LoriKay - sorry that you're not feeling well.

I really think it's all about calorie balancing and making good food choices. I am basically trying the same approach. If I have a cheat, then I am just trying to make sure I balance that out with a lower calorie day or days over the course of a week. Sometimes that includes skipping a carb at dinner or other items I might normally have.

Honestly, I can't bear the thought of giving up my big breakfast!

I guess we'll see how it goes. Still in my 3 pound range, and not even at the high end, so OK so far.

I'd love to hear how it goes for you over time.

Mooselover and Holly: Sugar makes me crazy also. You are both wise to work on those up pounds. Mooselover that is so exciting to have surgery! Getting down 10 pounds is a good idea before surgery is a good idea.
Ishbel: Your grandma comment was too funny..You have got to love family members..My grandfather used to walk around and tell us to suck in our stomachs and stand up straight. I am sorry your bursitis is still painful. I had bursitis in my shoulder and had a cortisone shot years ago. It was not painful. I do not know about the getting one in the hip. Good luck.

Lizr: Thanks for that recipe. I am going to try it. I hope you win a prize on the miracle noodle site. I love the way you are experimenting with gourmet low carb cooking. Adding Kale is so healthy. I got a package of roasted Kale to try as my home roasted Kale has not worked. My mom is not changing her eating but at least seems to accept mine despite a few comments! How fun to go to the Cotton Bowl. I love to watch fb. Tx did well.

Irish: You are right about being accountable. In my past I would stop weighing and stop posting when I gained weight..That led to stopping exercising and spiraling out of control. I hope your up pounds are disappearing on P1. I love your comment on all you can do is maintain and continue your lifestyle. Someone once commented that in maintenance you are destined to keep losing the same 5 pounds over and over again. That is OK! How did your silken tofu experiment turn out? I have used it in puddings and quiches.

Darbs: 20 months of staying in maintenance is impressive! Rebooting is part of maintenance..great job of getting back to your goal weight!

LoriKay: I hope your P1 is going well.

Momto2cs: Your curried shrimp with cauliflower rice sounds delicious. Indian food keeps me from feelng deprived also.

Patns: Are you enjoying your elliptical? I find that I work out harder on my ellipticial than on the treadmill. I loved brown sugar in foods also.

Loriwilli: Welcome to maintenance; It is great that you did well after a vacation.

Chloe: It is good to hear from you. Keep posting..transitioning to maintenance is part of maintenance!!

Evepet: Good luck on making a new goal weight where you are comfortable. I lowered mine also and am happy with the new range.

LoriKay: My opinion is that you do not need to do a Phase 1 if you have not gone up in weight from a fun day. Others may have other opinions.

Lizzy63: Good job of staying in the 3 pound range. You have figured out your path to success. I love those breakfasts on P3 also!!!

I am back from Hawaii and very happy to be at my goal weight. I start back to school tomorrow so it will be a rough week. I suspect my posts will be shorter..LOL.

My current motto is chose your crazy. It is very ironic that now when I am eating healthy and maintaining a weight loss, that people tell me I am on a crazy diet..or at work think I am always on a diet.
I have been on a crazy destructive diet for years involving binging and unhealthy eating. That was crazy.
So if I am labeled as being on a crazy diet because I do not eat what everyone else does..that is Ok. Chose your crazy.

Hi Mooselover,
Great to see you back! I'm back also. I looked good at 142, my lowest last year, but let myself go and am at 155 now. At 5'5", feeling chunky, so I decided to lower my weight also to 135 and am at Day 12, Phase 1.

Let us know how the tummy tuck goes.

Chloe

Maile, thank you for all your words of wisdom and encouragement. I have been lurking on here as I am on phase 2 and ready to go to phase 3. I am going to need this thread to figure it all out. I'm afraid but looking forward to it.

And thanks to everyone else for posting on here. We need the maintainers!

How true. 'Choose Your Crazy'. I love it.

I didn't realise how much I missed everyone until I decided to lurk a few days ago. I went on Vacation in November and have been so busy ever since. I spent a lot of good quality time with my family and friends over the last 2 months and stayed away from my computer for the most part. Now that the craziness is over I have more time. I am having my surgery in Las Vegas Feb. 13th. I will be recovering at my parents house there for 2 weeks before I fly back home to Alaska. Kind of scary and exciting at the same time.

I have to second this. Maile, you are wonderful and appreciate all of your words of wisdom. Thank you. Beck81, You are going to do so well in maintenance!

Maile,
I like your phrase, "choose your crazy". There was a quote I picked up from here last year, quite possibly from one of you. It was something like "Being fat is hard, dieting is hard, maintaining is hard. Pick your hard." That also resonates with me. Thanks for welcoming me, I'm not really a maintainer yet.

Wishing all a great day,
Chloe

Thanks, it's nice to hear about someone else thinking the same way I am. I LOVE breakfast and would rather do 2 days of phase 3 than 1 day of phase 1! I guess at this point we can do whatever works for us right?

Maile - I love your choice of crazy!!

Mooselover - I've been wanting to do something surgically but haven't yet. We just changed insurance so I don't know how that would go either. Earlier I had it approved but then didn't go through with it.

