thanks everyone! I think I have to find my happy medium and stick with it.

I do feel great and my body fat % is where I want it so that's great! Thanks for the insight!

This is good to know. Now, that maintenance is around the corner and I feel a bit heavier on P3 I was growing a little concerned.
Your pancreas is still resting on P2, right? Maybe napping.
I had to phase down now because of a vacation. It did not make sense to do the vacation phase down and come back to do a month on P1 and the full phase down. That was adding 2 months just for a few extra pounds. (extra cost)

But, I kinda feel like going back on P1 with DH after the break just to see if I can do 5 more pounds and have a better cushion. I don't know if that will work. I don't know if we can just do P1 for 2 or 3 weeks. Would we then need to do the full 4 week phase off?

See, I got into a size 4 right before P3. I know. I know. I was good where I was at but I bought 3 of the same pants in that size and well...
My other thinking was that this diet works top down when you first go into P1. And my bottom is good now. No complaints. But, I kinda wanted the diet to stop pulling from my bottom so I won't forever have to sit on cushioned chairs. So I sorta convinced my self (yes, my funny logic perhaps) that if I return to P1 after the break, it will take that little bit off my top area to make me a bit more comfortable and I can wear the new pants I got. It's not crucial. The diet just took more from my bottom than my top and I feel uneven, for me. This is not my original shape so I want to even out. Sorry about my funny logic. It is because of this I decided to end when I did because you can go on and on and on with this sometimes. It's not so much about a size or a weight. It's more about balancing my shape if that makes sense. Once it took the fat off my torso the girls now take up a lot of space on the new landscape.

Jenny... Nice to see you are still around... Sorry work has been so crazy, but at least you havent completely blown it!!

Hey Purple - there was a Dr. Oz show where he talked about ways to loose fat in specific areas of the body for specific body types. I can't find where I wrote the stuff down, but it might be worth searching his website.

Other than that, all I can think of is doing specific exercises like crunches for your belly fat. I'm in the same boat.

Good luck!

Dr oz says one thing one day and completely the opposite the next!

He mainly recommended green coffee extract and gla.

Thanks for the recipe. We are just starting to get rhubarb here..and my one effort to make it failed. I will try it!

Dr. Oz also said that each time you drink 16 oz of water, your metabolism will boost up within 10 minutes.. So keep drinking water! He does keep giving new advice everyday..not cohesive.

The Bd night out was Ok..no Phase 1 today.

These sound so good! Thanks for this

Thanx, I will check out the Oz stuff and other exercise ideas.

Purple Sky: I have jumped back to Phase 1 and then back to Phase 3 or 4. You do not always need to do the Phase Off..but follow what your coach says. I started losing on my arms at the very end of reaching my goal. Hopefully if you begin working out, you can hit problem areas!

Hey Everyone,

Good morning and long time no "see" I disappeared there for a while and have been pretty off balance healthwise.I seem to be having many of the symptoms of adrenal burnout and will be seeing a new MD, who is also very holistic and will be checking me out soup to nuts this morning. I'll chime in on that when I get some results. I've been craving pasta and rice, I guess for more energy with all this fatigue I've been experiencing and managed to avoid most of it until about 2 weeks ago...you know the rest!
But I'm back on modified ph. 2 and I always feel better after 2-3 days of cleaner, healthier eating. Its kind of miraculous how quickly that works!
I've also been weaning myself way down on all the artificial sweeteners and ingredients I have become so attached to from the program. Cut down on the bars, shakes and have added thyroid and adrenal support vitamins and herbs to my regimen, which have taken the edge off of my symptoms, but I'll let my Dr. take it from here.
As far as program goes... I think my next phase of maintenance will be switching over to almost all natural/organic food, starting to find alternatives to the program type shakes and using nature instead. Just another chapter which is frightening at first, because it's just so much easier to watch the carbs with the artificial stuff. I'm very clear though...for me it's time to make the switch. I'll keep you all posted, and if any of you have already started making your own natural shakes, please let me know what your using. That would be awesome!
Have a great day everyone and welcome to everyone who has joined the maintenance tribe!

Morning sunny
I hope the naturopath can help. I have found whey protein sweetened with stevia, which most naturopaths approve of. I have also used the protein powder ******** sells. I think the quality is good, tast, not so much!
I often think the best final diet would be low carb p, whole foods, but you are so right that it is easier to use shakes and bars.
Keep us up to date with what you find. It will probably help the rest of us too!

I am off work today -I work 3 days a week, so I have a busy day at the gym, at my dd class and getting rid of my grey roots! I need to start planning a rest day in my workout schedule...

Have a great Thursday!

Good morning all, I think phase 2 will be my normal as I really don't eat off of phase 2 much... though I have been experimenting with Quinia, and like their macaroni, have flakes for breakfast but haven't tried them yet. Going to try to experiment with my flatbread recipe and try a savoury and a sweet. Have a 2 day dog trial this weekend so would be nice to have a little bit of snack food, so the chips and bars aren't so tempting.

Thank you Maile. That really helps. I feel like I may want to do a little P1 after I return especially since DH will be back on P1, but do not want to commit to a month of P1 followed by another month of phasing down.

Based on what I have read from you guys, maintenance is all about experimenting, figuring out what works for you and going back and forth until you tweak it. This phase 3 deal feels pretty good to me now but it is a bit much for breakfast and I find myself wanting to eat some yogurt or fruits outside of breakfast. Over time it will be nice to spread the breakfast luv throughout the day.

Hello sunny, I make smoothies/shakes with either the soy protein isolate powder or whey protein isolate powders. The soy has no carbs, the whey has a little, but both have tons of protein, which I like. I've been adding it to soups, spinach smoothies, making flatbreads out of them. I use stevia to sweeten too.

I agree that ultimately, all the supplements and additives have to go...I want to do this life with plain food. Speaking of which, what supplements do you take for thyroid and adrenal support? I just got some lab results on my thyroid and some of them are low-normal, one a little bit below normal. I want to avoid taking a prescription if I can, but would also like to find answers to my extreme fatigue.