Thanks for all the responses. My coach said it is quite normal for women to hold water in the abdomen and also across the chest (I'm waiting for it to move up there ; ). My weight remarkably stayed exactly the same as last week, and bf% is up very slightly, 0.10%, so I'll just try to be a little less tense about the water shifting around.

Momto2cs: Your muscle mass being up should be a good thing unless there is something magic about your goal number. If fat mass was up with it, I'm sure that is quite frustrating.
You are so right in that maintenance is really a unending cycle of gains and losses, the smaller the fluctuations the better. It is such a balancing game, with so many variables.

The fat free yogurt is unflavored; it's the cheap Greek yogurt from Costco. It has either 8 or 9 carbs in a cup, similar to cottage cheese. I add the peanutbutter to include fat. I think the full fat yogurt could be a good choice, but at this point I'd miss the peanutbutter. I don't plan to use any other fat free product.

I had worked out many, many years ago but have forgotten most of what I learned. My daughter and I started working out together with a trainer the first week in June, about 3x per week with a trainer and 2x per week cardio on our own. This was our June and July conditioning phase, and we took a break in July and August for vacations. Now the trainer has me on the hypertrophy phase, 3 distinct muscle groups rotated thru days per week, which started on Monday.

I am not super carb sensitive but definitely sensitive or I wouldn't have needed IP. I keep with oatmeal in the morning with the occasional bread (maybe once per week) and rotate the dinner carb among rice, pasta, potato and corn. I've eaten Gardein, Morningstar and Quorn products throughout the IP journey and I know some products have wheat components. I plan to eventually try to incorporate more "whole proteins" but that will take a lot of research and experimenting so I am putting that off.

I am in the habit of watching the protein, and I am averaging about 100g a day. Your advise on the fat is right on target. I had run out of pecans for lunch and had been under the 10g target, making lunch unsatisfying. Added 1T of peanutbutter today which was just enough extra to make it much better. I also added and IP chocolate drink immediately after lifting today.

Maile: You're right, the working out and strength training will help. I don't think I have ever been this thin, where the water moving around looks like it is erasing months of work.

New Englander: My understanding is this:
Total Carbs minus Fiber Carbs = Net Carbs.
To stay on the safe side, don't subtract sugar alcohols

Really glad I have this board to tap into all this expertise.

The reality for me is sometimes the goal is a magic number! My body fat ws up a bit, to 18.5% from my one time low of 16...I think it is somewhat being underestimated...but it is low. I am definitely retaining lots of water. I will need a few weeks to really see the trend.

I hate even how a few pounds make a difference to how clothes fit!

I just finished day 3 of my reboot. I already look and feel better...21 days should be enough to get to a very comfortable range...

When I am done I am going to try reintroducing a few foods slowly. My long term plan will still be a low carb diet, but if I could have oatmeal a few mornings and not bloat I would be happy! I'm like pat...I almost alway just at phase 1 or 2.

I hope your pancreas gets reset so you can have some oatmeal. ; )
I have read (and should probably start practicing this), that you should rotate food thru a 3 day cycle (if you have oatmeal on Monday then don't have it again until Thursday at least). I think it was supposed to keep allergic reactions at bay or maybe that is how you test for them. I'll need to look it up again.

Glad your reboot is going well.

Thank you to everyone who is participating in the challenge! I'm excited for this one to begin! Anyone still wanting to join (whether you are Phase 3/4) please do so by Sunday night as the challenge will be closed after that point.
Thanks LizR for posting the link!
Well... I'm not back to exactly where I'd like to be but moving into Phase 3/4 style eating as I need the extra energy for exercise. And I NEED to exercise. I'm turning way too soft for my liking. Went back to the gym this morning expecting to take my strength class only to discover that the fall schedule has not yet commenced. This week they are offering a variety of 'paid' classes as drop ins so that one can test the waters and see if they're interested without fully committing. Much to my horror I ended up in a spin class. I'll try anything once but I really, truly never intended upon taking a spin class in this lifetime. Always disliked being on a bike. But my love of exercising as part of a group and the little voice in the back of my head reminding me that it's good for me to do things that 'scare' me landed me on the seat of a spin bike that I desperately wished to be anywhere else but on it. Stayed that way for for 54 minutes and in the 55th minute the class ended. And yet I left feeling like I had really accomplished something. One of life's greater jokes that the dirtier the job the better you feel upon completion. Now considering taking the abbreviated spin class (a half hour vs. the full hour I subjected myself to today). Sometimes exercise is a bit like vegetables as a kid. The first time you have it you hate it. The second time you have it you still hate it but it's slightly more tolerable until eventually your tastebuds adjust and you come to enjoy them. So I tell myself anyway...
Darbs- congrats on ketosis... should help ease the pain of Phase 1... I love peppers in all colours and ate at least two a day pretty much since I was in Phase 1 the first time round...
Mom2cs- hear you loud and clear on the carb bloat. Ate waaayyy off plan Saturday of Labor Day weekend and paid big time. The bloat is just starting to go down now. It is extremely frustrating that carbs have such an immediate & gnarly effect.
I've also read that the when you eat items that are high in fat AND carbs that your body will seek them out for the next three days. Perhaps plays into why there is the Phase 1 day after a day of indulgence... to help sever the cravings...?
LizR- glad to hear that the scale is moving in the right direction for you... love the term 'scale spoiled' ... stick with wine or vodka soda... their impact is pretty minimal. And if you keep the food on track the alcohol doesn't do near as much damage.
Maile- Do you eat fruit during the day other than breakfast? I know you try to keep the GI down as well as the carbs... but just curious... I always waffled on the fruit issue. I'd have it with breakfast and maybe one other piece during the day occasionally.
infoplease- I had almost the exact same thing. My upper ribs/ clavicle clearly visible and yet a pooch. After six months and a whole lot of exercise it was pretty much gone. I've read that intense aerobic exercise for a period of at least 45 minutes is one of the best ways to attack belly flab. Muscle gives tone & definition but cardio is what slicks off the fat. Is my understanding anyway...

