Thank you Avalon! Your posts today took time and thought and I want you to know it is appreciated. I have been trying to understand CHF a little more myself since it seems that being overweight alone is the only risk factor needed. I am paranoid, too! My weight has come down substantially but I am still a little concerned about lingering long term effects. I have had some breathing issues in the past which triggered the worry, so that little piece of your post really caught my attention.

Crystalwolf thank you for the link, I took a peek and it looks like a really great blog! Will have to spend some time there.

Originally Posted by CrystalWolf:
This has been interesting reading,thank you to all who have shared their insights. Some of the veterans around 3FC recommended reading the book Refuse to Regain, I am waiting on my copy that I ordered on Amazon. In the meantime I have been reading the author's blog, it is really enlightening to me. She recently posted something that might be worth the read for anyone interested.
http://www.refusetoregain.com/genera...ce-strategies/

I am working on finding my own carb sensitivity level. Of course your mileage may vary, but I have accepted that I will need to watch my carbs forever.

Thank you so much for sharing this!!! The most enlightening and accurate information about carbs. I am starting to respect carbs as they are like crack/heroin. Can you imaging telling a drug addict, "OK, now that you have beat this addiction, you may now start to smoke just a little bit of crack a day, but only a little bit"? That's what phasing on IP feels like!

Originally Posted by SuseRN:
Thank you so much for sharing this!!! The most enlightening and accurate information about carbs. I am starting to respect carbs as they are like crack/heroin. Can you imaging telling a drug addict, "OK, now that you have beat this addiction, you may now start to smoke just a little bit of crack a day, but only a little bit"? That's what phasing on IP feels like!

Yes! Which is why I am remaining primarily gluten-free. I believe this will reduce the amount of "junk" carbs I expose myself to.
I'm also much more low carb (for the most part, on most days) on P4 than the p4 sheet calls for...but that way I'm not opening the can of worms for the addict inside.

In no way, shape, or form do I believe IP "cured" me of my food addiction that got me to 260 lbs on a 5'4.5" frame. I view myself as "in remission" from obesity and it can surely come back if I am not diligent.

Originally Posted by IanG:
I don't do IP.

But diet gets the weight off. Exercise keeps it off.

If you could work out while on IP it would be great training for maintenance.

I would be in trouble by now if it were not for my daily runs and weight training.

IandG how did you lose your weight if you don't mind me asking? you have done an amazing job losing that much, congratulations.

Originally Posted by lisa32989:
Yes! Which is why I am remaining primarily gluten-free. I believe this will reduce the amount of "junk" carbs I expose myself to.
I'm also much more low carb (for the most part, on most days) on P4 than the p4 sheet calls for...but that way I'm not opening the can of worms for the addict inside.

In no way, shape, or form do I believe IP "cured" me of my food addiction that got me to 260 lbs on a 5'4.5" frame. I view myself as "in remission" from obesity and it can surely come back if I am not diligent.

This is so very true - carbs are addictive and got me in trouble. So now I refuse to buy "restrictive' or anything I that I want to stay away from after P1 - pancakes, bars, cereals, etc. Why do I want to make IP cookie or pizza, if I should stay away from them in order for me not to baloon back to where I started. I wish I could just have one ice cream sandwich - no, I had to have three. So I told myself - you better learn how to fight the hunger noise in your stomack, how NOT to crave pancakes and cookies. See how long it's going to last. In the meanwhile - my old pants are washed and going to the basement, not Salvation Army. Unfortunately I know better :(

Originally Posted by masenki:
This is so very true - carbs are addictive and got me in trouble. So now I refuse to buy "restrictive' or anything I that I want to stay away from after P1 - pancakes, bars, cereals, etc. Why do I want to make IP cookie or pizza, if I should stay away from them in order for me not to baloon back to where I started. I wish I could just have one ice cream sandwich - no, I had to have three. So I told myself - you better learn how to fight the hunger noise in your stomack, how NOT to crave pancakes and cookies. See how long it's going to last. In the meanwhile - my old pants are washed and going to the basement, not Salvation Army. Unfortunately I know better :(

You really need to get rid of your big clothes. In your mind you will be able to justify gaining the weight back. I got rid of everything. I did gain back 20 lbs and now I only have one pair of pants that fit, cause they are stretch. I'll be damned if I'm going to buy new clothes. I'm back on the plan and the doing the Christmas challenge. The only good thing is I'm not working right now so I can live in yoga pants till I get there. :) I will get there, it's not an option.

masenki: I definitely understand the inability to "just have one". Saturday night we had my grandsons over and ordered pizza. I could have eaten one piece, but I had three! These were good sized pieces of pizza too. I ended up quite sick, and had terrible abdominal pain. DH had the same reaction. As Lisa mentioned, staying away from gluten is probably a good idea.

I have been checking out a lot of Paleo recipes and trying them. So far, I am quite pleased, and even though they have sugars (not refined), but rather honey or pure maple syrup, I don't feel sick after eating them because they have coconut or almond flour. However, they do tend to trigger the carb cravings for me, so I must limit sweets.

