Amen amen you guys were correct my weight is now 129.6 thank the lord.

i have been reading alot of old maintainers posts and the Taste of Freedom cookbook.

P4 is more work than any of the other phases and too many choices for me.

Whew the weight is ok so now I can work of what and when to eat.

I have been exercising 5 days a week the weekends are harder with DH.

Speaking of DH he is taking the two older grandsons to the Army/Navy game this weekend so I will be able to get to the Y and do some baking while he is away.

I am a much happier camper this WI

Murrcat...congrats on your weight loss! Our stats are pretty similar . If you're feeling great than you sound right where you should be. I lost while phasing off (as did some other maintainers on here). You can always change your weight goals once you've maintained for awhile. You don't need to be in P1 to lose weight. P1 just uses ketosis...but that is not a necessity.

Hi ladies,

Welcome to all the new maintainers!

Mags- way to stay strong! Sorry that you are hurting,

Not so fat anymore- glad that the scale is cooperating.

Ruth Ann- I wish that I could fit ice cream into my day, but it is my kryptonite! I can never just have a little. You are strong!

Murrcat- I lost pounds during phase off. My question is always-how do you feel? Are you going to chose a weight range for maintenance? Can you live with seeing the scale number at the high part of your range?

Eve, hope you will be able to emotionally refill soon.

Jenny- great job resisting the chocolate!

As for me, the scale has cooperated and I am back in the lower party my range. I am so happy that tomorrow is Friday! Looking forward to resting up this weekend. 7.5 school days until holiday break

Thank you to everyone for the welcomes and great advice. I have to say Catlady you have made phase 2 so much easier for me. You had mentioned in a thread that you were fixing an extra dinner to have for lunch the next day. I have done this and it makes my life much easier. I thought phase 2 would take a lot of meal prep but it really hasn't.

I am really looking forward to the phase 3 breakfasts. I am going to be doing some planning and prep this weekend.

Can those of you on phase 4 give me some ideas of what you eat for lunch. I know there is the what your eating threads, but I would just like some general ideas to get my planning for phase 4 started. I think I will keep with phase 3 breakfasts, would like to keep dinner similar to what I currently eat, maybe add in a few carbs.

When I first started this plan I was severely insulin resistant, that has calmed down, but I want to proceed with adding carbs with caution and close monitoring.

Thanks for all the great advice, tips, and inspiration I receive here.

Catlady, thank you for your perspective--it really is just a number...I've been focused on a specific one for a while, and ultimately, like you, Evemomma and Slipfree have said, it really depends on how I feel.

Also thank you for the reminder that it is not black and white, and that I may very like lose a bit more in other phases anyway.

This helps!!! Thank you everyone!

Happy Friday all,

Good morning! Where does the time go? I last posted just before Thanksgiving travel and here it is almost Mid-December. Ack!

Hope you're all well. Spontaneously woke up at 430 am so I'm catching up on some housework, emails, etc. I'll read through all the posts I've missed shortly.

Not up, but also not down for me with the scales. Which means I'm still at scream weight instead of where I'd like. The holidays are a hard time to try to reign it in for sure. But I refuse to go higher.

Happy Friday!

TGIF Maintainers!

evemomma: I forgot yesterday to tell how much help your post was when you described how you plan out your next day's meals. That was so helpful. It really gave me some solid ground rules for what to do first. I'm going to do some playing in MFP to see how that all comes together. Thanks for paving the way!


murrcat & Kristin135: I read through these threads and take so much valuable info away from so many who have WAY more experience with this than I do. It never occurred to me that I might be helping someone else by posting what I was doing. I'm glad that I was able to help you both.

Hello Ladies!

Sounds like a positive week for everyone. I am still working on the up lbs but having a pretty good eating week. And I'm happy to have got my run in yesterday. Today will be a run or a gym day.

Notsofat; congrads on getting down to a good number. You are doing great and the exercise helps with maintenace definately.

Eve; Keep up your great maintaining. You know what works for you. And you always have good suggestions.

Kristin; My favourite lunch is a salad with a protein. I add a fat by way of dressing or cheese. I always feel satisfied and healthy when I have this for lunch. I like sandwiches other days with squirrely bread, vegies, meat or soup like borscht. I put hamburger in my borscht.

Murrcat; I got down to my original goal of 155lbs but found it difficult to maintain so I changed it after a few months to 162lbs. I exercise 5 days a week and feel toned, my measurements didn't go up a lot and my clothes fit me well. It is all about how you feel and not the number.

Vachinyc; Great to hear from you! Sounds like you have the determination to stay below your scream weight. I'm with you as I'm in pms mode and the scale goes up 3-5lbs every month, so I keep telling myself not to panic, it'll come off again but I don't like it! hee hee

Catlady; I love your positive attitude! And it sounds like you will have no problem in maintenance.

Ruth Ann; I hope this isn't another Monday for you! You make me smile with your posts and you continue to do so well in maintenance even in the stressful times.

Hi Liana, Jenny, Pishposh, and all the new maintainers. Its great to have this thread to read every morning before I start my day. I get support and incentive to make good food choices for my day and to stay on plan. Have a happy Friday everyone!

