Today is WI after one week on P2. I will talk to my coach today and may move to P3 as I am finding I am hungrier in the morning ( ready to try some of the great P3 breakfasts I see posted).

Don't think I lost any weight on P2 week, but it am pretty sure I didn't gain anything either, i will see at weigh in.

AllMe, I was really hungry all throughout P2 as well, even with all of that protein. My coach also gave my friend the option of doing it for one or two weeks...so maybe two weeks is optional? Not sure.

One week until P4 starts! Doing my happy dance. Stepped on the scale this morning and it said 159.6! I couldn't believe it so I stepped on it again and it was back up to 162.6. Wacky scale. Doesn't really matter I am just so happy I've been maintaining through P3, but man I was shocked to see the 150s, I audibly gasped haha.

Hi maintainers! It has been a long time since I last posted. I wanted to drop in and say hello and offer some encouragement. I have been maintaining since the first part of October 2013. I am so happy to celebrate a year at a lower healthier weight! I find that I can stick to a P2 type of diet all week and then indulge on the weekends if I want to, or have occasional treats during the week. On vacations or weekends, if I have lots of treats I will do a little reboot when I get home. I just don't feel good when I eat garbage (refined junk) so I tend to not really crave it like I used to.

In maintenance I now apply what I learned during P1. I am creative with my cooking, avoid processed foods, limit refined carbs and continue to make my own mayo and seasonings, and cook meals that include protein and veggies. If I am hungry I have protein. I have never been a huge fan of a big breakfast, so P3 was challenging for me. I wish I could eat the healthy P3 breakfast every day in maintenance, but I just can't seem to have an appetite for it. So, I have a shake for breakfast, or protein pancakes (which I am now an expert at making, lol. ) or I have protein cereal with some almond milk. It is completely doable, but is a life change.

It is not possible to return to my "old" way of eating; fast food, processed, prepackaged, etc...We now just keep food in the house that is healthier and my spice cabinet is enormous! DH loves the food I make. As an example, I made fish tacos with cauliflower tortillas the other night for dinner. I make a tangy coleslaw that goes on them, yum! I had a few tortillas left over so we had hamburgers on cauli tortillas with lettuce, tomato and pickles along with rutabaga fries and homemade spicy ranch dip the next night. We are eating so well now and the food is delicious.

I guess I wanted to say that this is something anyone can do and you just need to be creative and don't beat yourself up if you have some indulgences. What works for me is to stay in a weight range that I determine is good for me, and jump right back on P1 if I get to the top of that range. That way it doesn't get out of control.

Good luck and good job to everyone who has successfully reached maintenance!

L

dak1lls.....thanks so much for your inspiring words of wisdom! You are doing amazing, and you seem to thoroughly enjoy your new lifestyle! It definitely IS a lifestyle change for sure....I also enjoy food prep in a way that I never did before. I wish I could get the rest of my family as excited though....baby steps I guess!

AllMe.....Welcome to the Maintenance Thread! Those P3 breakfasts will be filling you up before you know it. Congrats on no weight gain so far with phasing off.

PishPosh....I wouldn't be surprised if you don't drop again once you get in P4. It is quite crazy to think of ADDING food and then LOSING weight, but our bodies are quite happy to get more food again!

Vachinyc......The turkey tenderloin is Jenni-O Sriracha marinated (comes ready to plunk in the oven). SUPER easy! I had it today heated up on wilted spinach, red peppers, cukes, melted cheese and pecans....no need for salad dressing as it's tasty as is. Mmmmmmmm! It is a little high in sodium, so that's the downfall of the packaged marinated ones.

Just a quick check in since I have to get ready to go back to work again. Happy to report that my scale showed a 2lb drop this morning, so I know that retaining water is a culprit. I am still in GO mode getting ready for my trip.

Trying to figure out how I can use up the veggies in my fridge and not get any new before my trip. Looks like I have a lot of peppers and spinach in my future as that's what I have the most of! May have to get some mushrooms and cukes to get me through....Blessings!!!!!

Eve momma: thanks for the welcome. I am excited to be here. I agree I have enjoyed cooking all my meals (not eating out), but like you wish the rest of my family would jump on board. My 16 year old is slowly coming on board, my 14 year old not so much and DH, well....let's just say he is stuck in his ways!

WI was ok. I lost .5 of a pound, but I have been exercising more so with the Scan my body fat % was down and lean mass was up slightly, and I was still down inches. All in all it is good. I have to learn it is not only the number on the scale that is important.

I did discuss with my coach moving to P3, but because my tummy is still getting used to the lunches, it is better to stick to 2 full weeks on this phase. I don't want to sabotage all my hard work I found the diet easy but know maintenance is for a lifetime and will be the hard part.
Dak1lls: thanks for the encouraging words. I hope to be in your shoes saying the same thing one year from now.

Thank you so much for stopping in with an update - it's so inspiring to hear! I just started maintenance and I'm still feeling my way through, so it's good to know that it does become a new healthy habit (which turns into a lifestyle). I agree - I can't go back to my old way of eating, either - not just for health reasons but for allergy reasons as well. I've even converted my husband over to some much healthier alternatives, which is a small miracle.

