First of all, thank you everyone for your positive words about my difficult carb situation on my vacation (carbs, carbs are EVERYWHERE in a teeny tiny beach condo).

Secondly, I am doing my first phase 3 breakfast tomorrow morning. Since I did this last time, the sheet has changed. The sheet now says:
1 carbohydrate
1 protein
1 fat

It seems like last time I had a slice of whole grain bread, a small bit of butter, a greek yogurt and fruit. Was this too much?

Another meal was 2 eggs, toast, butter, fruit.

What do you all eat for breakfast? Or ate on your first week of phase 3?

I posted more in the daily chat, but just my two cents - why bother with butter? It's such a waste of fat, try avocado or nut butters or cheese. They have more interesting flavours and many more possibilities for different breakfasts. A favorite of mine is to put a big tablespoon of Patak's Hot Lime Pickle (it's an Indian pickle made from preserved lime chunks in spices and oil) into a can of tuna and pile it on your (dry) toast. Then have fruit for the end of your breakfast. Awesome!! Or you could buy 11% Olympic Krema plain yogourt and combine your fat & dairy protein in one go - with berries it tastes like cheesecake. A couple of us in maintenance use the 11% yogourt sometimes, and at other times the 0 or 2% if it's for a lower fat meal.

You are right about the butter. There are better alternatives that I need to try.

I went to the Phase 4 workshop and it has changed. She said the breakfasts used to be huge and now they have pared it down to the fat, protein and carb but in smaller servings.

I can pull out the sheet if it helps - I don't have it handy at the moment.

Hey Hey Everyone,

I actually don't mind the butter and have it as a choice. It tastes good...ha! I use all oils including coconut but I don't mind using butter.

I'm sitting here eating my first Phase 3 breakfast in my pre-preggo pants and I have to say 'life is good right now'. It's not my normal breakfast (before bebe) but it's a version that hits all the requirements and it's SO good (it's a breakfast pudding/parfait that I can make up the night before and eat at my desk - no more eating toast at the table for this mama no time for that!)

Hope everyone has a great day!

I stick with several different P3 breakfasts every work day.

Breakfast sandwich: WW English muffin, 1 egg cooked in 1/4 tsp. butter, 2 slices Canadian Bacon, 1/2 to 1oz cheddar cheese, 1/c berries or 1/2 banana or orange or apple

2 Kashi waffles, 2 Jimmy Dean Ready to eat Breakfast sausage patties, 1/2 c. Fage yogourt(0% fat) 1/2 c. berries

2 eggs cooked in 1/4 tsp butter, 1/2 c. berries, 1/2 c. Fage (either 2% or full fat) piece of toast w/nut butter or smashed avocado (if the fat % of the yogurt is 0)

1/2 c Fage, 1/4 c. Bare Naked granola(low sugar) berries

On the weekends I usually do a veggie/cheese omelet w/ some sort of fruit and a slice of Dave's Killer bread.

Hahaha, as you can tell, I am NOT a butter lover - except for garlic butter prawns (and I think that's mainly because of the garlic). I never use it otherwise and have always loved the crispiness of dry toast and hate soggy butter soaked anything. I don't even like it on popcorn - I never get 'butter' on my theatre popcorn either - it ruins the taste of the corn and again 'soggies' it. It's the same reason I never use mayonnaise on my toast or in my tuna, just YUK! DH, though, must have mayo & mustard on all sandwiches. And he even puts butter on toast before putting almond butter on it?! I'm not against butter because it's dairy or saturated or any other reason except I find the taste 'meh'.

Liana

Bootros -- P3 is such a fun time to experiment with different combos! Yet, I tended to stick with the same basic breakfast every day. I was actually on a beach vacation at the time (just this past March), and this was simple and very filling and hit all the macros I was told to hit at the time. And I continued to lose a little in P2/P3. Here's a cut-and-paste from my MFP record:

Coffee - Brewed from grounds, 3 cup (8 fl oz) 7 1 0 0 0 14
Creamy Peanut Butter - Jif, 1 Tbsp 95 4 4 1 8 68
Alpen Muesli - All Natural Muesli Cereal No Sugar Added, 0.3335 cup (55g, 2 oz) 105 4 20 3 2 8
Fage - Fage Total 2% Greek Yogurt, 4 oz. (200g) 86 11 5 0 2 37
Oscar Meyer - Precooked Bacon, 2.01 slices 54 5 0 0 4 188
Strawberries - Raw, 1 cup, halves 49 1 12 3 0 2
Drinks - Almond Milk (Vanilla), 3 oz 11 0 4 0 1 60
Add Food Quick Tools 407 26 45 7 17 377
Calories Protein Carbs Fiber Fat Sodium

In fact, this is still my go-to breakfast (minus the bacon).

