SlipFree, Thank you for that info. I know my coach has told me that in P1. I had a few days where i was waking up really early and not eating for a few hours and my coach thought it was the reason I stalled that week.

Catlady, thank you for the tips. I feel intimidated by the fat/carb seperation and the ratios but have been reading all the collective comments on this thread about how to track it. Thank you everyone!

For me, I've learned that carbs are the enemy (my diet successes have always been on low carb diets) so I am scared to start adding in carbs at breakfast. But, the one thing that I really truly miss is just grabbing a sandwich at lunch. And sauces on my protein. So, I guess I just need to learn how to juggle those competing wishes/fears and really plan out the meals like you said. It helped with P1 so I know I can do it!

Where did this weekend go?? I got some rest but chest is stil, tight. Went to doc and have bronchitis so will take it easy for a couple more days.
Great to see so many new maintainers coming on board.

Hella- I agree with the others, get some clothes that you feel good in and that fit you the best. You've worked so hard to get to your goal. Your inches may still change if your adding in exercise..

Shasta - congratulations on all your hard work. I find for lunches I seem to rotate between tuna, chicken, or egg and then salad or some type of cut up veggies. Lately I've been checking out the maintainer what are you eating thread for lunch ideas.

Sarahag- congratulations on your first week and sounds like you are right on track doing a P1 day tomorrow. Many of seems to do that on Mondays

Slip - no time for movies because I went to bed at 9 both nights :) hoping to watch Divergent tonight once the kids go to bed.

Hawaii- sounds like you are really consistent with your exercise on the weekends.

Hi to everyone and hope you had a great weekend.

Hi maintainers! I'm transitioning to P3 on Tuesday. I have a couple of breakfasts worked out and plan to use being snowbound on Tuesday for full meal planning.

I was curious about the P4 Fun day. When did you have your first one? What did you have? How did you feel the next day?

Thanks all!

Rayze- not looking forward to the next snow at all! As for my first free meal, it was the day I graduated to Phase 4 because it was a family occasion. I went a little overboard on wine and blue cheese, so be honest I did not great the next day.

Hi Rayze. I first phased off the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, so Thanksgiving day was my first fun day. In addition to the turkey meal, I made some gluten free biscuits for breakfast (they were more for my bf) and had a glass of bourbon with dessert. Was traveling the next day slightly hungover and bloated, but was able to do P1 easily - like riding a bike.

Hi Rayze, I had my first fun day on Saturday after 7 days on P4. It was more of a fun meal at a restaurant but included appetizer and a full dessert. I showed a 0.4 gain the next morning but after one P1 day yesterday I've lost the 0.4. I thought it would be hard to do the P1 day but it wasn't really.

I did my first fun day after 6 days on P4. I had pizza with salad and ice cream for lunch. The rest of the day I stuck to P4 rules. I didn't gain anything that first time and did P1 the next day. I didn't feel bloated or yucky the next day. But everyone reacts differently. I haven't had another fun day since then. I've just been working things in to my menu if I want it.

Jenny Sorry you're still feeling sick. I really enjoyed Divergent the movie and also all of the books. I think you'll like it.

Hi Maintainers;

So nice to see new maintainers!

Rayze: I was invited to a wine and appies party on my first fun day so that's what I had. Now I do more like a meal or treat here and there. I don't do a day. I just don't feel good if I eat yucky all day but I enjoy my treats!!

Hi to everyone else. Ruth Ann! Miss you! Jenny, get better! As always weekends are my challenge but didn't do too bad and actually got some exercise in which hasn't been happening the last couple of weekends. I keep drinking my water which helps and watching the calories. And Slip, sugar is the devil! hee hee So, I work at staying away from that. Have a great Monday everyone!

I'm starting maintenance on Saturday and am planning my first fun day for Super Bowl Sunday. Not really a whole fun day, just pizza for dinner. Neither my husband nor I have had any pizza since I started IP in August. he didn't want to tempt me, so he refrained. I'm originally from NY and cut my teeth on pizza and have never looked back. It is hands down my favorite. I'm looking forward to a thin crust topped with veggies, as opposed to the wonderfully delicious Chicago deep dish. I don't want to go too overboard, but I know that a P1 day should put me back on track.

eve - glad your kids are getting better, sick kids are no fun! I would love the LOFT 6P pants,
(that is my size!) if no one else has claimed them.