I've made those cauli tortillas and they are fabulous! So versatile, too - I love your ideas on meals with them. I think I've got to whip up another batch soon! I smiled at your spice cabinet remark - mine has gotten gigantic as well! I think that cabinet will need an organizational intervention soon...

Thank you again for sharing - and congratulations on one year of healthy maintenance!

I have the flu....will taking Thera-flu throw me out of ketosis?...I missed my third packet last night and slep through breakfast.....I made some chicken soup with IP noodles and veg for lunch today.thought some of you "maintainers" might know the answer to this question or give me an alternative

Thanks

Hello lovelies,

Liana, you look stunning and I'm in awe of your sewing talents. Your husband and you look great together. The wedding sounded like lots of fun. The bridal party looked great and I live the boots.

Chip- I agree with Ruth Ann, I think an an odd to low or to high day shouldn't make a difference. Buffets are my the worst for me to. Thankfully not a common occurrence. Hope things settle down again soon.

Iteach- hope you are feeling better soon. Your soup sounds like a good choice, I would stick to eating that if it sits well with your stomach. I think to you have to ultimately eat what you can handle and stay as close to plan as you can.

Darthkitten- welcome to maintenance. That's what is great about the maintainers thread is that there are experienced people letting us newbies know that it can be done and that it is a permanent lifestyle change.

Dak1lls - congratulations on your first year in maintenance! So good to hear that you are doing well athough I'm not surprised.

Allme- welcome to maintenance and to p3 breakfasts. Congrats on all your success.

Eve- you have tons of energy, I love reading your updates, you are always on the go but seem to have everything under control. Your meals this week sound yum. Way to go on the 2lb drop. Nothing much happened for me on P1 day but sometimes I don't see it until a couple days after. If not another P1 day for me

Pishposh - sounds like your doing great working your way thru p3. Nice to see the 159, never double check after you get a low number! I would have checked to.

Vachinyc and not so fat any more - keep up the great work

Ruth Ann - hope you are doing well and having some quiet time

Hi to Slip

Hello to all!

Welcome to the new maintainers.

Nice to see you, Dak1lls. Great attitude and strategies.

Iteach, I was always told to use sugar free cold/flu Meds.

Hawaii, I have some weird TOM stuff going on too. Ugh!!!! I would like to dive into some chocolate tonight. Thankfully, I have none in the house.

Jenny, hi back. Busy week at school and have been reading my book club book for tomorrow.

Chip, sorry that you have been feeling off your feed. I agree with the ladies, I do not force myself to eat. I do try to stay hydrated though, hope you feel better soon.

Nice to 'see' you DAK. Glad maintenance is going so well. Great inspiration.

Totally hear ya on the chocolate Slipfree. Also glad I keep none of it in the house. Is your book club book any good? I love to read but always end up staying up too late and regretting it the next day.

Iteach: I used the pills for a bad cold rather than the liquids - felt like that didn't mess me up. Also drank a lot of hot herbal tea and heated up the chocolate drink as hot cocoa. (Just do it carefully if you haven't before)

Thanks Evemomma -sounds delish. Hope I can find it in my slightly weird nyc grocery stores.

My P1 stint still going well. I had almost forgotten how empowering it is to see those scale numbers drop. I remember at first in maintenance it was a little challenging to get used to same/slightly up/slightly down.

Happy Wednesday!

Hi everyone; Great to hear from you Daks! You were one of the ones that was really encouraging to me when I first started on this plan a year ago and I knew that you were going to be successful. It sounds like you and your hubby have definately figured out healthful eating. Good for you!

I'm having a pretty good week. I think my carbs are up though so need to work at getting them back down but am having a great exercise week so am glad about that! Have a great day everyone!

Good morning, everyone! Hope everyone is having a great week so far - it's Wednesday, so we're halfway there! Wanted to just pop in and mention that I finally got caught up on all the P4 videos on the My Ideal Protein site. Geez Louise, why didn't I do that sooner? I took notes on each one and for some reason a few things finally started clicking into place. For one, I don't think I'm as deathly afraid of carbs, ha! Also noticing that I bumped up a bit from the party this weekend, but I'm already back down to my maintenance weight - so that tip about tracking your trending weight in MFP really hit home. I'm also finding in maintenance I really don't want to eat any "bad" foods. I had cravings a bit in P1-3, but adding back in some fruit, nuts and a bit of cheese has squashed them. For now. I'm still totally eating a piece of apple pie on Thanksgiving.

Just wanted to share good news.

I am a coach and my clinic gave me woman who they wanted to drop because she was not doing the program and duh not having any success.

Well I am a retired teacher and I did my thing. I was tough, demanding, firm ,fair and kind. I had her come midweek instead of weekly.

She lost 5.2 pounds and I will she her on Saturday morning.:

I am so happy for the both of us.

Hi, all! I wanted to introduce myself since I'm on my second week of P2 and have my P3 sheet in my hot little hands. I'm really excited to start P3 (fruit! cheese! glorious bread!) but am a little nervous since I can't recall the last time I ate a healthy, filling, and satisfying breakfast. Hoping to glean lots of good knowledge from everyone! So, anyways...hi.

Hi takers! Welcome to P3 (closely followed by maintenance )!
Liana