The alternative guidelines are as follows:

At least 12g of protein: this has 14g
Calories between 70 and 160: this has 100
Unrestricted is 8g or less net carbs: this has total carbs of 8g and 2g of dietary fiber which totals 6g net carbs
Restricted is 9+ g net carbs: this has 6g net carbs
30% or less calories from fat: this has 10 calories from fat
No Aspartame: this has no aspartame

So this is P1 compliant. I also hear from my friend that it is quite tasty. I bet it would make good muffins.

I called them back and was able to change my order before it shipped. I got scared. Learning this alternative thing is a lot at first...I am a control freak when it comes to Phase 1. Anyway, I ordered WLS pretzel twists instead and I am looking forward to it. Thank you so much for all your help today!

I appreciated all of the articles on the dangers of sucralose. I will probably make it a goal to eventually get rid of it in my eating. Right now I just use it once a day in the mornings. For now I am hoping the bacteria in my yogurt counteracts the effects..LOL. I do not have any reaction to it.

The WF products were a mainstay of my IP plan.

Dak1lls and eandc: I have liked the products from Nashua also!

Ishbel: That is too funny about doing the stairs to lower your blood sugar. I have taken to walking laps around my house when it is icy outside or when I am talking on my phone. I am having too much fun with my wifi tracker! I hope your doctor visit goes well and that you continue to stay healthy.

Infoplease: I am glad your Fun Day was better and hope the next one will be a good one. Have you considered adding small treats in your weekly eating so you don't feel deprived? I also have to watch using food as a reward. In these bleak winter days, I start cooking spicy foods as a treat due to the weather. This is still using food as a reward. I am going to investigate carb cycling. I personally think a healthy lifestyle for me is 50 percent food and 50 percent exercise. In that National Weight Registry the successful maintainers all exercised almost daily.

Fitmom: maintaining is a learning process. If P1 seems hard for you, then try p2 or 3. I know you will get those up pounds off.

Lisa: Hang in there. Those plateaus can be frustrating.

Mars: You seem to have stabilized and are doing well in maintenance.

Hey all. The scale is still showing 130 despite my wishes for it to move down. Arghhh. Anyways, I am finishing up Tom do hopefully a few lbs leave when it does. I have been experiencing some nerves today. Really wanting to get to 125 so that I have a bit of a buffer before getting to 130 since I tend to move up a few lbs depending on a number of things (Tom, salt etc). It's been so long since I went into maintained I cannot recall if I gained in phase 3 . That being said did you all gain and if so how much? I would like to stay phase 3 next week and the idea of the scam potentially going above 130 really gives me anxiety since I it's so close to 135 where I don't want to be. Have worked so dang hard on this reboot and I freak at the thought of going up again. I am also finding myself dreaming of food, feeling sorry for myself and coming to terms with the reality that I will always have to monitor what I eat. Thanks for listening. Just feeling overwhelmed, scared, and all over the place.

I still lost during Phase 3 until the last couple of days when I gained about 3 lbs. BUT I have actually lost weight (4 lbs) and an inch on Phase 4 maintenance over the past 8 days. Not sure what's up with that, but I am eating so much food these days including full fat extra aged Gouda, beans & rice, carrots, potato, avocado, and pumpkin seeds that I am sure not missing out on anything. I am EXTREMELY careful with my "disassociation" of fat poor and carb poor meals! And I eat like crazy as early in the day as I can and taper my food calories off toward the evening. I'm tracking with MyFitnessPal.com & the app.

A study quoted in this month's ALIVE magazine showed that women who ate 700 cal breaky, 500 cal lunch, and 200 cal dinner lost 3x more weight and had better blood sugar/insulin levels than a group who ate opposite - 200 cal breaky, same 500 cal lunch, and 700 cal dinner. Same foods and exercise plans, just switched times of day for big meal.

I even lost a pound after my 'Fun day'.
You will do fine - just don't stress too much over it - check the measurements instead...

Liana (It's snowing again here today *sigh*)

Thanks. I was just reading some other threads on the the day chicks sites (other diets) and came across a woman who is now fasting and she claims after UP she could not take a bite of anything without gaining weight. I am so scared this will happen to me. I Am having such bad anxiety about all this. Thank you for your support.

I wonder what her 'anything' consists of, is it real food unprocessed like I am eating, or some sort of frozen packaged pasta, sauce and veg with meat dinner entree for example.
Use the disassociation principle and eat real food not processed food. You will do fine. Take a deep breath! Count to 10 and grin like you mean it.

Liana

Eandc: I lost in Phase 3. Your idea of getting to 125 to give yourself a buffer for 130 is a good one. I really use the range concept for maintenance and not just one weight. There is fluctuation. I was also very worried when I first started maintenance and had anxiety attacks that I would not continue to fit my new clothes. You have already established healthy eating habits as you have lost your weight. Just continue those habits and carefully add foods back as you maintain.

Liana: Good advice. I try to stay away from processed foods also.

Here is an interesting article.

www.gretchenrubin.com/ha
ppiness_project/2012/10/ba
ck-by-popular-demand-are-y
ou-an-abstainer-or-a-moderator/

Copy and paste the whole address.