Cap: Good for you trying a spin class. I was always leery of trying that one at my gym. My gym totally moved all of the equipment around and I don't like the changes..Oh well. No, I don't usually eat fruit the rest of the day...only in the morning.

My son made zucchini lasagna last night. It was quite good and I did not miss the pasta!
Infoplease..that is interesting about the 3 day rotation of food and allergies. I like oatmeal and yogurt also.
Momto2cs I am glad your reboot is going well and hope you do get to eat oatmeal!!

Dabrbs: That is hard teaching with no AC!!!!

This blog on maintenance I thought had a very positive attitude about all of our efforts on maintenance. At first I thought it was negative with the word failure, but then as I read it, it makes sense..productive failure..determination to learn from the past.
Although..not sure about the school aspect..these kids need to develop confidence!

This is the time of year when there are lots of "back to school" articles aimed at parents who want to motivate their children to be successful. Intelligence isn't the most important factor in academic success.

Margaret Wente at the Toronto Globe and Mail has written a terrific article interviewing writer Paul Tough (good name!) and summarizing the recent research on "productive failure". Heaping "self esteem" on kids doesn't work very well in motivating them to succeed. Character, Tough says (and Wente agrees), is actually built through failure. That's how we learn persistence, curiosity, optimism and grit. We have to let our kids fail. Because that's how they build character. Especially grit.

But: it's not just kids who need to learn. All of us are learning and relearning all the time, our whole lives long. And particularly in the weight loss context, we know that motivation is key. To learn to sustain the motivation essential to maintenance, we have to let ourselves fail too. Maintenance, I'm thinking, is another process of productive failure.

We lose all the weight. Then we learn how to maintain the weight loss.

And we learn, inevitably, by failing: by putting some weight back on.

And then taking it off again. Immediately. This time, not giving up. This time, keeping the fluctuation within a range.

We learn to be persistent: we keep on tracking.

We learn to be curious: we explore what works.

We learn to be optimistic that this time we will succeed. This time, we will not give up. Ever.

And that requires above all, that we learn grit. Grit in the weight maintenance context means:

willingness to tolerate some hunger;

willingness to tolerate some social inconvenience (when everyone else is eating and we can't); and

willingness to tolerate the day-in, day-out every-dayness of exercise and calorie control necessary for life-long weight loss maintenance.

The initial weight loss process was somewhat glamorous. People noticed. People offered congratulations. There was lots of praise, and the ol' self-esteem rose pretty rapidly. But self-esteem isn't a solid foundation to maintain weight loss. We need something more. Grit.

Grit, for me, means accepting the unpleasant reality of weight loss maintenance. Learning to accept the discipline that it takes. Maybe even, eventually and at least some days, to like it. But to stick with the program even on those days when we don't much like it. To say "oh well". And stop eating. And start moving.

It's those failures we've had in the past -- the yo yo losses and regains --- which eventually produce this change in attitude. That build character in us, just as productive failure builds character in our kids.

We make our failures productive failures when we don't give up! When we learn, instead, the persistence, curiosity, optimism: and above all, the grit which are necessary to sustained success.

Try the grit test!! Pretty interesting!

(I did and . . . was pleasantly surprised by the result).


www.theglobeandmail.com/
life/parenting/back-to-sch
ool/grit-test-do-you-have-
what-it-takes-complete-the
-test-to-find-out/article4512454/

Thank you....I needed this, this morning.....realized I am up more than I thought...up over 20 pounds....bummer....now it is time to learn. Day 5 here we go

The wisdom of the Maintainers has no bounds! One day of P1 and i was back at 138 this morning. I am planning on sticking to P3-ish this weekend with the folks, along with some wine-down time with my dad. Hopefully will be able to squeeze in some runnin, a cool front is coming to TX and it might dip all the way down to the 90s!

