Hi all: the three-day weekend sure was nice - wish they were all that long. Work is going to be busy the next two weeks and then I move. Eeeeks!

I'm having some TOM struggles - the gain plus hungries. Hoping that goes away soon. Up a few on the scale. Will definitely need a P1 day or two this week to calm things down.

For those who use My Fitness Pal... What do you set fat/carbs/protein to as a percent in maintenance? For the pie chart? I feel like I saw it somewhere but can't seem to re-find.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

vachinyc - good to see you! I couldn't get exactly the right ratio I wanted on MFP so I used 35% protein; 35% carbs & 30% fat and then pretty much ignore what it says since I know what I am supposed to have (approximately, I go over on protein all the time and under on carbs). I know I'm trying to do a max of 125 net carbs (I try to do closer to 100); at least 70 gr of protein and around 50-60 gr of fat.

I hit the mindless hungries today - super annoying. Wanted to eat everything in sight. Don't know where they came from but argh!

Have fun with your move - always stressful, but always exciting.

No idea...have never seen a place to adjust fat/carb/protein as a percent... I just leave it at what it tells me are maintenance levels for me and then don't bother worrying about fat or protein as I'm always over these, just watching carbs minus fiber (trying to hit my fiber goals and keeping my carbs 100-150 max) and trying to only get 1/2 as much sugar grams as 'goal'.

Liana

Did a Google search and apparently the pie chart is only on your phone app. Not on the website. FWIW

Checked again with a search and you can get there by going My Home, Goals, (green button) Change Goals, Custom and voila you are in!

Okay, I need a quick answer if anyone happens to be on here . . .

Had a splurge meal/night Saturday night. I was up 4 yesterday. Had a P1 day. This morning, I'm still up 4, haven't lost anything. Do I do another P1 day? Or do I go back to maintenance eating today regardless? Thanks.

I've had that happen and I just went back to maintenance and really pushed the water - takes a day or two for the water weight to go back down sometimes. Just make sure you're staying under your maintenance carbs. At least it worked for me, other long time maintainers may have better advice.

SylviesGirl: I have done both ways. Sometimes I have done P1 for a few days until the pounds are down. Other times I have just eaten normal maintenance and watched to see if the pounds went down. If they did not, then I move into P1 or very low carb.

Vachinyc: Good luck with that move! TOM struggles are no fun!! Hope you feel better. I wish we had 4 day work weeks also. I would love 3 day weekends. I don't have a fitbit.

Ruthann: Who knows where those mindless munchies come from, but they do surface!

Joysh: Thanks for the info on the fajitas. I eat onions now also!

64pepper and Amber: welcome. It sounds like you both doing well and on your way to maintenance. People can be very negative about maintenance. People at my job had commented to me, " You know you always gain the weight back."
Fortunately I have proved them wrong this time. You might read, Refuse to Regain. It is a great book.

Canadinjeh: Good luck on your new shifts this week.

Does anyone have any favorite vegetable ideas? I am looking for new ways to cook vegetables as I am tired of my old ones.

2 years..9 months..I am doing this.

I lurk here though I'm still in P1.....thanks for all the inspiring work you all have done! Way to go each one of you!!!!! I am learning so much from everyone on this thread. I went to a Mexican restaurant yesterday and ordered a P1 friendly meal (chicken/veggie skewers served over fresh salad). Unfortunately, they put some melted cheese on it - so I had to scrape a lot of it off. However, I told my hubby that this was going to be the PERFECT "low-carb, higher fat" meal on P4 (maybe with the cheese and avocado?). I love thinking about my new normal!!!!! Thanks for the inspiration again!

Yes - perfect low carb higher fat meal - don't forget a dab of sour cream or even better full fat Greek yogourt and depending on where you are, sprinkle with toasted or raw pepitas (pumpkin seeds). A favorite of my DH's - we ate this all the time before IP but I had too many tortilla chips with it. Now I use a slightly higher fat meat like beef tips or even make little meatballs around a skewer (middle eastern style kofta but with Mexican spices) that way you can make sure that you get enough fat in there to have a good ratio to the carbs from the veggie choices/salsas. For your upcoming maintenance meals, of course...

Liana

ps... sounds funny to say that you need to make sure you get enough fat in there for a proper ratio (compared to most diets) lol.

Mindless munchies... hate those. Sometimes it's good to be too busy

Thanks all for the MFP info.

Hi all,

Thought it might be time to join this thread, since I have been maintaining for a month now. I have appreciated all of the information on this Maintainers thread and the archived Maintainers threads,

Maile, you are a wonderful example of how maintenance can work. I am going to look for the Refuse to Regain book.

Sylvie, when I got back from vacation, I did 3 days of Phase 1 and got back to my goal weight. I have found that after a free meal or wine, my body retains a few pounds of water. In fact, today is a phase 1 day for me. I have had to work at not panicking, and instead just revert back to the protocol.

Hi Maintainers!
Just wanted to check in and report some great news. I had my 6 month blood work done and ALL my numbers are in the normal range. My BMI, BP, cholesterol (LDL & HDL) and glucose are all NORMAL! I'm still taking some meds but doc said we would discuss decreasing them next time. He's becoming a believer that I can be a maintainer.
Thanks to all of you for your wonderful support.

Love the new pic canadjineh!

My problem with the settings on MFP is you can only change the percentages by 5% and you can't customize the grams to what I want. I think I saw a script someone had written posted that allows you to do it but haven't investigated that yet.

I suppose it doesn't really matter since I know what they are supposed to be, but it irritates me just because that's how I am!

Okay, thanks everybody. I had to make a decision this morning, so I decided to go back to maintenance, but make it a bit lighter and lower carb. I will see how the scale looks tomorrow. It has gotten really hot here, so water retention is most certainly playing a large part. I can tell by my feet (only slight, but I can see it).

Thanks again.

Yummy, isn't your son is a chef? I would have loved to have been in that test kitchen! We have Indian on Wed night here (not a chef)....

Thanks for the suggested percentages - I changed mine to those numbers versus the standard numbers. I was pretty much ignoring those standard carb/fat/protein settings!

I do some veggie salad mixes now that I am out of P1/P2 - diced jicama & cucumber with stevia + lime juice. (a LOT of) diced celery, a few quartered grapes, diced green apple + lemon juice & plain yogurt w/stevia (waldorfy type salad). I do a lot of hiding of veggies - mashed or rice cauliflower, cooking kale into my chili and Indian sauces, etc.