The question is do you maintain by being an abstainer or by being a moderator?
The moderators eat by the 80/20 rule where they eat healthy 80 percent of the time and indulge 20. They feel deprived if they cannot have their favorite foods.
The abstainers simply feel anxious and out of control by indulging and find that keeping away from the food is easier than worrying about how to handle the food. They do not feel deprived. Interesting that both sides try to convert the other side.

I think I lean towards being an abstainer for much of the time and simply stay away from trigger foods. However, if I want to indulge I either make a healthy version of the food or take only a small amount.

eandc2006, congratulations on getting to P3!
Re: dreaming of food & feeling low about it all, could this be TOM blues/low blood sugar? The idea of monitoring what you eat will become more natural as time goes on and it won't require being hungry. My maintenance experience was a roller coaster until recently: I eliminated the weekly fun day, and avoid sweets, incl. cutting out Mio (yesterday) and ultra-sweet splenda-fortified shakes & snacks. I know there will be occasions when I fall off, but way less often than 1/week. Most of the long term maintainers that post on 3FC exercise daily.

I did not gain weight in P3. Once I got those extra carbs, my metabolism kicked up and weight continued to come off until I hit the holidays. Like you, I'm still trying to get back down to a safety zone. Are you sure yours is not too low? There is a point where our brain/body says 'enough' and ignoring it can trigger some bingey eating. The restrictive diets can set us up for that. Your dreams and feeling deprived might be part of your 'survival instinct' trying to trick you into feeding it addictive sugary things. Stay strong & feed your hunger with good things---you deserve your new healthier body.

Thank-you for the link, Maile! That made me smile about one group trying to convert the other. I think I'm like you, only with more work to do re eating small amounts or healthier versions of trigger foods.

btw, update on kicking sucralose: I'm one day + 1 liter without Mio and it's easier than I thought. I'm viewing sucralose as a dose-related issue. I don't think using it in the amounts apparently recommended by IP should be negative. My coach had said use it freely as long as P1 weight loss was satisfactory. It helped me get to goal, so no regrets at all.

It took me a few tries to get to maile's link

I thought I'd post a link to it: http://www.gretchenrubin.com/happine...r-a-moderator/

Your right...perhaps she is not eating real food and going for processed foods. I was lurking around last night and got myself really lathered up thinking OMG, if I ever decide to have a piece of cake, taco, etc. I will gain it all back. SO much, if not all of this is mental. I have been maintaining, until ate January when I put on weight from the holidays and a horrible surgery in November, and can do this. Something about moving forward again still invokes a serious fear in me that literally had me scared to death last night. I am feeling a lot better today mentally and I thank you for your information and support. It is so helpful. Today, I am definitely grinning like I mean it.

Maile...thank you for this article. I am somewhat in between a moderator and an abstainer. I noticed when I was doing maintenance that I found myself when presented with foods like "treats" that I could very easily pass them up and not feel deprived. However, by way of knowing that I could have them if I wanted (i.e. not on phase 1 for example) it was almost like I didn't want them. The funny thing is that lately I have been wanting chocolate cake although when I was in maintenance I never had cake. Not because I don't enjoy it from time to time but its because I could have it that I didn't want it. Does that make sense? I suppose I have a want you can't have complex right now.

Because I am short, 5'4, 5lbs really is a difference on my body and that goes for both losing and gaining. In fact, it can be the difference from feeling stuffed into my clothes or feeling comfortable. You are right about the range too. I could only hit the same number on the scale a few times a week. Most of the time, my weight was in a +/-3lbs range depending on salt intake, TOM, activity level, if I had slept enough, what color my shoes were. Just kidding about the shoes part.

Because of this range, I feel strongly about hanging out near 125-130. 135 is where I start to feel uncomfortable and when I start maintaining at 130, its just too close to 135 for comfort.

I told myself 30 days or 125 and today is 29 and 130lbs. Looks like I will do another week of phase 1 and then see what happens. I haven't had my body past 130 since I was 19 which was 10 years ago. I may have a war ahead with this one. We'll see. Perhaps going into phase 3, seeing if I loose, and eating very carefully will also allow me to move down. Lots to think about in the coming days.

Thanks again!

Hey Mars. I am feeling much stronger today than last night. It was a low point on this reboot...the lowest actually. That being said, I have been going back and forth of when to move to phase 3...should I wait until I get to 125 (which could take several more weeks), or should I move forward with conscious eating and see how my body responds to the additional carbs in the morning? For the life of me, I cannot remember if I gained the last time I did phase 3. I do feel as if the restrictive aspect is causing me to dream of food...and foods that I usually wouldn't want, crave, or eat regularly for that matter.

Congrats on cutting out the Mio and the splenda shakes and snacks. I never had the Mio but I have been reading that people seem to get triggered from it. It sounds like you have a healthy approach to stop using it and recognize that it contributes negatively.

I would like to begin exercising soon. I ride my bike a lot in the summer and really enjoy walking with my husband and dogs. We live downtown Denver so there is always something to see and do around here. This winter has been horribly cold and really kept me indoors more than I would like. I have found that exercise when pleasurable, is easier for me to do regularly. I have thought about taking up walking at least 3 miles per day and then maybe even building up to running.

How about you? Do you exercise regularly.

Thanks Lisa.