Slip; Good job in getting those up lbs off and in your lower range. You always inspire me.

Hi everyone!

Life is so funny. There was a time when I could not wait for Friday night and was all ready to light up the town . Now, I am so happy to be home and drinking a cup of real coffee in hopes that I will stay up long enough to appreciate the beginning of the weekend! Playing whack a mole at school is wearing me out, lol. Overall, it was a good week. Food was on track and the scale is down. Kids were hyped up, but did some solid learning.

Vachinyc, keep fighting the good fight, the holidays will be over before you know it.

Kristin, I am not much help with lunch, I eat a protein bar.

Andrea, have fun at your party!

Jenny, how are you doing? Have you beaten the sugar monster back into her cave?

Hawaii, you help me too. We just keep trying every day PMS is here for me, TOM for Christmas, oh joy!

Happy Friday to you too, Debby!

Happy Weekend everyone!!!!!

Catlady....Hope you have a great Christmas party! And thanks for letting me know my crazy posts sometimes help. I have gotten so much help here, I certainly want to pay it forward also.

Slipfree....I hope you have a restful weekend in store for you. Congrats on getting any stray up pounds down. Success!

Hawaii.....Your posts are always so positive and encouraging. Thanks so much for that! You're running gets me inspired!

Vachinyc....Welcome back....the holidays are a GREAT time to check back in here since they are SUCH a challenge!

TMI alert....I'm ovulating today, and I always have a fair bit of pain and bloating. Blech. Took some ibuprofen. I've had a few too many high sodium days in a row this week (eating out a bit more than normal), and I can feel it swelling me up. I have been guzzling water all day, but I suspect I will still be up tomorrow. Telling myself NOW that I know that any up pounds are just water as I've been a bit low in calories the past few days.

I still have a fair bit of Christmas shopping to do. I also do a printed photo book of all our family's pictures of the year for grandparents...and I haven't even STARTED them yet. Eek!!!!! Last year, the photo books didn't make it out until February. Hoping I can crack down and get them out at LEAST by January. My problem is I am a huge perfectionist and want every picture and page layout to be perfect. I am my own worst enemy!

Hope everyone has a successful weekend! As bloated as I'm feeling right now, I may do a modified P3 day tomorrow (not nearly so much meat though, lol!) since I think my system just needs a bit of a break. Need to get the sodium back under control.

Take care all!

evemomma Thank you so much for your help. I have been using MFP to track my food and I plan on finding time this weekend to plan a few days worth of meals.

Today wasn't bad, still didn't quite make the correct numbers for lunch but dinner was 2 to 1 for my carb meal. It did all balance out at the end of the day.

Good morning! Love reading everyone's posts (even if I run out of time to chat) - helps so much to keep me on track!

Lots to do this weekend but hoping to take some down time too. Maybe get a nap in - that's sounding very appealing right now!

catlady - I will bet you look smashing in your dress! Hope you post some pics!

slipfree - hang in there, the break is coming! Love the description of dealing with the students. I find it easier to work the ice cream in if I get the individual "snack size." Much better portion control since I seem to have a blind spot when it comes to serving sizes of that particular treat!

vachinyc - good to hear from you. Keep your "I refuse to go higher" attitude and I'll bet the pounds will go down.

Hawaii69 - Always so envious of your exercise - I'm working on getting in more. Next week should be calmer (famous last words) and I can work on that area.

eve - When do you sleep? You sound busy enough for at least 2 people!

Anyone I missed - hi!

I just keep plugging along.

Hi Maintainers - I'm about 1/2 way there to my goal so I'm in information gathering mode in anticipation of maintenance. I was in an organic market yesterday with the kids so I breezed thru the bread section with them looking for dessert for them. But, it sparked my curiosity about when and if I will be able to add bread back to my life. Probably the one carb thing I miss while in Phase 1 is the ability to have a sandwich. I don't think I will add too many other carbs back as I find I don't miss it much anymore. Ten years ago when I did Atkins I couldn't stand any of the lower carb bread options so I wonder if they've gotten better. And how do you handle it? Only eat 1/2 a sandwich? Do you have recommendations on the best brands? Does it help to make your own? I would be willing to do that if I could eat bread again! (I've always heard that in Europe you can eat the bread because it isn't processed like her in the US...)

Hi Shasta, the first time bread appears is in Phase 3, it is very easy to include bread into the Phase 3 breakfast. With the Phase 3 breakfast, you do not have to worry about fat/carb separation. You can have toast, French toast, sandwich, etc. Whether you have one or two slices of bread depends on the overall number of carbs in your meal. Phase 3 provides clear numbers for protein, fat, and carbs.


You can have a wrap or sandwich for your carb meal in maintenance,trick is -you are supposed to keep your fat down during this meal. (So cheese, mayo are out/ or tiny portion.) My clinic recommended lower carb, higher fiber bread choices so that is what I buy. One brand is Ezekiel Bread, I do not mind it. Full disclosure though, I am not a bread lover..