Good advice Liana! The start of maintenance is like walking through a forest of trees in the dark. Bang....bang.....bang (that was my head running into each tree as I got there). But at least I know where those trees are now.....

Hang in there PishPosh!

Sorry, Slip, that you don't get your wine. You are doing a great job not putting yourself in situations you don't think will be good for you. Victory!

Happy Friday ladies😄

So happy it is the end of the week. I'm feeling pretty tired. Lisa posted a recommendation "the art and science of low carbohydrate performance" by stephen Phinney. He has one called low carb living. I down loaded the samples to my e reader. Pretty interesting reading about nutritional ketosis and people who are carb sensitive. I'm curious about exercise and tapping into fat stores and not having to carb load to refuel. Anyone read his stuff?

Had my WI and at low end of my range. My goal for this weekend is to not lose focus and not add extra snacks.

Happy Saturday!

Eve, staying away from the wine has me back down to the middle range.

Jenny, stay strong against those snacks. So impressed that you have taken care of the holiday UP pounds so quickly.

Decided to get a FItBit. Found a good price and needed some motivation (new toy) to get moving more. Spring and summer have me moving constantly with the garden but the cold of winter inspires slug mode.

Off tonight to celebrate with my family. I see 1 glass of wine in my future

Hoping that all of you are having a great day!

Added after the Birthday dinner:
Funny story, so...you know the restaurant that I went to tonight for my niece's birthday? The one with very few healthy options? 40 minutes away from home, I am running late because I got lost, I approach the door, look in the picture window and see---my IP coaches (they own the clinic)!!!!!! Immediately, I think- I guess I won't be eating pasta, lol.

They were super nice. Told me how great that I looked. We actually toasted wine glasses. Life can be very funny.

Great story, Slip. Hope you had a good dinner! And congrats on getting back to mid-range.

Eve your tree-banging analogy had me chuckling. Yup, feels like that

Jenny I also saw that post. Other reading on my plate at the moment, but if you do take a look at the material, I'd be interested in a review, if you are willing. And congrats on getting back to your lower range place!

I am finally back at the top of my own range, but will keep on plugging. Reducing overall calories seems to be working for me.

Had my first 'learn to run' clinic experience as a run leader today - in the pouring rain!!. So rewarding, though - and makes me want to push a bit further with my own personal efforts.

Thanks Slip, Liana and evemomma. Trying not to be hard on myself, but I am glad this is spurring me to think a lot harder about how to approach maintenance.

I think what will work best for me is to stick to P3 as a base formula and just up my carbs a little bit for one meal, and up my fat a little bit for another. I also might try a paleo/grain free approach and rely on root veggies and fruit for carbs most of the time, and allow grains just occasionally, maybe reserved for the fun days or meals. Even the whole grain breads, muffins, waffles etc. seem to be a bit of a trigger for me. Will also be fairly easy as my bf is gluten free/low fodmap and we have to keep a lot of stuff out of the house.

Slip, hope you enjoy your fitbit. I have one, am trying to wear it more, but my numbers are always pretty low in the winter. And congrats to you, Jenny, and westwillow on getting down into your ranges! Feels so good to see the numbers come down.

Happy Sunday,

The scale dropped another pound, so I guess skipping the pasta worked. Having pasta was never in my plan, but it is funny how the universe helps reinforce our decisions.

Westwillow, running in the rain, that takes some dedication. Glad that you are back in range and plugging along. We are just two weeks from the holidays and taking care of those UP pounds quickly. Yay us!

Pishposh, I think most of us have issues with moderating our food intake. What helps for me, is the structure that I impose on myself. I have "food rules" that I live by. I try to make sure that my free meal is with other people and most of the time that means not at home. I did a lot of binge eating alone in the past so I have to work to change that behavior. Are you going overboard in front of your BF?

I also try to keep trigger foods out of the house. Can you identify any strategies/ rules that would help you when the inner brat is calling for more? 32 ounces of water before eating anything else for example.

I also found that WG waffles made me extremely hungry later, so I avoid them.

Does anybody else have "food rules"?

eve I love your forest analogy. I feel a bit lost at times and I know I may wander off the path. But it's easy to find my way back. I just have to come here.

Jenny Hope you get some rest and feel rejuvenated. That book sounds interesting.

Pishposh Since I'm new at Maint. I can't offer a lot of advice, but good for you for thinking hard about what needs to be done and then doing it.

Slip That is a funny story! At least the coaches were not being "the food police".

Westwillow I bet that pouring rain was cold. Kudos to you for pushing through.

I spent a lovely afternoon outside yesterday walking a trail not too far from home. I packed in my lunch and water and ate after I was done. It felt really good to get outside and move around. I love walking/hiking outside. It was 66 degrees (C) here yesterday. I have about 3 months of nice weather before summer (100+ degrees) and doing anything outside is dangerous. Today I am going to REI to drool over hiking boots.