Curious to hear what you ended up doing today! Also, a little tip with all the sugary and fatty goodies that grandmothers seem to love having around for the little ones . . . . Did your coach ever show you what 5 pounds of fat looks like? Mine had a gel-plastic model of a lump of fat in her office. Well, that grossed me out so much when I saw it that every time I felt tempted by something sugary or greasy or carby or just very not-OP, I pictured that lump in my head. If you don't know what I'm talking about, just google it, and imagine it to be the size and weight of a large bag of sugar or flour. The fact that IP allowed me to lose 6 of those 5-pound lumps of fat in such a short period of time still amazes me, and I never want to see them 'round these parts again!

Jenny -- sounds like a fun-filled weekend with your kids! And yea for you for getting all the exercising in on top of that. We are happy school is out for summer. Those high school finals can get intense.

Liana -- hope you got to enjoy some chill time after such a busy week.

Amber -- hope your doctor/coach visit went well today. Any new info learned?

catlady -- I used to have a fitbit (and want to get a new one), but I don't think I EVER hit 13,000 steps in a day -- that's terrific! How far is that?! Is your knee good with all that?

All OK here. Mostly totally clean eating this weekend. Went out for sushi for the first time in a while and was worried about the white rice, but I guess there wasn't really much fat-carb combining (well, except the one piece of shrimp tempura roll that I had). Stuck mainly to sashimi otherwise. And on another note, I think my hair is finally not falling out as much anymore. Tons of new little hairs growing in, but still feeling like I need to pump things up with lots of volumizing mousse and gel.

Hello to other maintainers, DD, Shasta, Ishbel, andreabmva, CO_6! Hope everyone's well.

When I was on P3 was still the “old way” - not what you write above. Here were my 3 breakfasts, I still eat some version of the first two almost every day:

Breakfast 1 Carb Protein Calories Fat
Berries 1 c. or 1 med. Fruit 17 5 50 0
Yogurt - 8 oz lowfat 15 11 140 4
1 TB Almond Butter 3 3.4 102 9
2 egg whites 1.5 9 45 0
Quinoa/Oat Hot Cereal - 1 oz pre cooked 19 4 100 1.5
1 tsp Coconut oil 0 0 40 4.5
TOTAL 55.5 32.4 477 19

Breakfast 2
Berries 1 c. or 1 med. Fruit 17 5 50 0
Cottage Cheese - 4oz 4% 5 14 110 5
1 TB Almond Butter 3 3.4 102 9
2 egg whites 1.5 9 45 0
Quinoa/Oat Hot Cereal - 1 oz pre cooked 19 4 100 1.5
1 tsp Coconut oil 0 0 40 4.5
TOTAL 45.5 35.4 447 20

Breakfast 3
Berries 1 c. or 1 med. Fruit 17 5 50 0
Quinoa/Rice Hot Cereal - 1/4 c cooked 31 4 150 1.5
4 oz Milk 1% 6 4 50 1.25
1/2 oz cheese 0 3.5 55 4.5
1 egg 6 4 70 4
2 egg whites 1.5 9 45 0
1 tsp butter 0 0 33 3.7
TOTAL 61.5 29.5 453 14.95

Went the doctor day, good visit, will write more tomorrow…

I like a tsp of butter here and there btw since we’re weighing in on butter But when I eat it I like the really high quality tasty stuff, and I like it when I actually can taste it, not just in the background, then I agree it’s kind of pointless. I eat it more for the taste. If I want something for actual cooking (which is rare for me, I usually kind of steam in water, because I like my fats where I can taste them, like avocado, nuts, dairy, a little coconut oil in my coffee), then I use olive oil usually.

I went to the beach today with a friend -- Ohhh so awesome. Sat in the shade under a tree, went swimming, long walk along the sand, got a little sun on my tummy & legs, finished a good book, great chat with friend. So relaxing.

Liana

I don't usually use two different butters on my toast. If I put peanut butter on there's not a layer of butter. To note my one year old prefers (so far) coconut oil over butter on her muffins.

