Great question Shasta, and thank you for the info as usual Liana & Andrea. I'm still working with the macros and what works for me - it seems that if I mix them too much, my body has a really difficult time processing them - digestion, elimination, retention, etc.
My clinic has been telling me over and over during maintenance "fats are not the enemy", meaning healthy fats are really needed and good for me, and I should use as many of them as needed, as long as it doesn't cause weight gain. They said the thing I really need to keep the eye on is the sugars and carbs, esp. more complex carbs.

I'm doing a P1 day today, I didn't change anything over the weekend, but I pulled a muscle last week and have been pretty sedentary, and woke up feeling I wanted to do it. I might like to do P1 day, or maybe a modified/alternative one, every week or two just to give my body a bit of a rest I think.
Right now it seems a day to day process of trusting my body and staying in tune. I went down a few pounds last week which surprised me, a nice surprise. It helps me know my body is still doing OK with the extra calories and carbs and responding well to that and the added exercise.
I stopped about 10 lbs over my original goal weight, so I so have wiggle room if my body decides to keep going down, it will still be a healthy weight, and give me some more room for the "up and down" pounds over time. I originally thought I might go back to P1 in a few months to finish off the last few, but if it happens this way gradually over the next few months, that is great also.

I had cantaloupe for the first time this weekend, it was so sweet and really awesome, but probably the most glycemic thing (that might be the wrong word but you get my gist) I've had for a while - I could notice the difference, and was a little bloated and had trouble digesting it. Interesting how sensitive my body has become - likely it has always been like this, but I'm finally learning more about it. I feel good though introducing things gradually so that I can see the reaction and also let my body get used to things.

Hello to everyone and have a great week!

I've been watching the maintainer's board for awhile trying to figure out a good time to transition. My original goal was 140 - I'm 5'5.5" but I'm thinking I might bump it up to 150. I'm at 160 now.

I love the 'lean' feel and my clothes fit well but I'm worried that when I add even minimal carbs back into my diet I'll lose that lean feel? Should I go lower to compensate? base it on body fat in low 30%?

My plan is to get to 150 and see what things look like then but I'd love to hear any advice any of you have, especially about the leanness factor. I've weighed as little as 138 years ago and didn't feel as thin as I feel now. It's a very odd thing to me to feel so thin at such a high weight.

Hi Andreabmva, I had similar questions and concerns, you may have seen a few of my posts this last month and the answers I got. I plateaued for about 3 or 4 months around 160, my original goal was 160 but then I changed it to 149, but my body just didn't want to go there - per my clinic I changed things around, did some alternative options based on their thoughts, went very restrictive for the last month, and overall just dropped a pound a month. I liked the idea of going under a few pounds, but my body didn't want to do it, and I ended up miserable and very low energy, which went away within a day or two of P3.

I lost a pound or two in P3, and have lost a pound or two in P4. I did get a few days of a little "fluffy" and a few up pounds two weeks into P4, but I did a P1 day and it went away, and I reduced my calories slightly and put a little more time in between meals/snacks, and it didn't happen again so far.
I think it was probably more related to my TOM than anything.

I still have the "lean" feeling, it did go away during those days of TOM and I felt bloated and not good, but it didn't last as I wrote.

My doctor also told me that my goal weight really was based on a kind of random number that I pulled out of the air from how I felt 20 years ago, I'm older now and also I have some abdominal skin that likely weighs a few pounds that may or may not go away.

I think around this time that you are in toward the end of the P1 protocol, it becomes a little bit of a mental game/challenge, where you really start getting into settling into how you will be for the rest of your life, how you will eat for the rest of your life, what is the accurate weight, etc.
I am giving myself and esp. my body this next year to really settle into these things, and also maintenance. Taking it slow, taking mental notes on how things feel, esp. certain foods.

I'm sure others on here will also give you very good answers and feedback, it's a great group on this thread and on the IP 3FC site in general.

Re: Goals and 'Happy Weight' I think if we have been heavy for a while and think of a goal weight, it can be hard to realize that it was x number of years ago and our goal weight needs to be tied to our age too.
My 'happy weight' of 125 when I was 25 is no longer attainable or even desirable at 51. Since I was 132 lbs at 46 I had an clearer vision of what my weight should be now.
A very short and to the point article from US National Institutes of Health:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/e...cle/003998.htm

This doesn't mean that we can't be lean and strong as we age, it just means that we need to factor in age related losses in lean muscle and shifts in body fat. Obviously if we were overweight and unfit when young, we can have an improved (and even superior) body composition when older. If we were lean & fit when younger, then we just have to expect that while still lean & fit as we age, there will be a downward trend in body composition. Not to an unhealthy degree of course, if we keep up our exercise and proper eating plan.

Liana

Thank you Liana. Good article.

I also remind myself to be grateful if I just stay on top of a 5 or 10 lb. up and down shift the rest of my life, that will be awesome and a big maintenance success My main focus is "hold and steady"... maintain for years.

