So, I convinced my mom to make the hamburger buns. According to my dad, they taste like bread. This, from the man who tries to sabotage anyone who is on a diet. My mom said they were good too. Said you know that they have eggs, but they still taste like bread. She didn't add the toasted onions on top, instead sprinkled a little parmesan cheese on there before baking. I had already eaten lunch by the time she made them, but I will try them later. I have a couple in a ziploc bag that I brought home.

Sounds yummy!!

maile- I really enjoyed your article on will power. I have noticed that I have to move any 'treats' out of my line of vision in the pantry because then I don't have to keep saying 'no' to myself. It's funny- it truly is out of sight out of mind.
My lunches usually consist of a salad with cheese (usually feta cause I looove it!!) maybe nuts. Almost never do I have an animal protein at lunch anymore. There's usually a whole lot of lettuce and veggies in the salad and I'm more than full off of it...
Still have a protein bar in the afternoon as a snack... then supper rolls around... I do try to keep it light in the evenings as I'm paranoid of the scale in the morning otherwise
sunnymae- your post certainly did resonate with me. I was so scared last week that maybe my motivation for staying on plan was fading because I couldn't stop myself from having way more food than I normally do and having bites. The hunger was really overpowering and I was caving. Not that I was really carb loading or bingeing but much larger portions and more bites and an extra bar almost every day. I exercised a lot last week and attributed the rise in hunger to the rise in exercise, probably correctly, but I was still pretty scared to face what the scale was going to tell me and avoided it for three days. Faced the music on the morning of planned free day stoically figuring that if it told me something nasty I would forgo my free day and phase 1. I weighed exactly to the .1 of a pound the amount that I usually weigh. And this gave me faith. Faith that my body is finally starting to settle in at it's new weight. Faith that I am indulging true hunger and not a whim. And with that faith comes comfort. Oh yes it does. Not that I can go back to eating how I used to but that I am properly adjusting to this new plan.
paint lady- how are the buns?? They sound very good...
Pauley- how's it going now that you're home?
I have been reading quite a bit about how our bodies like to be at a certain weight and will fight with the aid of hormones to ensure that it can stay within 10% of this weight. That those who lose weight through a VLCD and do not exercise will face a higher amount of these hormones and a resultant lower set metabolic rate (metabolism). Which is a double whammy. The hormones make you want to eat and the low metabolism makes it stick. Research pretty clearly states those who are most successful in maintaining their weight exercise at least 250 minutes per week. So this is my current goal for myself. At least 250/ week. It is so worth the peace of mind to me. Knowing that I have a bit of leeway with food because of exercise.

The buns were actually pretty good! I think my mom may have over-salted them. I will pay attention to that when I make them for myself. I made a pork loin roast in the crockpot for our dinner tonight. I had that as a sandwich with the buns. I was really surprised that I liked them because I never liked the IP muffin cake things and I was worried I would be reminded of those. The other thing I noticed was that they were more bread-like in texture when first baked. After being in the ziploc most of the day, they weren't as crisp feeling. Worth trying, IMO, especially if you are carb sensitive like I am.

Cap: That was interesting about the value of exercise and maintenance. Since I have been exercising for a year, almost daily, I really think it helps..both for the stress and the seratonin, but also the speeded up metabolism.
I am glad to hear that you can eat cheese. I think I may try doing some for lunch as well. I am currently intrigued by endame as they are high in fiber, low carb, and high protein for 120 calories..However, I have not figured out how to make them taste good!

I think that out of sight out of mind, is a way to lower the stress and effort of your willpower. I do it alsoi. I often take food to work to get it out.

I like your comment about faith. My body has been surprising me..by not gaining..even with small experiments. Hopefully I will develop faith in my plan.

Paintlady..those buns sound worth trying..anything resembling bread, but not being a carb is the way to go! I like these low carb pita breads I get.

Loved the article on willpower and the Capricious and Sunnymae discussion about motivation. I too have been very concerned lately about all the bites, hunger and extra eating. Then I see what you said about exercise. I exercised 8 days in a row. Of course I was hungry! I am just so afraid if I loosen up and eat over 1500 calories a few days in a row, I'm going to blow it, give up and balloon to 200+ lbs again. In fact, I have not gained, so perhaps the exercise offsets the extra calories after all as long as I don't go too far overboard.

I do feel like I'm doing better now that I'm home, the parties are over and I'm back to my routine. Going to work everyday where I have to eat whatever I packed from home is the structure that got 60 lbs off in the first place!

What are the low carb pita breads Maile and where can they be found?

Holy cow. I was feeling so good this morning and then you tell me this??? I do pilates 2 or 3 x per week. This week I will do 150 minutes, and I thought I was doing well. I guess I should get out and walk, especially considering that it's going to be 60 degrees here today. Sigh...

Good morning! Very interesting discussions happening. I am still hanging out at my comfort weight of 133 and I am pretty happy about that.