My breakfast is 1/2 cup of oatmeal, 1/2 cup of greek yogurt, 1/2 cup of berries, 1 tbsp of flax/chia/hemp hearts (I just have it all mixed together and plop it in) and a tbsp of a nutbutter today it's almond butter. I also have a cup of almond or cashew milk. I don't have all the breakdowns like everyone else but I know it fits (I entered it into my net diary and it worked). So I'll just make variations of that, using steel cut oats (would need to be cooked) or quinoa flakes (this one and oatmeal don't have to be cooked) and different berries/fruit and different butters. They can be made on Sunday for the whole week if required so it's easy to organize. I generally don't move from a breakfast as I don't like to think about it too much in the morning.

Hope everyone has a light day!

Mimi: 1 mile is about 2000 steps so I did about 6.5 miles that day. My knee is holding up well. Walking doesn't bother it but climbing and jumping would do me in. My stylist saw all kinds of new growth on my head the last time I went in for a cut and I haven't had quite so much loss in the shower. I'll probably not have the thick mane of my youth but I would settle for no pink spots of scalp showing through!

Amber: Glad to hear your doctor visit went well. Based on what you said about the coconut oil in the coffee I suspect you are a bulletproof coffee drinker. I did that for a while as well when I was doing paleo. I'm with you on the best butter, I only use Kerrygold.

Liana: Oh my a beach day. That sounds lovely. So glad you had a chance to relax and spend time with a good friend. And a good book!

Ishbel: My daughter taught me how to make no cook steel cut oats. I have them now and again for breakfast. I used to eat oatmeal every day for breakfast before I did IP. For some reason, now, I can't seem to tolerate it more than once a week. It does a number on my tummy.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day.

Liana lovely pictures - you and your DH look so great. Vibrant and healthy. Thank you so much for sharing them with us.

Andrea wow that's a lot of walking since you're just recovering - congrats on getting out and not having any problems with your knee during it. I don't do bulletproof coffee, but I like it when someone makes it for me My social circle is the kind of group that's always trying to improve health and trying out the latest things, so a few years ago when that coffee came "in vogue" it was all the rage here. I like the idea of it but not enough to waste a lot of my fat in the coffee because I don't mind it fairly black. I put a splash of milk, cinnamon and vanilla extract in and it's very tasty. If I can tell I need a little Oomph around time of the month or a lot of exercise I'll throw 1/2 tsp of coconut oil in there because that easily pushes me through an hour or two of blood sugar drop until time for a meal or a snack. And yes, Kerrygold, I love it!

For my cereals in the morning I don't do grains very well either, but if I alternate between Quinoa/Oat and Quinoa/Rice (Arrowhead Mills makes hot cereals that are fairly ready to go - I can just add water and eat) and I seem to do OK with that in the mornings.

Bootros hope you are really enjoying your trip, and that your breakfasts are going well. Like Ishbel I pretty much stick to the same stuff every morning, it works for me - just sometimes different fruits, and back and forth between yogurt and cottage cheese.

Mimi thanks for asking about the doctor I'll write a little about that later on another break.

Hello to DD and Shasta and Jenny and everyone...

OK. My doctor’s visit and also my coach there- was Very good. I’m going to write up a few points in case any of it is helpful to anyone else here - don’t worry about wading through it unless you’re just interested in this kind of stuff

So overall:

1. Probably my progesterone is a little off - not quite enough. Not enough progesterone causes weight gain, bloating, fluid retention, excessive fatigue, sweet cravings, sleep problems, anxiety/depression, heavy periods.
So I have all of the above, was worse a year ago when I first started taking it, but now that my body has adjusted to the fat loss (and related estrogen burn off) and also I’m a year further into peri-men, we have to get the levels adjusted better. I’m on bioidentical hormones and those can change effect right away, and already in 24 hours I’m better.

2. Thyroid likely is a little off, waiting for blood tests to make sure.

3. My symptoms of muscle pain and inflammation, skin crawling, not relaxed etc. that get worse late afternoon/evening are likely because I’m only taking magnesium at night, and magnesium only stays in the system for 8 to 10 hours, so I need to take in the morning also.
I’m typically really low in magnesium and respond really well to it.
The magnesium citrate in liquid form is a little more absorbable, but a little more intense, so I’m going to take the liquid every 3 or 4 days. I used to do it only when I was really feeling bad and esp. constipated, but she said don’t wait that long.