Wahoo!! This reboot is working pretty well. I'm down 3.1 lbs since 4/10. Also noticing that the muffin top I was experiencing is not quite so prominent. It may be that those 3 lb are my glycogen stores since they came off so quick. I still have 4.4 lbs to go to get to the goal weight for the BMI challenge at work.

That's awesome Andrea!!!

I did a P1 day yesterday and that was a bit of a learning experience - it was my second time doing it on P4. I felt OK during the day, went for a long hike, and then in the late evening was starving.... I toughed it out and didn't eat anything extra, but I really should have had a protein shake before bed- I ended up not really sleeping and waking up in the middle of the night with hunger, and then feeling faint in the morning and shaky. I'm better now that I had eaten my normal breakfast and lunch, but I think next time I decide to do a lighter day I need more protein and calories than I did this time, esp. if I exercise a little.
Ah well, live and learn

It's funny I just read something Amanda posted on another thread about the advantages of eating protein right before sleep. I guess I was testing the theory. Sometimes I like to experiment to see if something is accurate for me or not....

I didn't have a cheat day prior, so I think my body didn't have many reserves to go on. I'm not even sure why I did the P1 day, I thought it would be a nice thing to give my body a bit of a rest, but not totally sure if that was accomplished. I think I might have ended up actually taxing it a little too much.
Somehow I wanted to make sure mentally I could do it at will also.

I think you guys are on track doing the Alt Program - next time I decide to do P1 for longer periods, I'll do that also. I feel like I am on such a learning curve right now!

Maintenance has required much more discipline and thought for me than P1... I'm OK with that and anticipated that might be the case. It's been very, very helpful for me to have these threads and boards to check in with daily - it keeps me on track.
Thank you all very much.

Happy Hump day!

Andreabmva- you have done awesome. Figuring out goal weight can be hard. There was a web site that you could look up your ideal weight based on your weight history and bone size but I'm blanking on the name. Someone else here may have it.

Andrea - great job on your reboot

Grateful- glad you felt better after breakfast. I still add the extra snack on a P1 day when I exercise. I need to change my P1 day of the week cuz I do the gym for an hour and have added 40min lap swim on Mondays, by the time I add my extra food there is no point to PI

Liana - I agree with you around the separation of fats and carbs. I notice it on the scale when I mix. I need to get tighter on this again.

Hi to everyone.

Feeling better. I think a lot of sickness was stress. DH Not going to take job so far away, no offer yet, but we realized it was too far. He has another interview tomorrow for something still in the USA but closure than what he commutes now to Buffalo. Fingers and toes crossed.

Thank you Jenny. It's the Dukan Calculator, there is more information about it here in the IP 3FC Forum under the thread "How did you choose your goal weight" here is a link to the thread if anyone is reading this and wants to see it:
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/idea...-weight-4.html

Hi Everyone!

Jenny glad to hear you are feeling better. I didn't know you were considering moving so far away, I can understand how that would have caused so much stress on your body. I am crossing my toes for you also.

I have a question for you all -
Jenny you do P1 once a week? Do you eat more the day before, or are you doing it more as a general practice?
Liana & Andrea, when you are in P4 do you do P1 days at regular intervals?

My body just didn't handle it well at all, and I was completely exhausted and starving the day after (yesterday), had some digestion/gas/bloating happening, and went about 300 over my normal calorie range due to needing an extra substantial snack because of the hunger. I am still at my regular weight today, and I woke up feeling great again, the bloating etc. gone, but it made me think the P1 day was basically a wash and not so great for me. I also was completely craving yogurt all day.

Have any of you had this experience?
Is is maybe also because I am only a month into P4 after being on P1 for a year? Maybe my body is still building back up?

Curious about your experiences.
I'm actually not worried or anxious, just kind of collecting data and considering what my body seems to need right now.

Otherwise I'm chugging along really well.

Great work you guys that are doing a mini little P1 reboot, very inspiring.

Hey everybody! Having an at home sick day today. Ate fish last night at a restaurant and got very, very sick. Ugh.

andreabmva: I originally picked a goal weight out of thin air. 150 when I started at 206 seemed like an impossible weight to reach. But then when I got there I started looking at things like the Dukan calculator and other sites to see where I should be for my BMI/age/height. They all pointed to the same place 136 lbs. So I decided to keep going. But by the end of November last year I was at 143.3, I had been on P1 for 9 months and I was so tired of dieting. I went into P2 with the hope that I would lose some more. I did. I entered Maint. at 138.7. I did regain about 3 lbs. of the glycogen stores they talk about, but I also let some bad habits slip back in and am now doing a reboot because I got up to 144. It's really an individual thing for this decision. How do you feel? Are you happy with the way your clothes fit? Are you being realistic about a goal weight? Like Liana said, you do have to take that into consideration. Also, you need to make sure that the weight that you are trying to get to can be realistically maintained without having to exercise to excess and still be able to eat "real" food.

Jenny: I totally understand the stress that can come from having unemployment uncertainty of your spouse. This happened to me 3 times while I was married and each time, he lost weight from the stress, I gained. I hope things work out a bit closer to home for you. And glad to hear that you are feeling a bit better. Hang in there.

