Welcome back RuthAnn! Wishing you a speedy recovery!

eandc2006....You're bungalow sounds adorable!

Good to know that the separation is working well for you so far! I'm a BRAND new maintainer, and just trying to get my wings-a-flapping. I have stayed in a 2 lb range since starting P4 (even with a fun day) but am still being quite conservative with my caloric intake.

I think next week I need to get a little braver and see how my body reacts to increased caloric range. If the weight goes up and stays up, I know I need to go back down. I like the idea of slowly increasing my caloric intake so I can get a good idea of what my 'sweet spot' is going to be!

Thank you everyone for all the good wishes - made me smile!

Lisa - yeah, you warned me but I still wasn't prepared. Been mostly sleeping in my chair although dh set me up pretty good in the bedroom - good thing we have a king sized bed since he built me a little nest in there.

Saw the doctor today and I'm impressed with how small the scars are going to be - very fine lines (they look pretty angry right now but will fade). She did a really nice job.

Ruth Ann - so glad thar it went well and most importantly you sound pleased with the results. Take care and I hope the pain gets better soon.

Chip - love that you are thinking about your P3 breakfast already. Those are fun. I never really enjoyed oatmeal before but I like it now. Where abouts do you live? I'm in Burlington, about 45 west of Toronto

Eandc2006- good luck on your job interviews Monday.

Eve- yikes I can't believe the dentist cut your lip. I hate going to the dentist. Like you my mouth was too small, had 11 teeth taken out when I was younger. I like reading how your are slowly experimenting with adding food and seeing how your body does.

Had my first P3 wi and down 2lbs. I'm going to stay pretty much P3 but add in some different snacks like almonds and use some of the P4 options but not have carbs with dinner and see how that goes. I will plan my fun meal and then P1 the next day. It feels hood to have the plan and the tools.

Enjoy the weekend

Hi everyone,

So glad to that Ruth Ann is back! Sorry that you are in pain I agree with the ladies, stay ahead of the pain with your meds. Glad that you had a positive check up with your doctor.

Hawaii, I was hoping that I would not be as cold on phase 4, no such luck. I ordered the electric blanket last night. It is only in the 40s tonight and I am in uggs, jeans and a sweater.

Eve, your toe story is cautionary. The things we do to save money! Sorry about the dentist pain and headache. We have something else in common, small mouth and a bad childhood dentist!

EandC, I hope that you have fantastic interviews Monday and that you're in a less stress job situation soon.

Jenny, great weigh in! It is good to feel secure in your choices and comfortable with the plan.

Went to happy hour, had ice tea and watched everyone eat apps and drink. Did not even feel tempted. Wanted to save my free meal for something good, not just average. Had fun anyway

Hi Everyone, I have been too busy and working late. I also missed exercise for two days. My plan is to cook ahead this weekend, and get lots of exercise in. I have got to figure out a way to get exercise in, even if I work late. I did do walk off the pounds routines after dinner.

RuthAnn: Take care of yourself. I am glad the scars are tiny. It sounds like things went well.

Slipfree.7th graders are a handful. My 5th graders are often my most challenging class!

Eandc: I hope your interviews go well. I know you are not happy at your current job. I did have a good birthday. Your house sounds amazing.

Jenny: nice weigh in on P3. It really does feel good to have tools for maintenance, something most programs do not offer.

Eve: I do not like dentists either. I am sorry about your pain!

Hawaii: I get cold also..and have already started layering up. I even get cold in Hawaii with the air conditioning!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Good Morning All!

Gorgeous morning here...will be a little warmer than it has been, but it's going back into the 70's for the next week again! What an amazing fall....cool nights and warm days. Yippee!

Maile....Sounds like you are not giving yourself credit for the "no exercise" days since you said you actually DID exercise, silly! Working and fitting everything in is SO tough! Exercise is my toughie also. I also plan to do some cooking this weekend and get as prepared as I can for our own crazy week again.

I am not sure how I am going to handle my Fun day this weekend. I may split is up into to two "fun dinners". But, does the science of IP stay the same if I only do a P1 day on Monday still? I am very happy that I don't have some enormous desire to go crazy. I like living with 'food peace'.

