin is getting looser without the rasberry jello -but maybe it's my imagination as my wight is staying steady?

Checking in here and seeing that people are celebrating 1 and 2 years of maintaining is such great motivation for me being so new to Phase 4. Thank you for still taking your time and posting -it is so helpful to see that with hard work, careful monitoring and good choices it is possible to maintain.

Personally, I don't do P1 days nor 'fun' days in maintenance ... just not my thing. I eat a pretty balanced diet and if my weight goes up a bit I cut back on carbs and cheese. I also don't worry about which Quest bars I eat nor whether they are within IP guidelines. After all, I'm not on IP anymore. That said, the Quest bars I eat most of the time are the chocolate brownie, chocolate/peanut butter, and coconut/walnut.

I did go back and do a couple of P1 weeks after coming back from Ireland because I had started creeping up a bit. After doing that I realized I probably set my initial goal too low for maintenance so am mentally adjusting it a bit higher (even though I'm still under it). We gave most of our IP stuff to my brother that started 2 weeks ago (down 20lbs already!) and just use Quest Bars for our protein snacks.

Our P1 days consist of a Quest Bar for breakfast, afternoon and evening snacks and then the regular meat and veggies. We're probably closer to P2 (rarely weigh any food now) but still stay on target with the select veggies. It's only been about 3 months but still where we need to be. I guess I still like the structure of IP even without their products. I also see my coach once a month for a weigh in and measurements. She's still very supportive even though I'm not spending any money there.

I have been logging/planning my meals and mini-vents on the Pregnant-Nursing board but it's pretty quiet there, I am talking to myself...lol. I have been following a Paleo/Phase 3-ish eating plan. I am picking back up my good habits from IP days, a cart full of veggies and a Sunday of veggie & salad prep. My fridge is stocked with good, ready to eat food and now that cravings and aversions are gone I am back to eating well.

And we are gluten, soy, &casein free now, in line with my sons Autism diet, he is doing WONDERFULLY - gains across the board in all areas. His pediatrician said if the trajectory continues he could be mainstreamed by the time school starts. We are still delayed, but he's only 3yo and plenty of time to catch up...very optimistic!

Should be cleared on Monday to start working out, can't wait to pick up running & weightlifting again! Will wait a few more weeks for bootcamp though, that is pretty intense!

Hey evepet! I am right there with you, I didn't want to use the pregnancy As an excuse but I am 5-weeks post partum and 30lb left to lose - my food aversions and cravings took over! I am back to eating healthy but looser on my calories as I am breast feeding, I should get cleared to exercise next week and can't wait to run again!

Congrats on the PR! That's awesome! I can't wait to dust off my sneakers...It's getting crisp, fall weather here - perfect for hitting the trail!

I have been making "paleo pancakes", mixing 2 eggs and 1/2c of butternut squash. Of course I am home on maternity leave, but they are delish, quick, and high in protein. And I am back to making spinach smoothies but don't use IP products anymore.

I did the Fun/Phase 1 days at the beginning, but the novelty of pizza, etc wears off pretty quick, especially when you realize how crappy you feel afterwards.

I start phase 4 tomorrow, and am a bit nervous. Have been lurking on this thread since I started phase 3, and have found many good hints. Please keep posting all you veteran maitainer's as you give those of us making the transition hope.

Wow!!! Amazing job there! Congrats on making goal. I am starting P4 on Sunday. Soaking everything up I can find in these Maintainer threads.

Good luck on P4 girls! That is great that you have reached goal and are maintaining.

Lizzyrr: I like that pancake idea and may use it with pumpkin, Thanks for sharing. I am so happy your nutrition plan of for your son is working and that he will be ready to enter school when he turns five.

M35a: My coach is also supportive even if I am not buying IP products.

Bubbleblower: I amy have to try those quest bars. They sound like a good snack.

Onmyway: I do not do fun days. I might indulge in a higher calorie meal once in awhile. Good luck on PHase 4.

State of Slim is a good book on why Colorado is the leanest and healthiest state in the US. It has to do with exercise..70 minutes a day is recommended.

I missed this yesterday, I am going to try these next week, sounds yummy.

I will check that book out, my best friend and sister are in Colorado Springs, and they have a hard time wrapping their heads around how hard it is for me to find organic and clean things in my grocery stores. They have so many places they can get the good stuff to help stay healthy.

It is a good book. I just finished it. They really used the data from the National Weight Control Registry. They claim that successful maintainers exercise 70 minutes a day 6 days a week. When you have lost weight, your metabolism slows down. Muscles and exercise rev up the metabolism for maintenance.

For some reason people in Colorado are more into exercise and healthy. It is hard to find organic food around my small town also.

NWCR Facts

You may find it interesting to know about the people who have enrolled in the registry thus far.


80% of persons in the registry are women and 20% are men.
The "average" woman is 45 years of age and currently weighs 145 lbs, while the "average" man is 49 years of age and currently weighs 190 lbs.
Registry members have lost an average of 66 lbs and kept it off for 5.5 years.
These averages, however, hide a lot of diversity:
Weight losses have ranged from 30 to 300 lbs.
Duration of successful weight loss has ranged from 1 year to 66 years!
Some have lost the weight rapidly, while others have lost weight very slowly--over as many as 14 years.

