I did have a small glass of wine a savored it! I felt guilty at first but then realized I deserved it! I didn't go overboard and feel good

I ate whole grain pasta tonight and realized it had too many carbs (greater than 30) per serving so tomorrow I'll cut the serving in 1/2 and will be fine. I've overdone tofu and eggs during P1 - P3...I had little meatballs tonight and they weren't too bad. They were covered with a tomato sauce (which I hope is okay for dinner). The cheese I eat is low fat...and I only use 1/2 a serving of mayo... I guess maintenance is truly a puzzle we each have to figure out. Sometimes I get so sick of food I'd rather have a shake or bar..then I read a few posts about how that's not "real" food and was thinking it's not the way to go...but it may be for me???

After a year shakes n bars are staples... Why not, if you like them?.?

You're right! I like 'em. And they seem to work for me...

edit: But you know...are they really that healthy to use on a regular basis? Wouldn't a piece of fruit or cheese be a healthier option in the long run?

The notion of what a serving is makes me wonder...I took 'serving' to be that defined by whoever in the government worlds of standards decides is a 'balanced' diet, so when you see 'serving size' on a package of something, that is what a reasonable serving is. Is there something else I should be considering?

I think the bars and shakes are a great resource for us. Maybe we could find versions with the minimal amount of preservatives or additives, but I think the protein they provide is useful. I'm trying to invent homemade snacks using soy or whey protein powder and vegees, but when I'm out running errands, I'll grab a bar when I need it and it can really help me get through a rough spot.

It depends on why you are concerned with what a serving is. I only use serving size for measurement of packaged foods and recipes so I know the nutritional values. The suggested serving size doesn't influence how much I eat. It's the calories, carbs, protein, fat, fiber and sodium that influences how much I will eat, it doesn't matter to me if it's 1 or 1.5 or 2 "servings". HTH.

Hmmm I look at fruit as sugar. Cheese might be a good alternative. My view of healthy is very different than mainstream nutrition. I think we all need more fat and way less carbs.

NewEnglander- You had me laughing playing Devil's Advocate with yourself! I'll do the exact same thing, when part of me wants it one way and part of me sees it another. The whole bars/ shakes thing vs whole foods. Maintenance is a lot to intake all at once as there are soooo many choices. And the more decisions you ask yourself to make at once the more likely you are to become overwhelmed. Pick off one thing at a time. Enjoy your bars & shakes, they are a useful tool that you enjoy and keep you from having to make an extra 2 or 3 food decisions. Right now it's more important to figure out what you can eat and enjoy long term for breakfast, lunch & dinner. If your snacks and one of those meals come from bars & shakes and it leaves you time to really focus on making the other two meals something you savor and feel comfortable with eating on a regular basis. Then you can start phasing out your shakes/ bars and replacing them with more whole foods if you wish.
Maile- your new spring wardrobe does indeed seem to be catching people's attention with the confidence & slim silhouette that you are exuding in them it is such a reminder to others that they are not where you are. And of course they wonder 'where are you exactly?'- this is the 'Are you DONE yet?' (how much worse are you going to make me feel? When are you going to stop making me feel this way?'). Unfortunately, these are questions that would be better posed to themselves BUT may as well attack you rather than themselves you're a way easier target. The change in dynamics of relationships is definitely one of the most difficult parts of maintenance as people need time to adjust to the 'new' you. And the more jealousy involved the longer that adjustment period seems to be...

The cauliflower bread sticks sound awesome. I'm going to try making the cauliflower pizza tonight (finally!)
SaraBean- Congrats on maintenance (and your first glass of wine in forever!). There's lots of experimenting in maintenance but embrace it with the same fortitude you did to lose the weight and it will stay off! Please, please post any recipes you come up with (Maile & Sewmam I love you guys for this- it's so much easier when recipes are shared!)...
I had a recipe from my eat clean stripped this morning for breakfast... There's more to the recipe (flaxseed, protein powder, almond milk that I opted not to put in) "Tropical Oatmeal"... 1/4 C Rolled Oats...1/4 C Oat Bran... 2 oz cut mango...2 crushed cashews... 1 tsp coconut. Cook the oats & oat bran in a generous 1 cup of water. Add the rest after it's done cooking. Yum!
SewMam- I have to agree with Lee. It's not about the serving size for me as much as the components and how they fit into my day.
I had a great time in BC. The weather & scenery were beautiful, my children were remarkably well behaved for being cooped up in a vehicle as long as they were and it was great to have a change of pace for a few days. I did come down with a horrendous chest cold on the day of our drive home that put me out of commission yesterday as well but I'm feeling better today (yay!).
Have to vent a bit about DH. We went out for supper one night to a diner and the special was 8 oz prime rib with mashed potatoes & yorkshire pudding. I love all of the above but haven't had any in a long time. I mentioned that it sounded good to DH (but I had no intention of ordering this- yikes- carbs, carbs & fat, fat, massive serving of fatty protein). DH said he was going to order it and I better order something that wasn't a salad (which only made me want to order a salad even more just to be difficult ). So he got the special and I got a spinach salad and he tripped out. Got mad at me for not eating. Said I play head games with myself. And that I should just eat what I want because I need to eat gosh darn it all. I explained that I'd had a veggie sandwich for lunch, oatmeal with fruit & cottage cheese at breakfast, snacked on nuts & fruit- not exactly starving to death here you know? Well none of this is 'real' food in his books so he readily discounted it.
Then our meals came. Never in my life was I so glad that I ordered a salad. There had to be at least two cups of gravy on top a yorkie that was almost twice the size of my fist at least two cups of mashed potatoes and a huge chunk of meat. I ate my salad and loved it. Tasted great and I came out feeling good. I know I would've felt like garbage if I'd had that special. It's so habitual though when you see things you used to really like (a massive pie, or cake with lots of icing or the comfort foods mac & cheese, mashed potatoes etc) that for a moment you think Oh I want that. But then the reality of it is that it is going to make me feel awful. Mentally & physically. So no, I don't want it. It almost felt like I led DH on by mentioning the special and then not ordering it. Ahhh well. He got over it. And I know he's proud of me, just a little insecure and definitely wants his eating partner in crime back. Not going to happen. I'm waiting for him to discover that real food is the kind that's good for you. Probably going to be a long wait. But I've got time.

