Thank you everyone for your sweet comments! It really made me happy reading those this morning.
I feel very fortunate to have a strong, supportive group of ladies to share this experience with me.
Want2Be- You have so much going on today! Congratulations on being so close to your goal and losing almost 90 pounds! Phenomenal job!! I'm so happy for you.
I hope your daughter has a happy 16th! How exciting about the puppy! Enjoy your vacation, the puppy, and the b-day festivities. Look forward to hearing about how everything goes.
Hawaii- Congratulations on losing your holiday weight! Sounds like you've got maintenance down with balancing out special occasions, vacations, etc with stricter food days/exercise. That's what I intend to do. You're a good role model for me.
Lucci- Congratulations on closing on your new home! You do have a lot going on with the houses. Do you have Trader Joes and/or Whole Foods near you? Whether or not you decide to switch to P2, Trader Joes has some great protein and veggie shortcuts that work well with P1 & P2. I used/still use a lot of the fresh veggies in microwaveable packs (broccoli/cauliflower mix, Brussels sprouts, asparagus), the bags of greens with WF dressing (balsamic, chipotle ranch, or sesame ginger), and for proteins the fully cooked free range chicken breasts and organic fully cooked beef sirloin. I use the plain Whole Foods rotisserie chicken and peel off the skin for a protein too. I also like the Whole a Foods salmon or tuna sashimi. These are all of the things I've lived on the past 8 months and are great to stay OP when you don't have much time for prep/cooking.
It's hard to pick a goal weight. I feel like I didn't pick mine; mine picked me on a way. I think I was around 170 and started feeling much more comfortable with how I felt and looked. I knew it wouldn't be much more time before I'd be at a good phasing off point. I checked with my doctor and he said I looked healthy and ready to phase off if I wanted to. Also, he mentioned that I'd continue to lose in P2 and maybe P3. He was right and I'm starting maintenance around 160 and feel good with it. I had blood work done the other day and I'm waiting to see how my numbers have changed since the last time. Hopefully I'm back in the healthy range for cholesterol and no longer insulin resistant.