We had zucchini lasagna the other night and loved it. I also recommend the cauliflower pizza, i grated the cauliflower and nuked it for 10 minutes, added a cup of veggie cheese shreds, italian spices, and 4 oz egg whites, it formed 2 large pizza crusts which i baked at 400 for 15 minutes, then added sauce & toppings and baked another 10 minutes. Hubby said it was his favorite veggie dish yet.

Maile....I have a poster in my classroom that says...

"Failure is a chance to try harder"

Over the 15 years in the classroom and having a 23 year old daughter I have learned that I have succeeded from my failures and without them I wouldn't have pushed harder. My daughter was shielded from failure her whole life....we raised her self-esteem constantly and spinkled "pixie-dust" on her over and over again.

Result...a 23 year old that is lost...doesn't know how to cope, that has made one costly mistake after another.

But at 23....after 3 failed semesters at college (with student loans), dropping out of a 16000 dollar culinary school (again student loans), eloping with a boy she barely knew, maxing out credit cards.....she has decided that she want to be a teacher (what I told her to do all along).

BTW...almost three years later and still married...maybe it will all work out in the end.

I teach my students that a single failure does not mean you fail in life...it is just a lesson on "what not to do". Take it, learn from it, and move on....

so my major backslide (21 pounds) at 16 months in maintenance are my lesson....DO NOT DO THIS AGAIN. Now...Tammy (my name)...stop whining about the gain....and get it off!

Joined the challenge! Great job putting it together! TY!

cap: good to know this body look is not my personal punishment. Now the competitive streak in me will try to make it better in less than six months. But at least I have a target: six months for the water/muscle thing (if I put in the work) and 2 years for the loose skin (when I maintain). My body fat is at 21%, but I just don't really know what normal looks like, for me or anyone else. I people watch at the gym just to see the vast variety of body types; I try not to stare.

maile: loved the post on grit. Lots of personal applications. I'll see what I find on the 3 day rotation. It makes sense in weight loss as when people stall we say to "mix it up". It makes sense in exercise as your body adjusts if you do exactly the same thing each day/session. Part of maintenance as written is to "mix it up" by including the free day followed by the phase 1/low carb day. Part of each day as written is to unmix it up by keeping to a mixed food meal, a fat/no carb meal and a carb/no fat meal.

darbs7: maybe there was something in the air that impacted those 23 year olds. Stepdaughters, now 25 and 29, both seemed to veer off onto bumpy roads at 23, which look a bit smoother for oldest now and still with some bumps for youngest. Maybe the culture took a bad turn and they are collateral damage.

It's nice to be able to work thru the mental piece of maintenance while doing it. I'm not sure any of it would really sink in if too much time was spent on it during Phase 1. (But I did look at Phase 4 info before starting IP because I wanted to pick a diet that had a maintenance plan and that the plan be one that I thought I would do.)

Does anyone here still get the coaching videos? Are there any that are especially geared toward maintenance?

Hey all.

I was here Feb thru May when I lost my weight on IP and hit my goal and it's been a struggle since then. I hit my goal of 120 and then went on vacation and it went up to 125. Went on another mini vacation and went up to high of 130ish. I've been sitting at 128 for a while now but I can tell I accumulated a lot of fat. It's no fun. I tried calorie counting along with exercise and it worked but my cravings were hard to control. Last week I did a full week reboot using alternatives and lost over 4 lbs. I felt amazing. Smaller all over and completely refreshed. IP really does work. Then I fell off the wagon halfway into week 2. Now that summer is over I want to commit to a 100% OP reboot!

I know this site helped me tremendously last time and I hope you'll accept me again to join you all. Maintenance is really hard and I'm committed to reach goal again and do it right this time.

sure hope you having a grand ole time in scotland!!
thank you from the bottom of my heart for the postcard!!!
such a wonderful surprise in the mail!!!!!
thank you thank you!!

Hello maintainers, I was wondering about joining your challenge. I am currently in Phase 2, and I'm supposed to start Phase 3 in one week. I am actually kind of dragging my heels on Phase 2 and I've had some Phase 1 days (with extra packet on workout days), but now I am on a long weekend vacation (south of Dallas, hi LizRR) with my mother, and Phase 2 seems pretty convenient when dining out with others. But I am going to have wine tonight and tomorrow, and then Phase 1 again at the beginning of next week. So I am kind of feeling like already I am starting that maintenance balance. I am looking forward to having some cereal and fruit on Phase 3. And to learning the rules for Phase 4 even if I end up following a hybrid program.

Anyway, I ramble. Is it too early for me to start the challenge?

I'm in another challenge with a friend of 100 days of clean eating (9/4-12/12) with 17 cheats, which for me means alcohol. That sounded like a lot until I counted up my four vacations and one week of family visiting, and that equals 28 days. And that doesn't even include my days where I come home from work and "need" a drink.

I hope it's okay, because I am exactly where you are (P2) and I joined