catlady - I am in awe of you...that you are able to work in what you want to have and not have a fun day! I sooo want to be able to do that! I tend to have a obsessive personality and take things overboard on my cheat day/meal, but I am working on it!

rayze - my first fun day was Thanksgiving just like pishposh. I pretty much ate what I wanted, which probably was not the right thing to do. I was up a couple of lbs the next morning but a P1 day got me back to normal pretty quickly.

hellafat - welcome to maintenance! It is exciting and scary at the same time!

jenny - you poor thing with bronchitis. Take it easy and rest up. I started running this week, so have been running/walking for 7 days now and I weighed in today and was up 3 lbs! I don't like that but I figured it was from the running? What do you think?

sarah - great job on your first fun day, .4 is awesome to have only gained!!

hellafat - sounds like you have a good plan for your first fun meal and how fun that it falls on the day of the super bowl. You can't go wrong with pizza!

shasta - good job only 10 lbs away from your goal! You will be in maintenance in no time!

Hi to everyone else! I am hanging in there but REALLY considering doing a P1 stint to lose about 10 lbs. My original goal was 130 but I phased off around 135 and now am hoovering around 135. I think if I can lose 10 lbs, that will put me under my goal weight and I will have some wiggle room. I will decide in the next couple of days!

Everyone expecting the snow storm that's coming, stay warm and safe!!!!

SallyE....They're yours! I'm glad someone can use them. Just PM me. My hips and tush are just too much for them, lol! As an alternative to P1, you may consider lowering your caloric intake a bit and see how the scale responds. I started P4 and slowly upped my calories to get my metabolism revved up. By eating P4 foods around 1350-1500 calories, I lost 5 lbs pretty easily while still practicing my P4 skills. Just a thought, sometimes IP makes us believe that weightloss can ONLY occur in P1 - but that's not the case at all!

Welcome new maintainers! My best advice is to NOT PANIC about anything. Get used to the idea that your weight is going to fluctuate daily no matter what. If you aren't already doing it, I highly recommend weighing daily to get used to the up and down movement. I vary as much as 5 lbs in a week. As long as the up trend at my highest weight moves back down, I know things are just as they should be.

Stay safe SLIP and all the other north-east maintainers! Hunker down and stay warm!!!!

As for fun days, I think pizza was my first fun day meal also. I was REALLY missing it. I am one of the only maintainers that post regularly right now that does a fun day every week. I have a few rules I use for fun days: I track everything I eat, I keep my protein up, and I stay under 2100 calories. I have recently experimented with doing a low-carb day after a fun day as opposed to a P1 day. So, pretty much still eating dairy but going no-sugar, no-grain instead.

Honestly, I ALSO do built-in treats during my week in addition to fun days. Again, the rules that I follow with built-in treats is to keep my carbs and sugar in the limits that MFP sets for me. I don't believe I am very carb sensitive, so that I think plays in my favor.

As this is a lifestyle change for me....FOREVER....I am happy that I can find a way to eat the foods I love in moderation and not feel like I am living a perpetual diet. I track my foods every day and know where I am calorically all the time. I think this has helped me stay under or within my goal since starting maintenance in September.

Hi all,

We are expecting 24-32 inches of snow, yikes. Am going to cook some food now, since we are notorious for losing power here. Picked up some wood for the fireplace, but I am really hoping that we do not need it. Hoping my Nashua order gets here before the storm hits.

Anyone else in the line of the blizzard? Jenny, I heard that it was going right up to the border of NY state?

Feeling a little stressed out about the whole thing :dizzy:

SallyE: I've only been doing Maintenance for a month. I haven't worked in that many things, a couple glasses of wine, a beer. I can't imagine eating so far off plan for an entire day. Right now I have a warm chocolate chip cookie sitting on my desk. I just finished my lunch and once I put the cookie into MFP I can still fit it into my day, but you know what? I would rather have a Quest bar for my snack later this afternoon. So it's going into the trash. The thing with Fun Days for me is that there really isn't a whole lot that I "have to have". I did miss pizza, but the other stuff? Not so much. I had been eating clean for such a long time before I started IP that I just don't have a taste for that stuff anymore. And I know that most of that stuff is "bad food". I don't really need it.

I have an Open House at work on Wed. There will be cocktails and appetizers. I plan to attend but I will think long and hard before I eat the appetizers. They will have to be AMAZING otherwise, I'll just pass.

Oohh we had an Open House too at my work that sounds just like that yours...appetizers and full service bar. I just gave myself permission to have some diet coke and I was perfectly fine!