We have also started to learn about how the weight loss was accomplished: 45% of registry participants lost the weight on their own and the other 55% lost weight with the help of some type of program.
98% of Registry participants report that they modified their food intake in some way to lose weight.
94% increased their physical activity, with the most frequently reported form of activity being walking.
There is variety in how NWCR members keep the weight off. Most report continuing to maintain a low calorie, low fat diet and doing high levels of activity.

78% eat breakfast every day.
75% weigh themselves at least once a week.
62% watch less than 10 hours of TV per week.
90% exercise, on average, about 1 hour per day.

Interesting stuff, Maile. Now that I'm back into exercising, I'm doing about an hour of pretty high intensity exercise about 4 times a week. I really lost a lot of muscle while I was sick so I'm working on getting that back as well as improving my stamina. I do think exercising is a key part of keeping the weight off and staying healthy, and the numbers certainly support that.

The grocery stores here don't seem to have the variety of GF options they had in the DC/VA/MD area so I'm finding myself heading to Whole Foods a lot more frequently - and paying the price! Since I'm eating little in terms of processed foods I'm also finding that I have to remind myself again to use salt on my food. Otherwise I end up with excruciating cramps in my legs and feet at night. I'm also wondering if I should be taking a magnesium supplement and will be asking a nutritionist that and many other questions next week.

Two of my best friends is getting married later today and it's a beautiful sunny day for an outside wedding. Hope you all are having a great weekend.

Whole foods has great food but it is expensive. I wish we had one here. Have you checked netrition.com for GF foods or even Amazon using prime? I am glad you are gaining those muscles back with your intensive workouts. I just read an article on increasing your weights and plan to up my levels today.

Here are reflections on my two years.


I could not have made the move 100 pounds ago; 2 years of maintenance!
Sunday, October 13, 2013

Last summer I helped two sons move into new apartments,. This involved walking up two flights of stairs carrying heavy boxes. I realized that 3 years ago when I weighed 100 plus more pounds, I could not have made it up those stairs nor could I have kept up with my sons. Now I have energy and muscle strength from exercising and strength training. I am a fast walker, I often have to slow myself down when I am leading lines of kids to class.

October is my two year celebration of maintenance and my three year mark of being binge free.
The longer I maintain, the more I am convinced that making your health a priority in your life is important. This means you have to make hard choices.

I am running late from work, Either, I stop at the gym and work out..which means dinner will be late and rushed..or I skip working out. I choose to workout.

My husband is home for the day on the weekend. Either I spend time with him or leave for an hour to workout. I workout..I did invite him to join me.

I have tons of things to catch up on my job. I could easily spend the entire day working. Either I head straight to work or I stop and workout. I workout.

In the State of Thin the authors demonstrated the importance of exercise ..6 days a week for 70 minutes a day. Exercise increases your metabolism which is vital to maintenance. I am trying to work up to 70 minutes.

I am happy in maintenance. I am getting to know my body. I know what meals will cause a 2 pound gain the next day..not from bingeing but from being higher calories or higher fat. ..like Indian curries. I enjoy those meals and have the confidence to know those up pounds will go down.

I know I have changed when I go to Costco and am excited about new winter workout clothes, I love my new bright tennis shoes.

Loved reading your reflections, Maile. It really does come down to a continuing series of making the right choices. Yesterday, it would have been so easy to stay in bed instead of getting up for the spin class. I also easily could have come up with a whole host of excuses to skip the class.

I smiled when I read your comment about the new workout clothes. I just bought myself two tennis outfits. A year ago I never would have thought I'd be seen in public in anything of the sort! (Much less than in a size medium with room to spare!) It's so much about priorities and making the right things important.

The wedding was beautiful yesterday and the dinner was outstanding. They made my DH's and my dinners GF so we could share the filet mignon and crab stuffed lobster. The hard part was that all of the appetizers were off limits for me so I had to skip the conch fritters and all the other goodies beforehand. In a way I was thankful that I saved myself (albeit not completely by choice!) for the delicious dinner. They also had a scrumptious GF chocolate cake for me that I'd bet was tastier than anything else on the table, but I only ate a bit. I'd guess it was primarily sugar, butter, eggs, and cocoa! I find that I need to watch the carbs in addition to making sure that my choices are GF.

Thanks for the tips re: Netrition and Amazon. I'll check 'em out!

I needed to hear that today Mailie! Yesterday was a fail, i have been pretty good the past week but then had 2 scones at lunch, cereal after dinner, then a teacup of ice cream late night! It did push me into hitting the gym this morning before the kids woke up, first time in 6 weeks - 3.5 miles nearly killed me! My goal is for an hour 6x/week (be it trail/treadmill or weightlifting class), so its encouraging to read the "habits of successful maintainers". I think early morning will be the routine with a newborn, she woke me up at 4:30am and i was able to nurse, pump, dishes, gym, shower, even shave my legs before she woke up again! This was close to my routine before though, just hard to restart...especially with the little.

Thanks for the information and sharing your reflections Maile. Today is day one of maintenance for me, was pleasantly surprised by a tick downward on the scale his morning good way to start! I am working my way up to that 70 minutes a day, got a little out of shape during P1 as exercise slowed my losses way too much. I have a desk job and am trying to incorporate 5 minute circuits into my day. I am up to 3 - 4 of them most days. I have small handweights that I use. Then working on getting my endurance back on my elliptical I am up to 20 min a day. I do some more circuits in the evening for different muscles.