It very well might not be but from what i read, dairy is considered in the "fats" so at that time i just kept it in the same category even if it was fat free cause my dh gets easily confused with phase 4, lol. But if it was a yogourt with fats and carbs then its not something he could have at all beside for breakfast.

Ok, i reread the phase IV and here's what it says for snacks.

Examples:
Piece of fresh fruit (no dried fruits..too much sugar), berries, 12 grapes, an apple, orange, or a 1/2 cup of cut up melon. Go easy on watermelon and pineapple.
1 oz. of "hard cheese" (no crackers or fruit with this!)
A cup and one-half of "Air-Popped" popcorn.....no butter!
Any Ideal Protein food (the White-Choco Cinnamon bar and coffee is awesome)
8 oz. of fat-free yogurt
6-8 oz. of low-fat cottage cheese

Hopefully by the time i get there, i'll be an old pro, lol.

BEFORE I FORGET. I learned the best tip EVER for berries. Make up a solution of 9 parts water, 1 part vinegar. You can use white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, whatever. Rinse your berries when you get them home form the store and then repackage them but line the container with paper towel. The vinegar kills any mold spores and they last SO much better. I've been buying BIG trays of raspberries, two pints of strawberries at a time. I eat berries every morning, so they don't last that long anyway, but they are SO much better when rinsed.

Glad you had a good break... and sorry about your work woes... My work is super busy now that I'm back from vacation. I guess it's good to be busy, right? Means I'm needed?

Good for you!!

All I have to do is thnk about how I'll feel if I eat crap... We went to a special lunch last week in Phoenix and I tried all the desserts. Not a single one was "worth it", so I simply put the fork down and decided that nothing was worth the calories. If I'm going to eat something, it had better be worth it!


Congrats on the beach cabin -- sounds like a great place. I'm in month 7 of maintenance now and I finally feel like I'm letting go of some of the mental guilt about food. It's still a journey, though... everyday. I hope you enjoy your new kitchen and that you find some cute clothes on your shopping trip.

Give yourself a challenge to eat well for two days. I find that if I don't control what I eat, what I eat starts to control me... You are not losing your willpower. It's simply that your body doesn't feel in control because of the sugar/carbs that you are eating. Take control back! You know what you need to do, just do it.

Yes, maintenance is work. Mentally, though, you start to figure out what works and what doesn't. Chalk this up to something that isn't working for you, and try something else... Just don't let the old you win.

I swear that I wrote what I wrote above BEFORE I read this post in detail... Really... but you hit the nail on the head. And I feel exactly the same way.

Yep, yep, yep... Have to figure out what works for you. Everyone is different. I found that I definitely have a weak spot for Mexican food! We were in AZ and the avocadoes were 3 for $1 and actually RIPE when you buy them. The only thing is... I'm still avoiding wheat, and corn chips are delicious! But, I was on vacation so I decided to live a little... Not a lot, but a little. I'm paying for it now, but it was SO worth it. I'm also very happy being back in my comfort zone (basically Phase 3), and I will reevaluate once I weigh myself tomorrow.

My DH can eat whatever he wants and not gain an ounce. He is off wheat completely now, though, because of his ADD... he's still got his medication (which he couldn't get for 6 months due to some weird drug shortage), but now he's realized that he doesn't get migraines when he's wheat free. Anyway, I digress.

I'm sorry DH is still projecting his food issues on you. I know that he is proud of you, but sounds like he is still living to eat (at least sometimes) and that he misses the companionship that you both used to have in this area. Seems like he is still getting used to your maintenance, just like you are. These things definitely take time, and food issues are seriously linked to our core personalities.

Yay. I have to try this.

More later, everyone. I will update you on my vacation and my food struggles while gone. Gotta do some work now.

I like bars and shakes as well, and my issue is they are filling where as 1 oz of cheese just makes me want to have more...


your oatmeal sounds wonderful, there is no doubt that this diet changes our thinking... it just doesn't change the thinking of people around us. I know I need to lose more, and people are still aren't you finished yet... it surprising when you try to eat healthier and have salads people don't think you are eating...

I love popcorn but I just can't get over how many carbs, I like Cap have gone to the chickpeas I love them roasted and now I am making my own hummus so I know what is in it.