And BTW, Chef Verati has not responded to the post that I left on his Facebook page on Tuesday questioning the macros on the recipes in the P4 cookbook.

Hey everyone!

Pish...you're doing great trying to make a plan that is going to work for you!

Westwillow and Jenny.....you are both my exercising heroes!


Slipfree...Yes, making food rules helps me a lot. Here's a few of mine:

No soda ever.
No McDonalds french fries.
Seriously.
Don't waste calories on things that aren't delicious.
4 cups of veggies daily.
No sugared drinks save for the occasional alchololic beverage (but no fruit juice, hot chocolate, sugary starbucks, etc).

Hi guys - good weigh in yesterday, down to within 2 lbs of my goal weight. So I think I'll be on P1 for 2 more weeks - 2 weeks to gain it, 4 weeks to lose it, LOL. Had a dinner at a neighbors last night, very nice older couple, and she was very excited that she was serving me something I could eat - it was a crab cake! I did my best, scale didn't see any impact this am. Been very hungry this time, this is the start of my 3rd week and I'm still 'eat the wallpaper' hungry sometimes.

Hang in there everyone for the 3 day weekend.

E

I'm so annoyed out modem seems to be broken so no internet at home. I guess I shouldn't complain too loudly it's amazing how much we rely on it.

Westwillow - great job being a run leader. I'm sure you were super motivating. I haven't done a lot of running in rain but you have to surrender to it and wear a hat.

Eve - enjoy your fit bit. I hope it does what you want it to.

Got to go put the kids to bed, again. Pretty successful staying on track this weekend but it was a lot of work.

Food rules:

I'm going into my 4th week of Maint. I have stayed within a 1.5 lb range of the weight I started at so far, and if I go up one day, I'm back down by the next. I haven't been at it long enough to develop food rules for Maint. but some that I have mostly lived by for a really long time are as follows, and most of them come from Michael Pollan's Food Rules:

If it comes in a bag and is passed through a window, it's not food.
If my grandmother wouldn't recognize it, it's probably not food.
I haven't had a soda of any kind in over 20 years so that's really not a rule it's just a thing I do. Water has always been my main drink.
Limit alcohol to 3 cocktails/wine a week. Now I'm slightly scared to do this
If it has more than 5 ingredients, and you can't pronounce most of them, it's not food.
Shop the perimeter of the grocery store
Stay away from the dirty dozen in fruits/vegetables
Eat organic whenever possible
Eat grass fed/free range whenever possible
Eat until I'm full and then stop. It's ok to leave food on my plate.

Some new ones from IP that I now do:

Drink at least 5-7 16oz. glasses of water a day
Eat at least 4 cups of veggies a day
Take vitamins and supplements

I'm sure I'll be adding more as time goes by.

Guys - just saw something on the daily thread in Lisa's post about lower tummy tucks. Has anyone had this type of surgery? I looked up abdominoplasty and panniculectomy (DO NOT DO THIS WHILE EATING ANYTHING …lol).

I just have this spare flesh around my middle, it's been a year, and while it's tightened a bit, I'm starting to lose hope that it's ever going to get flat, or flat enough so that I don't have a muffin top or that I can wear a two-piece bathing suit. And my head is ALL OVER THE PLACE about this. I'm 54 - should I just live with it? It's gotta be expensive and painful - do I want to go through that? I'd really appreciate some input/conversation around this. I'm asking in the maintainers thread as I think this is a conversation more for those of us who have lost and have lived with our new selves for a while.

E

Andrea - great rules. I pretty much stick to those although don't do organic and I like one diet pop a day. The alcohol seems a bit high to me to.

Ecdcslim- I have looked up both surgeries and if I ever come across the extra $$$ then I would really consider having it done. I had a c section for the twins so I think that may have contributed to some lose skin. It doesn't hang very much tho and with the ++weight loss it got better and tighter. I notice it more when I hold the plank at the gym and the skin on my stomach and thighs hang a bit. I think all the exercise I did while on IP helped with some of the lose skin. Either way it marks the journey.

I would definitely consider a lower tummy tuck if I had the money. I constantly get told my pants are too big but they are Looking at my hips. I need the size I need because of the extra skin around my belly. It does reflect the journey but it is what is keeping me from being satisfied with my results. I always wonder how much that part of me weighs! Or what size I could really be in without it.

I've read that the recovery time from a lower tummy is considerably less. By the time I can afford it (when the kids are done rep sports and graduated from university) I will probably feel too old to bother.

ChipnDio & Jenny38 Thanks for your thoughts, I keep thinking about it when I look in the mirror in the morning getting dressed for work.

Anybody done any research re cost??

E