I too recommend staying on phase 1 as long as possible! Truly, after you phase off, the really hard part begins. I do not want to sound as if your accomplishment of weight loss isn't awesome! It really is and it takes commitment and will power but once you phase off, for whatever reason, it is really hard to ever do pure phase 1 again ( not that it cannot be done, many have) my personal experience and as you can read here, the struggles of maintenance can be torture at times. Keep on trucking while you are in the groove and WAYTOGO!!!!

Pat, just wondering if you excersise? I have a heck of a time even getting a walk in 3-4 times a week. Maybe that is why I have such a difficult time with maintenance. I do not have a lot of options for classes, excersise buddies, etc.

Determined- it's great to read a post from you! I was wondering about you and how your phase 1 was going... When do you leave for your trip?

Hey all, hope everyone's weekend is going well.
Still on p1 and doing well. Few more pounds and I'll be good to phase out again.

I also suggest going past your goal in phase 1. You may gain a couple while phasing out and getting back to phase 1 is pretty difficult.. It's nice to have that cushion

How many here exercise frequently, maybe 3-4x weekly? I seen some say they walk often. Just curious what others are doing. I'm doing spin class 2x week (40 mins per class) and was running a couple times a week on top of that. Now that I'm back in p1, I'm only doing the spin classes.

Hanging in there- hard or next to impossible to do pure phase 1- I eat some nuts here-way too many ounces of meat, etc. Am feeling better but wish I could find the resolve that I had a year ago! We leave on the 19th for 10 days- will be fun but I really want to get these last 5-7 pounds off. Funny how much of a difference that much weight can make you feel. I admire how you are able to stay the course. Keep it going!

Cassi- when I'm not on Phase 1 (and when my legs are cooperating) I try to do cardio 3-4x week and strength 2x. I do aerobics or running for cardio and take a class for the strength training... But I have to admit classes are something I enjoy... They don't feel like a chore to me ( though sometimes I question how I'm going to make it through 45 more minutes when I'm only thru the first 15 min of step ). It was kind of a step by step process though. I didn't exercise at all on Phase 1- I find it too draining and it tends to stall my losses as well. So, when I hit Phase 3 and had more energy and wasn't trying to lose anymore I started aiming for 30 min 3x week. Did well with that then read that most successful maintainers average at least 250 minutes a week. It is supposed to give more of a cushion for indulgences and helps to increase the basic metabolic rate, which given I had lost using a low cal diet I figured would probably be pretty imperative for me.
Exercise is a bit if a double edged sword. Definitely helps with definition and muscle building and of course increases cardiovascular fitness which is all great... But boy oh boy does it ever make me hungry! I think because I exercise in the mornings I would be ravenous by mid afternoon. Which can be tough to deal with.
Determined- you can do it! Amazing how fast Phase 1 knocks off the pounds isn't it? I'm loving feeling good in my jeans again. Darn near cried this morning I was so happy when I put them on and they were fitting like they did a couple months ago. That we're here and fighting (I have to have extra protein sometimes too!) is all that matters. Sooo glad I didn't fully slip back into the abyss of mindless eating. But have to say I have a fair amount of trepidation about hitting Phase 3/4 again. I just have to accept low carb is the way for me and that's it. Cause I tried a bunch of different ways and just kept getting further and further off track... As bigpassport once said I don't need to reinvent the wheel...

Cap- I love the classes. I'm moving soon and hope to find some great classes at our new place. You're right- they fly by after the first 10-15 mins and are so much fun. I'd rather do these than work out on my own. I always just stuck with cardio and it got to be boring. Fast paced walking no longer gets my heart rate up as much as I'd like. I walk 6 blocks to work from the train everyday and back to go home and my body has gotten used to that.

Hopefully I can get into some sort of routine again after the move.

By the way, I made a ticker for my little re-boot. Hehe I love being held accountable and I miss changing that thing after weekly weigh-ins!

No, that is my biggest issue. My job is very inactive but also very time consuming. It is slowing down now so i will be able to start getting some walking in. Once school is over at the end of June I can get in some heavy duty walking. Actually if it ever stops raining I can start soon. On my way home from work I drive through a national park. It has a variety of walking/hiking trails which take from an hour to 5 hours. I will usually do the one hour ones in the summer. It is pretty incredible, with am amazing variety of animals.

Once I got a bonus run for my life when I mistakenly wandered off the marked trail and came face to face with a humongous bull bison. He figured it was better that I run than him in the heat and just pawed at the dust and made a great racket.

I commute over an hour each way to work and that really seemed to mean no extra timesince we moved here. Also for many months it is brutally cold here and I tend to lay low once it hits freezing.
So I am like you, I really need to find something I can do for most of the year but i will really focus on walking in the summer.
I think to maintain exercise really needs to come into it.