I have found in maintenance that I still adhere mostly to P2, but have added some fattier dressings to my salad at lunchtime. I avoid fats at dinner and still have my protein bar for a snack. Initially I had the 2-3 pound weight gain once starting maintenance, but that went away the next week. By doing a P1 day after indulging in a fun day it has been possible to maintain, but I am only 3 weeks in. I find it feels like I could easily justify not doing the P1 day, so I have to be super vigilant and keep product on hand so I don't have any excuses.

I'm very glad this thread exists - I'm on this for the first time after being on other diets throughout my life and having always regained some of the weight - if not all of it back.

This diet is fairly easy - so far - i haven't strayed but I'm literally afraid to. I know how easy it is to get the mindset that, oh - it came off easy, i can get it off again. But I KNOW its not possible - at least not easy. So I'm really looking for a way that I can enter Phase 2, 3, 4 and then migrate off and not crash and burn.

I think / know that CARBs are my enemy. But wow, wouldn't I love to have some french fries once, or an ice cream treat with chocolate - but i guess i'll see how i migrate through the phases.

I think i'll take a look at the book mentioned above and find some formula to balance *fun / free day* with a series of P1 days.

Myabe i'll just stay on this forever....

Originally Posted by f6noob:
I'm very glad this thread exists - I'm on this for the first time after being on other diets throughout my life and having always regained some of the weight - if not all of it back.

This diet is fairly easy - so far - i haven't strayed but I'm literally afraid to. I know how easy it is to get the mindset that, oh - it came off easy, i can get it off again. But I KNOW its not possible - at least not easy. So I'm really looking for a way that I can enter Phase 2, 3, 4 and then migrate off and not crash and burn.

I think / know that CARBs are my enemy. But wow, wouldn't I love to have some french fries once, or an ice cream treat with chocolate - but i guess i'll see how i migrate through the phases.

I think i'll take a look at the book mentioned above and find some formula to balance *fun / free day* with a series of P1 days.

Myabe i'll just stay on this forever....

I have often thought it would just be easier to stay on this forever. Alas, that would not be healthy and I don't want to look like a bag of bones. lol. I love the fact that I can do a fun day and then follow it with a P1 day and maintain my goal weight. I love this thread as well because it is helpful to know we are all in the same boat. Carbs do set me up for some cravings, but as long as I am vigilant and don't eat unlimited quantities and follow the protocol, I know I can stay at my goal weight. You can definitely have treats once you are in maintenance, just be aware that it is not possible to return to old habits. I think if I thought I could never have treats again I would not be able to continue this successfully.

Originally Posted by CrystalWolf:
This has been interesting reading,thank you to all who have shared their insights. Some of the veterans around 3FC recommended reading the book Refuse to Regain, I am waiting on my copy that I ordered on Amazon. In the meantime I have been reading the author's blog, it is really enlightening to me. She recently posted something that might be worth the read for anyone interested.
http://www.refusetoregain.com/genera...ce-strategies/

I am working on finding my own carb sensitivity level. Of course your mileage may vary, but I have accepted that I will need to watch my carbs forever.

Wow...thanks for sharing!! I just read her latest post...and completely agree with her position on carbs. Once I get ready to phase off, I know I will have to watch those darn carbs very closely! I will have to order this book!

Originally Posted by CrystalWolf:
This has been interesting reading,thank you to all who have shared their insights. Some of the veterans around 3FC recommended reading the book Refuse to Regain, I am waiting on my copy that I ordered on Amazon. In the meantime I have been reading the author's blog, it is really enlightening to me. She recently posted something that might be worth the read for anyone interested.
http://www.refusetoregain.com/genera...ce-strategies/

I am working on finding my own carb sensitivity level. Of course your mileage may vary, but I have accepted that I will need to watch my carbs forever.

That's a great link, thanks. Congrats on your weight loss! I keep thinking that maintaining will be the hardest part! :o

Very interesting reading-thanks for sharing!!!!

Great reading

Just a note on something to remember - it isn't just the carbs that cause the problem - it's the combination with higher fats - that is where maintenance menu stresses separating higher carb meal from a higher fat meal. Go back and read the introductory papers to Phase 1 that explain why we are lowering carbs AND going lower fat (as opposed to Atkins low carb higher fat) - Phase 3 & 4 sheets make it even clearer. ;)

What is the easiest to eat: 1/2 cup of granulated sugar or 1/2 a cup of butter or 1/2 a cup of ice cream. Why do you think that is?.....

The foods that most 'carb sensitive' people worry about are actually combos of higher carb & higher fat: pizza, pasta with cream sauce, mashed potato & gravy, cheeseburgers, cake, cookies, ice cream, etc... They lead to cravings, insulin problems and fat storage.
:burger::chockiss::jeno::cookie:

Liana

Personally, I didn't phase off. I did keep it off for 6 months, but then my grandfather died and it was my last semester in school, so I went back to eating my emotions and not working out at all and ignoring the scale. .. so I gained everything back... for me, I always gain back the weight when I start to eat my emotions again :-(
Hope this helps!