Maile: great article that sums up life as an maintainer for sure.

our 2 days warm weather is over and now rain for the rest of the week... and looking at some snow on the weekend... yahoo more snow! just got my sandals dusted off to put back in the closet..
Have a great day, off to walk in the rain to my other office.

I am curious what people eat for lunch in ip phase 4?
Also, I was back looking at dr tines website and he recommends 2% cottage cheese. It has less carbs than fat free...

I have been considering what I might eat if I was to branch out into real food and accept I won't get to 140...although I have committed to 3 more weeks of phase 1 with dh starting Monday (for him, I still eat phase 1 most days).

I usually have a lunch very similar to phase2. A nice salad w/ tuna or hard boiled eggs. Some days I find it easy to eat one of the IP soups along with my salad. It is an easy way to get enough protein in at lunch for me.

I never made it down to my goal weight.... I am a few pounds shy, but I'm ok with it. I bet you will make it to 140 if you stick with phase1 with the hd for a few more weeks But if not hopefully you will accept your weight like I did and start enjoying some real food!

GOOD LUCK!

I like my soup too. I just can't imagine the effort of making 2 real meals for the day. Unless I tries chili, etc and made it in advance for the week...
Breakfast will become egg and cheese omlettes, maybe with vegetables.
I never ate much fruit, so I will just add more veggies to fill out these meals.

Sounds like you and I have very similar ideas of how to make this work for our lifestyles. It is really hard to make two full meals a day. and there is only so much tuna / eggs one can eat!

I maintained all last year on a low carb diet like this, but let too many free days pile up in December.
I sometimes feel sorry for myself when I watch others eat thinks that I don't think will ever be part of my diet again...although they are almost always bigger than me, so at least I have that...

Sigh. I see lots of chicken and asparagus in my future!

I really do what I did in Phase 2, but add a little 'real' salad dressing and/or cheese, since we can have fats with lunch. So, I have homemade vegee soup with some meat thrown in, and a nice big salad with more vegees like spinach, brocoslaw and maybe some real ranch dressing or grated parmesan thrown in. I'm a creature of habit and that got so quick and easy to make that I stuck with it. I did have the cauliflower pizza once, and every now and then, I'll just have an IP soup for the protein instead of meat.

Hi there, I'll tell you what I've been eating BUT I've yet to confirm it's on target since this is my first full week in P4.

I've had
* egg whites with cheddar cheese (missed the veggies).

*Salad with sliced turkey, 1/2 avocado, slice of cheese, and mixed veggies with a tbsp of homemade oil based dressing.

Turkey and cheese Rollups (again, no veggies).

I'm not a big eater (like sit down at one meal and eat, eat eat) but I love grazing...

Hmm. I have always had real salad dressing with my lunch salad! I can't stand how lettuce squeaks on my teeth otherwise.

Maybe I will focus on changing breakfast first and just leave lunch as is..

I've got a pretty good system to make lunch easy now. When I make soup for dinner (about once a week) I make a huge pot and put it in lunch size tupperware bowls in the freezer. Same with chili, or baked chicken with broccoli... whatever diet friendly item I'm fixing. Make a lot and put portions in the freezer for lunches. Then you just grab one and go. I often buy a pre-packaged vegetable tray once a week too and portion that up to go with lunch. I has to be easy or I will end up at the cafeteria!

My Palm Springs trip was awesome! Vacation with girlfriends is so relaxing. So diet friendly. They were all about broccoli slaw, greens and no carbs (except the wine of course).

Yep, I make pots of soup too and freeze them, same with the meat.

I got some dried chickpeas today - can't wait to try making 'cornnuts' out of them!

Confession...I spent a lot of time walking (at a good pace and incline) on my treadmill BECAUSE I slipped and had candy after my breakfast...I think the five miles burned a good amount of the calories from the candy...I swear I will remove all candy...soon, very soon!!!

I have 11 nieces and nephews and have been giving it out to them...I have been giving them their favs...I just haven't seen them all to give it all out... My DH did put my favs in his safe...

Honestly though if working out in excess helps with my slips I'll do it...weigh in tomorrow.

Wish me luck!

My personal experience is that exercising excessively does not make up for anything except minor slips! I am known to go 2 or 3 hours and could lose any weight until I found ip!