4. My body should not be so overly sensitive to a small amount of sugar or sugar alcohol that I am swinging 7 lbs in 3 days. They said I should be able to have a “regular” lifestyle, meaning I can have wine every week or so etc., without my body having such a radical reaction. This made me feel like not such a freak. They said if we can get my hormones levelled out I should be able to have a treat like that every week without my body swinging so intensely…. that will be good when that happens. So far I’ve been too afraid of wine to even consider it - I know it’s not a great thing for my body, but I would like to have the option at special events without having an over the top problem for a week after.

5. Stress and cortisol is playing into all of this - “the body is a complex machine” - and they said whatever I can do to trust and relax will also help. They are also going to test Vit. D, B-12, iron just to make sure all is well in those areas.

7. Within this year my body should be more adjusted to the radical change that has happened this past year and stabilize - not so many up and down lbs.

8. It’s fine to do P1/ or P2 even alt to reduce water retention after a higher calorie day or two - but try to keep the calories a little closer to 1200 to 1400 rather than VCAL like 1000. It will help my body stabilize.

9. Overall their main goal for me is that I learn to trust myself with food - to get away from whatever old mental patterning I have that I can’t be trusted with food - and learn what my body really needs. Over time I may not need to track everything and that might help me stay more in touch with what my body actually wants and needs, but for now it’s fine to track if that helps me feel safer. As long as I am sticking to lower glycemic guidelines I should be fine - they are not so concerned about me doing macros at any given time of day as long as the overall carbs and sugars are lower. And also to learn how to cut back for a few days without having a radical “I need to starve now” type of reaction and think I need to lose up lbs overnight- maybe just cut a snack for three days and see how that goes.

10. For me while I learn what my body needs I might want to experiment with eating “mini meals” - smaller portions, just so see what my body actually wants. One of the typical things that happens after larger weight losses is people mistake that “normal” eating is what the larger body needed, and they have to retrain themselves for what they are actually hungry for now that they are walking around in a smaller body. The portions needed to fuel that smaller body will be smaller of course.
I have noticed that I think when I eat yogurt for example, that I need to eat a cup of it to consider it a meal, it doesn’t occur to me that I might not be hungry for all of it, and then also I get in fear that I’m not going to eat again for 5 hours. Or if I’m going to eat a protein bar, I think I need to eat the whole thing. It’s like I’ve trained my body to only eat what I tell it to, like an extreme discipline, but I’ve stopped actually listening for signals because I haven’t trusted myself for so long. So it’s been interesting the last two days to start to let myself be hungry for a few hours - to eat less, but know when I get hungry, even if it’s an hour later, then I’ll eat some grapes or nuts or something. I’m a little surprised how little I actually need to keep my blood sugar stable for a few hours, as long as I am grazing when I need to.
This all is somehow pretty scary for me, but I’m up for it and think it will yield good results.

It’s all in alignment with the book I’ve been reading that several people here have recommended - “Refuse to Regain”.

11. A reminder that exercise is about feeling better but has little effect on weight. Might cause some water retention here and there but will even itself out - nothing really to worry about unless over 5 lbs, which is the general rule of thumb overall - if measurements are about the same and weight is within 5 lbs of goal, over or under, things are good.

12. They also kind of smiled at me and were overall just really positive because by the time I saw them 7 of the water retention pounds were back down, so on their scale I was .2 lbs more than a month ago, and the same measurements (1 inch more on my tummy which I knew because of bloating). So they just keep reminding me that all my upset of the ups and down days really is not that big of a deal as I have been within 5 lbs of goal for 6 months now which is a HUGE win.
And, the progesterone will help the swings, and thyroid & magnesium adjustments will help also.

OK that’s it for now… I’ll let you know if I discover other things or they give more info.
A nice balance overall of “yes, you shouldn’t feel like that, let’s figure out how to fix it” mixed with “and, you’re doing great, and these overall are minor things”.
The thing that struck me the most was a reminder and positive reinfordement from the doc that genetically nearly everyone in my family has some form of diabetes, and once that happens, it’s very hard to reverse, and taking insulin and constantly testing blood sugar is much, much harder than what I am doing now: my daily “how to do I do this” and focus on food will even out after a year or two of maintenance, but the whole diabetes and insulin thing would be much, much harder. So pick my poison, right?