Cap, You've been gone for a few days...(or at least I've missed your posts).

Glad I could make you laugh... Thanks for the sound advice...Very cap like!

I will be posting a photo so that a face and "name" NewEnglander can go together. I just got my hair cut and colored and my hairdresser cut my bangs a tad bit short (fortunately I no longer have my old fat face so it's not as bad as it could be)...but I still want to wait a week or so until they grow out to post a photo...Not like it really matter. right?!?!

You'd think I had nothing to worry about in my life!!! LOL

Have a great day all!!!

I'm with you on that. But I'm also realizing we may be extreme examples in the carb sensitivity group. I had lost my first 40 pounds when I finally realized I could not tolerate wheat which is in more that 90% of prepared food. This was more than 5 years ago.

But I tried to get below that weight for years and then realized with IP all the "healthy" fruit I was eating before IP was turning to sugar.

But with that said, I think some people go to extremes with cutting back on everything. For example I learned with my first venture into phase 3, that no I still can't handle grains. That is how it is for me.

But if I was like most people and did fine on the P3 breakfasts I sure wouldn't be cutting out anything out that is in them.

Now I am slowly adding a bit of fruit back. My coach had mentioned on the very first day when talking about what I was eating before IP that even when I got to maintenance I should only have two pieces of fruit at the most and would have to watch carefully which ones reacted best for me.

So I think a big part of maintenance is learning how our particular bodies react to what we add back. I know from previous experience I don't gain from wine so I will add that back carefully.

This is a unique and interesting venture for all of us!

Pat

It is so sad that fruit has so much sugar. I used to eat fruit all the time and I really miss it! I have really been enjoying it with my morning breakfasts.

Seriously... Cauliflower Pizza Crust rocks my world!!! I will be incorporating that into my diet on a VERY regular basis... the recipe I followed...
2 cups riced cauliflower, cook in frying pan until translucent
1 Cup no fat cottage cheese
1 tsp oregano
2 tsp parsley
2 tsp Frank's Hot
1/4 C Egg Whites
Puree cheese, oregano, parsley, hot sauce & egg whites. Mix in translucent cauliflower shape into 'thin' crust on parchment or greased baking sheet cook for 25-35 min at 450.
I had spinach & mushrooms with marinara sauce on half the other half straight up. Soooo Good!!! Thanks SewMam for mentioning it!

In regards to the fruit... there are different kinds of sugar... refined sugar (sugar from sugar cane), corn syrup are 'bad' sugar. Because they are straight up glucose-fructose and immediately absorbed wreaking all kinds of havoc on our systems that have to try and process & evacuate it instantly.
Fruit, while it does have glucose-fructose in it, also has fiber vitamins & minerals that help to aid in it's digestion and can provide much needed energy (after a workout sugars can really help). The insulin spike after a workout can help build muscle and aid recovery. 2 fruits a day is pretty reasonable especially if taken in conjunction with energy expenditure.... not for all but it is definitely to be considered for some...

When I started Phase 4, I kept seeing 'serving' on the protocol, like 'have 1 serving of a complex carb,' so I asked my coach what that meant and she said whatever the package says, which I think is defined by the government standards. So, when I add a complex carb to dinner, I add that 'serving' size. Same with anything else. Yogurt, fruit, etc., all have serving sizes listed on charts. I have not been actually counting carbs except at breakfast, because I use the breakfasts I came up with for Phase 3.

Another question - I love popcorn and would like to have it as a snack now and then, but I don't see a way around the number of carbs it has. Even if I forgo the butter and just put salt on it, it has carbs. Do any of you have popcorn?

Isn't it amazing how good a crust can be with vegetables???? I used the fat-free mozza and have looked for fat-free cottage cheese but haven't found it yet.

I usually have berries with breakfast, or grapefruit, and berries for my dinner/dessert, sometimes a banana. That's what it says on the Phase 4 sheet, so I thought it was 'okay?' I'd love to have it all day long, but it looks like they limit it to morning and night. Having real fruit again was one of the joys of phasing out...