I ate at Pizza Ranch again today, it's getting to be a Sunday after church routine. My son's friends eat there and so that's were we all usually end up too! It's good but SO unhealthy! I know that I could/should skip the pizza and just eat chicken but I haven't done that since hitting p4! I'll have to be careful for the rest of today and keep an eye on that scale!

Has anyone tried these yet?
1. Dreamfields Pasta • Only 5 grams of digestible carbs per serving
• 65% lower glycemic index than regular pasta
• Twice the fiber of regular pasta with authentic pasta taste
• Naturally cholesterol free and 0 grams of trans fat


They have over 700 very positive reviews. Also learned about carb blockers on the www.netrition website,here's one such product:


2. Natrol Carb Intercept with Phase 2 • Supports a Low-Carb Lifestyle by Neutralizing Carbs
• With Foodbound™ Chromium to Help Metabolize Fat
• Supports Weight Loss
Want to lose weight, but can’t give up that morning bagel? You can still enjoy the foods you love! As the building block of life, carbohydrates are a necessary part of the diet, and the body’s primary fuel source. Carbs are converted to energy as needed, but stored as fat when there is an oversupply. So what can you do? Try Carb Intercept® from Natrol.
Carb Intercept features Phase 2 Starch Neutralizer®, a clinically tested ingredient that inhibits the enzyme responsible for digesting starch found in many foods such as breads, cereals, rice, pasta and other starch-containing foods. Carb Intercept® is simple to use: Just take with a glass of water before a starch-containing meal.


I'm researching in advance of getting to maintenance by the end of winter.


Thanks,
Chloe

LoriKay I'm sorry you're feeling un-well, maintenance is what you make it so if you want the fruit go for the fruit. I agree with Lizzy, it's all about balance now. For me, it's all about the scale, as a quote from Maile said "the scale tells you what to do not how to feel" - although I just jumbled the quote because that's not the exact quote but that's what I remember Hope you feel better!

lizzy are you not doing any Phase 1 days and approaching maintenance like Maile?

mooselover Welcome back!

Loriawilli Hey lurker!

Liz I'm ready to make mac and cheese for lunch this week, might do it tonight. Have to get rid of some ricotta cheese that I bought for someone's pumpkin pie recipe! Thanks for all that you do and share girl!

Chloe222 interesting on the pasta, someone let us know if they try it??? (I didn't know IP had a pasta until Liz posted it, not sure if it's available in Canada - anyone know?) Reference the bursitis, mine is all in my hip, I don't notice it in my back. But maybe cause it's all in my hip it's masking the back pain, who knows. All I know is that I sit and watch people play hockey in the park across the street via the picture window from my couch (sigh) - perfect spot to sit and watch tv while others are active outside. I WANT TO SKI! lol (and run).

maile Love the quote... We'll all be crazy with you! lol

Momto2cs Welcome back, let us know how the precision nutrition lean eating program works for you if you decide to do it!

darbs7 Welcome back Darbs! 20 months in maintenance WOOHOO!

So, found this quote myself the other day. "Do you don't have a soul, you are the soul, you have a body" - which is a compliment to my favorite quote "if you don't look after your body where will you live".

Later Skaters!

Ishbel - no phase 1 days so far. After 1 month, I am within 0.25 pounds of where I started maintenance. If I can keep this up, I won't do any phase 1 days. Of course, keeping it up consistently is the hard part!

Lizzy63 - I am so proud of and very happy for you that you've found your groove in maintenance! WTG

Maile - haven't gotten around to experimenting with the tofu yet...lost our power again over the weekend for a while, then wasn't in the mood when it came back on. Thank you for sharing how you've used it. Will let you all know how it goes when I do get to it. Choose your crazy! LOL - Love it!

LoriKay - Pizza Ranch on a weekly basis for me would be a disaster waiting to happen! Good luck!

Hi Mooselover! Missed you too - I always looked for your posts when I first started last summer. Glad you've done so well in maintenance, and I wish you the best with your surgery next month.

Hgamroth, Chloe, & Beck - You're all getting so close to your goals!

For those of you in menopause...has IP effected your symptoms? My hot flashes/night sweats were almost gone when I began the program, then they came back like crazy. Last night I woke up 3 times drenched in sweat, then after a few minutes got really chilled. During the day I have anywhere from 3 to 10 hot flashes. I was on hormone replacement for about 12 yrs, and the doc finally said I had to give them up Was getting better before IP, but ........... ugh......hate this part! Hoping for a better night's sleep tonight...

I am still taking the compounded hormones. Guess I have 6 or 7 years to go : (

Phase 1 made everything odd so I cut back on them after I lost about 20% of my weight, which made mood swings worse (the symptom I want to control the most). Put them back up to where they were when I started and that is where there are now, but...definitely get sweats and occasionally chills (I used to get "cold flashes".) Too much sugar on a fun day will guarantee that I will get these really warm sweats, like my body desperately trying to process the sugar by producing as much heat as possible. Have you tried using any of the drops they sell at the herbal stores? Our local store has a blend that I used for a while, as did a friend of mine (the hormones were more effective, of course).

So when you go off of them, symptoms return with a vengeance? Not looking forward to that! (nor is my DH)

Will melatonin help with the sleep or do the hot sweats override it?