Pat

Thanks Pat


Thanks everyone. I think that's what I would like to do as well, I will discuss this with my coach on Tuesday. I will let you all know how I do, I really appreciate all the advice.

Patns- you're in Vermillion too? Exercise does seem to be an important aspect of maintenance... Walking is recommended because it doesn't increase appetite but still gets you moving... Have you considered a DVD? They have them for pretty much every type of exercise and it's something you can do at home during the winter... Trick seems to be finding something you enjoy... Rather than something you feel obliged to do..
that run in with the bull bison must've been terrifying! Those things are mean!
Ikp888- i hope your talk with your coach goes smoothly... Cause I definitely agree with your decision...
Maggie- I know that walking doesn't get the heart rate up but I do think it keeps the metabolism revved. I find the more of it I do the easier I maintain. I consider the classes to be more for 'shaping'... Where are you moving?

Yesterday I made a really yummy fried cauliflower rice recipe. I should preface this by saying I really like the mix of sweet & savory spices in Indian food. So I fried the rice in coconut oil and added cumin & mild curry- so tasty!!!
Never really tried to make low carb Indian because I thought that would be next to impossible. But after the rice I went hunting for recipes and found ones for low carb butter chicken and low carb naan bread... Will be trying these out in conjunction with the 'rice' for sure when I hit Phase 4 again...

Yum! That sounds so delicious. I wish I had 1/2 your motivation to put together such creative meals as you do. I do have a great Indian restaurant in town and one of these days will treat myself to a yummy veggie and rice meal...

I forgot to mention how wonderful you look. You literally look 10 years younger. WOW- keep forging ahead until you get where you want to be in phase 1!

Hi Cap, no I live west of Vegreville, still in the "V" section of the province. I work in Edmonton so you can see the time issue I have. I used to be able to do a lot of my work from home but our system changed this year. When I said "someone else from Vermilion" I meant someone else than ikp888 because I didn't recognize her picture.
That is a very good point about walking as good exercise that doesn't make you hungry. I hadn't thought of that. For years doctors have been telling me I need to do weight resistant exercise so I should really get into some DVDs with that.
I liked IP because I could justify not exercising. But that will have to change if I am going to successfully maintain.

I was in Nova Scotia this past week helping with my mom's move to assisted living. She is 88, she has been very involved in yoga since she was a young adult, even teaching it at one point.
At age 88 she is still very flexible, can get down on the floor and do her stretching exercises. She loves going to the exercise session every morning in her new place. most of the other residents have to do everything from their chairs, she can do the sequences standing up.
So exercise does help all your life.

I just wish it would stop raining!!

Pat

patns- have you thought about doing yoga as well then? You must be fairly familiar with it if your Mom really liked it??
It is amazing the benefits of simply stretching... and yoga is considered a form of strength training as well so maybe this would suit you?
I'm thinking that in my return to exercise (which will hopefully happen after I meet with the doc this week) I will incorporate more yoga as it is said to be good for mind and body. I just got very hooked on the endorphin boost of intense cardio but it seems the body is not as willing as the mind... so will have to try and find balance... hopefully yoga will be able to provide that...

NewEnglander- I do really enjoy cooking... especially when the results are good Never really did it before I had a family. Now it's one of my primary duties.. go figure... Indian is definitely pretty carb heavy between their use of beans, rice & naan. Super yummy but super carb loaded. Though I did find out in my search for recipes that they primarily use ground cashews as a thickener and never cornstarch. So, I'm thinking the sauces are pretty carb friendly it's the accompaniments that I have to tweak...

I was trying to make cauliflower rice and overpulsed so I had little couscous like bits. So, I thought go Moroccan. I tried a Moroccan spice I had on hand but something I mixed it with didn't work out. So, I dumped curry in it. Curry is my go to whenever something isn't right or needs strong flavor. I used to mix it into my IP chicken soup (sometimes with mashed cauliflower) based on a suggestion from a fellow IPer and loved it.
Anyway, I cannot remember the meat I had in the dish. Maybe ground beef. Maybe chicken. It took on the flavor of the curry and without having to add all those extras I had a delicious Indian dish (P1). To me there was no difference between it and Indian food. The cauliflower just became the rice/couscous like base. It was crazy hot. The endorphins or whatever kicked in. Felt great.

QiQong is is a type of exercise that is sorta similar (but not exactly) to yoga but might be less strenuous. You can do it sitting. It's movement

Nia a type of exercise that is also about movement but more dancelike. It's not aggressive dancing like zumba. Possibly a little more like movement and dancing if you were just doing it for fun. In fact I think that may be the idea behind it. I think to google it you have to put in Nia Technique.

Both are about movement.