I need to work to try to make eating this way as convenient as possible so I am not tempted to go off-plan. Thus far, I feel like my months on P1 helped me tackle my emotional eating. But I believe my being overweight is/was a combination of two factors:

1) emotional eating
2) fitting my own eating in around everyone else's schedule: my family, my clients and going for "quick and easy" more often than not

I think long-term success is going to be not giving in to my "I'm too tired to cook/prepare" feelings. Like Maile, I need to prep veggies and cook for the week ahead. I wish I had a more naturally prepare-ed personality. I have more of a 'wing it' personality that I am ALWAYS fighting against!

Sorry I'm posting so much, posting here helps me stay on task. My fun success is that I got my first "Stitch Fix" yesterday! It's an online personal shopping service. They sent me skinny jeans...AND THEY FIT! What? A pear-shaped girl like me in skinny jeans????? And all the tops they sent me were size small. I am not sure if I will keep everything....I can't wait to order again. It forces me to indulge a little. I highly recommend! If anyone wants to do the service, message me as I can give you a discount code (in full disclosure, I get a discount too if you order).

Happy Saturday all!!!!

Good morning;

Its nice to read everyones posts and start the day thinking in postive terms as far as maintaining. You all help me in making good food choices.

Ruth Ann: Healing is the worst part of surgery but aren't you glad that its over and done with and will help with your back pain? I am happy for you!

Eve: Your posts always make me smile. I can relate to how you feel as far as trying to be prepared. Some weeks are better than others but it definately helps in maintaining. My fun days are usually a meal and a glass of wine and dessert. And depending on whats happening in my life, weekends or Fridays work for me because those are the days we seem to go out or are invited out. Trying on smaller clothes is one of the rewards for sure! So much more fun to shop.

Maile: I totally relate about trying to get exercise in. I didn't have a great couple of weeks due to being super busy and not feeling the greatest either. There are bugs going around right now. But, I am going to make sure I get a run in today and tomorrow and Monday I start zumba. I can't wait.

Slip: You are doing awesome and are a great maintainer. Sometimes in social situations its hard to not join in with everyone but like you said, why waste a fun day on something that isn't great. I love that attitude. And I'll be repeating that to myself.

Jenny: Congrads on still losing in P3! Isn't it wondeful to continue to lose on P2 and P3, I didn't expect to so it was bonus. I notice we are the same height and you are at the weight that I felt the best at. I am trying to get a few up lbs off and am determined to get there. There isn't a lot but I refuse to let them get away on me. November will be my one year anniversary of starting and I'm thrilled to be where I am today. I felt so miserable with my weight last year, not liking how I looked or felt. I'm glad my sister introduced this plan to me.

I hope all you maintainers have a great weekend. And as Eve said, I love the feeling of clean eating so thats what I plan to do!! And being in control. Its worth it.

Good morning everyone,

If I am so tired, WHY have I been up since 7:30??! Oh, the joys of growing older.

Hawaii, I am not always a great maintainer, I have had a couple run-ins with a bag of granola! Currently I am up 2 pounds, pretty sure it is water weight because my kankles are back. Full disclosure, if they had had pumpkin beer available I was going to have one. But fate intervened, no pumpkin beer. Progress not perfection.

Maile, I love 7th grade . This particular group of kids have had a bad behavior rep since kindergarten. I like them, but am really tired at the end of the day. My eyes need to be everywhere to extinguish behaviors before they happen. Oh, and I still have to help them learn social studies, lol. I hope that you cook some great food this weekend, that your time becomes more balanced and that you fit in your exercise. September is always hard, but it gets better.

Eve, you do not need to apologize for posting. Posting helps me stay on track too. Kind of feel like it is part of working the program. Reasons that I used food prior to IP: Now I realize that it was often a comfort when I was stressed or tired. I knew the stress/food connection but understanding the tired/ carb response is a new revelation to me.

Hawaii.....Almost year maintaining!!!!!!! What an amazing achievement! I have been doing some at-home Zumba (watching YouTube videos of classes). It's fun and exhausting!!!! I am having a hard time getting to my classes at my gym because they are mostly offered in the morning (when I am getting my kiddos off to school) and in the evening (when I work or have my kiddos in activities). I hope you love it!