Grateful: In the 3 1/2 months that I have been in Maint. I did one P1 day after my first fun day, about a week after I started Maint. I got very sickish and bloated from that fun day and decided that how I felt afterwards plus doing the P1 day felt like a punishment. In other words, I didn't like it. So I only did a P1 day if I had a really big fun meal or had more than a couple glasses of wine that impacted the scale. But then I tried incorporating "fun" things into my daily diet and that got me into trouble, hence the reboot. I am used to eating real food now and really don't want to do P1 days. They leave me feeling weak and hangry. So I will avoid them if I can. Under no circumstances would I just do a P1 day for the heck of it. I'm having a hard enough time doing the Alternative P1/P2 reboot. Yesterday at lunch I did a packet and 2 c. veggies and I had to have my snack an hour later because I was so hungry. And all I could think about was when I would be able to eat again. Concentration on my work was shot. Today that isn't a problem since I was so sick all night and most of the morning the thought of any kind of food, even a packet, brings on the gag reflex. So I guess what I am saying is that I don't see any need to do a voluntary P1 day if you are staying steady in your weight and you didn't overindulge the day before. I don't recall ever seeing anything about doing a P1 day once a week on a regular basis in the IP literature or in the videos. It's only recommended after a fun meal/day. I would think that it would mess with your metabolism too much.

Thank you Andrea.
Sorry you had bad fish! That sucks, esp. in the middle of a reboot. Hope you feel better soon.

Thank you for the input above.
I feel so much better today, blood sugar steady, not hungry or hangry just regular again, steady good energy. Scale the same, all good.
Guess I'm just learning about all of this.

I'd been reading a lot (not within IP, but on other health and athletic forums on other websites) about intermittent fasting and doing low carb days here and there and that it might be really benefical for your body, but my intuition esp. having done one now, is that those are written for and are good for people who are likely often over-indulging or eating more calories and carbs than they need, so a day like that might very well be helpful for them, but for me not so much.

I think I wrote about this before but I'm coming to the same place you did about the fun day/P1 day thing - I don't think it's for me. I haven't even tried it yet, I can just feel in my body it wouldn't be fun for me. I love how I feel and the health I feel. Like Liana suggested earlier, I will plan it if needed. I have a date at dinner tonight and set up my day so if I want to do something a little more I can, but generally even when eating out I feel a lot better on plan, and after a year of 100% strict P1, a bunless burger with cheese and avocado now feels like heaven to me as it is.
Before P1 I would never have allowed myself to eat something like that, everything made me gain weight and I was afraid of eating, so for me P4 feels like every day indulging. I can't believe I can eat all this food and 1800 calories a day and not gain weight. The breakfasts are amazing - I used to only drink coffee. Hooray.

And, I like that I have the option. Choices are always great. I'm sure I could likely go through phases where I will appreciate and want it.

I do a P2 day with Alternative Plan choice after a big funday (which I don't do every week anyhow). P1 is kind of just a more expensive version in my eyes than P2. If I have a few drinks and an offplan meal on one day, I just eat VLC the next. It worked fine until I got into a spate of bad high carb & fat combinations at night - stress eating for a while. Once I'm finished the reboot (1.2 lbs to go) I need to get back to proper breakfasts (not a favorite meal of mine, like... EVER) and continue back on maintenance properly.

Ugh, Andrea - food poisoning from the fish, YIKES!

The Dukan calculator will give you different numbers as your goal depending on your weight history and your family history. I plugged a bunch of different scenarios in there for my numbers just to see what would happen. Since I was overweight (according to their numbers by 1/2 lb lol) for only four years in my mid adult life it gave me a much lower number than if I had been heavy all my life. I like this site: It looks kind of hokey, but he really is a respected medical doctor who is a radiologist in Calgary, Alberta and is interested in obesity as it relates to breast cancer and obesity in children and updates his site according to the latest published studies.
http://halls.md/body-mass-index/bmi.htm

Liana

Hi everyone, it's interesting to read about how you are handling fun day and the P1 day after. I've been doing a fun day followed by P1 since I started maintenance 12 weeks ago. I do tend to do an all out fun day so P1 the day after is welcome and I'm still quite full from the day before so I find it easy. I've so far not found it hard to transition from the fun day to the P1 day and the P4 days after. My weight has stayed within my desired range and while I'm happy about that I need to get some control about how much I'm eating on fun day. I do exhibit binge eating type behavior on that one day. Anyway so far still loving maintenance. I will be out of the country for a month in June and nervous about maintaining without my familiar foods.

Thank you Liana and Sahara for your input, it's helpful for me to hear all the different perpectives.

I was up 2 lbs on the scale this morning after eating out last night even though what I chose was fine, likely it is a combo of a little extra calories, extra salt in things at the restaurant, and TOM coming in a day or two. My tummy is a little bloated.... But it was a really nice night and I'm glad I have the tools now to live my life and figure out each day.

I will see how things go the next few days, I have a longer workout tomorrow and I'll overall keep my program tight, and trust that it will balance out this week. If not I'll figure out the next step.