Slipfree....Thanks for being so sweet at my posting-craziness....it IS part of my program for sure! Is there a "perfect" maintainer? I would say, living life in balance means indulging smartly, enjoying food and keeping things in check when the balance falls a little. You seem to be doing that amazingly!

I have to remind myself of where I was last year at this time: just using food to treat stress and shoving the fastest meals I could into my mouth before and after work. NO. THANK. YOU. Ever again!

Hi Everyone! I'm back from my amazing birthday week in Vegas and it's taken me almost a month to get back on track and start reading the 3fc posts again. I completely over-indulged in Vegas, but I came back and did one week of phase 1. Am now back into phase 4 and at my goal weight. Whew! The mental part of getting back into phase 1 was hard so I'm determined that when I go home to New Zealand for four weeks at Christmas that I really monitor what I'm eating and try hard to keep on track.

Evamomma - I'm so pleased to see you are now in phase 4. Super exciting!!

Ruthann - I send you lots of happy, get well vibes!

My resolution for the next week is to post at least once a day on here as it really keeps me more accountable and I notice that I actually spend more time planning my meals when I've posted. Strange!

All the best to all the wonderful maintainers out there. I wouldn't be where I am today without the fabulous support from this thread.

Yay! Rosie is back.

Hi All!

Just wanted to pop in and say hi. RuthAnn, congrats on getting it done. I wish you a speedy and easy recovery.

I'm *still* working on those last 5 pounds (it's only 4 now) from the summer. Sigh. It's really slow coming off, but I'm persistent. I will not allow the extra pounds to sit on me. Another came off this morning, so I'm a happier camper.

I'm still in a P1 mode, although I'm allowing a few P2 days in there. I'm very ready to go back to my P3/maintenance breakfasts, though. I just know it will be slower to get back to my goal if I do that prematurely. It's been 3 weeks now.

Last night I cooked, after a few days of being on the road or eating at friends' houses. It was so wonderful to have my roasted veggies and baked chicken breast. It tasted so good to me - like home. It only takes one "regular" meal like that to remind me how much I enjoy eating this way. I'm so glad IP gave me the opportunity to create that pattern.

Happy Saturday to everyone! The weather is getting very enjoyable here. Time for a walk!

Have a great day!

Slip free - we were up together this morning although DH kept me up since 4am with his snoring did you get a chance for a nap today?

Joysh- you will get those last few lbs off soon. Good for you for being so on top of it.

Rosie - it's great to read your post. As a new maintainer it's confidence building to see that of you use the tools you can be successful. Sounds like you had some fun trips. My mom is taking me to Vegas for a Lomb weekend at the end of Oct. she wants to see Shania Twain who is playing there.

Hawaii- it has been fun to loose phasing off. Did you maintain on P4? Or a mix if 3&4? I can feel your determination to get those couple lbs off. I'm guessing this is more or less the dance.

Eve- I love reading your posts don't slow down. I totally relate to emotional eating p, not making enough time to plan properly for me and like Slip, being tired and carb craving.

Have been biking all week to rest sore leg and now feeling hopeful about my 10k on Centre Island tomorrow. It's supposed to rain and chance if lightening so guessing they will delay till it's safe. It's a women's only run so should be fun.

Enjoy your Saturday night.

Slip free - we were up together this morning although DH kept me up since 4am with his snoring did you get a chance for a nap today?

Joysh- you will get those last few lbs off soon. Good for you for being so on top of it.

Rosie - it's great to read your post. As a new maintainer it's confidence building to see that of you use the tools you can be successful. Sounds like you had some fun trips. My mom is taking me to Vegas for a Lomb weekend at the end of Oct. she wants to see Shania Twain who is playing there.

Hawaii- it has been fun to loose phasing off. Did you maintain on P4? Or a mix if 3&4? I can feel your determination to get those couple lbs off. I'm guessing this is more or less the dance.

Eve- I love reading your posts don't slow down. I totally relate to emotional eating p, not making enough time to plan properly for me and like Slip, being tired and carb craving.

Have been biking all week to rest sore leg and now feeling hopeful about my 10k on Centre Island tomorrow. It's supposed to rain and chance if lightening so guessing they will delay till it's safe. It's a women's only run so should be fun.

Enjoy your Saturday night.