I have to agree 150% that exercise is a huge component to maintenance. I exercise 5-6x per week and it definitely helps to offset any "extra" eating I may do. For me, exercising and eating also go hand in hand. If I am eating good, I WANT to exercise and if I am exercising I WANT to eat good. It's when I start falling off the wagon with one, that I start to slip with the other.

I, too, get nervous to face the scale each day. I am still in a place where I am checking my weight almost daily because this is still a learning period. I want to nip anything in the bud, and figure out what I can eat without gaining. It is very strange because I weight pretty much 132.6-133.6 on any given day, but I still hold my breath until the reading shows up. It's weird too because it is not like my clothes aren't fitting or I am feeling bigger or bloated. So there really isn't a reason to feel anxious, but I do. I guess it is all part of the learning curve.

I have to say I was a little less than disappointed when I read that (I can't remember who) after a year of maintenance, there is still a learning curve. I guess I was hoping that after a while it would become second nature. I do notice that I too am constantly thinking about food and the give and take of deciding what to eat or not. Maybe this will be the way I think for the rest of my life, but I guess I was just hoping that it wouldn't always be so hard.

Good morning everyone. I'm sure this question has been asked before but I just don't have the time to search for it. Can anyone tell me about the 7 ounces of carbs that you can have at dinner on the Phase 4 sheet? How many grams is that? Thanks!

pxlkitty- in an effort to create some sunshine on a day where I inadvertently caused a couple clouds... a study they did showed that a low carb VLCD only did half the damage to the metabolism that a high carb VLCD does (was about a 9% drop for the low carb and a 20% one for the high carb). Walking is promoted as one of the best forms of exercise in maintenance because it doesn't increase hunger but still stimulates you...
jennydoodle- it may be selfish of me but I was so happy to read that I'm not the only one who stresses about what the scale is going to tell me- even when I've been eating right and everything is fitting as it should etc.
I view maintenance in steps. One year. Two year. Five year. There is a lot more leeway on maintenance and after five years of it you are very unlikely to gain the weight back. The first year to me is the building blocks. a) Eating better, healthier food. b) Exercising regularly c) tracking what I eat d) eating mindfully e) picking myself up immediately when I fall. Still I'm working on non emotional eating. I can feel these things becoming more innate and habitual which does help. One of the most important things for me seems to be that I'm challenging myself with something besides just my eating plan. Whether it's exercise or a new recipe...
According to research if you're going to let one or the other go- your diet or your exercise in maintenance- you probably ought to choose the diet. Some can maintain their weight through exercise alone but few can maintain with diet alone. That said it does have to be a whole lot of exercise (like 5-7 days a week 40-60 min per time). Obviously, balance between the two is optimal but in the eventuality that it's an all or nothing, one way or the other...
Pauley- I feel exactly the same way. That feeling if I go over a set amount of calories in the day then I'll start to spiral and gain weight. It's hard still to decipher whether I actually need more food or just want more food... it's coming though... seems to be the same with you.
maile, jenny & pauley- do you all do strength and cardio, just cardio or just strength? (pxlkitty& woolberger- I know you both do pilates). My step class is 45 min cardio/ 10 min strength/ 5 min stretch. Considering upping the strength. Because muscle burns calories even when I'm not working out. But I am straight up scared of the weight room!

I met my husband for lunch today and had chinese. I made good choices, but still feeling fluffy this afternoon. Probably had too much sodium. I'm doing phase 1 tomorrow, not even going to step on the scale in the morning. I hope it's that, and not the really early return of TOM. Boy these hormones are totally wacked still.

I need to increase my exercise. I'm not on any type of regimen. My exercise consists mainly of playing with my kids. We play soccer and baseball, almost daily. I have to chase a lot of balls and they wear me out, just not as fast as they used to. It's easier to run with over 50 lbs gone! I may start letting them ride thier bikes along our road while I huff and puff to keep up with them.

Does anyone know why the extremely low calories on IP Ph 1 does not cause the body to go into starvation mode and cause the metabolism to shut down? When I was doing Ph 1 before, it didn't even occur to me. Now that I am doing the reboot, I am logging my foods into MFP and everyday I get the warning that consuming fewer than 1200 calories is dangerous, will shut down my metabolism, blah blah blah. Well, we all did IP's low calories for months without it shutting down our metabolism. Does anyone understand why?

This is HUGE! Capricious, you give me hope that I (that we all) can one day know our bodies and our metabolisms well enough that we don't have to count calories every day and worry about the scale moving. I can't wait to get there some day too!

Hi Pauley..I indulge myself and order them off Netrition.com..There are two..get the Youstafa ones. I love them and order a bunch and freeze them. I put ricotta cheese and pasta sauce on them and make a mini pizza like dish.

I also worry about adding calories or carbs and the effects. I guess we are all learning together.

I honestly don't know why our metabolisms did not shut down in the first Phase..Sorry..

I just read that after you lose weight, your loose skin will continue to shrink for a couple of years..Now I do not have any scientific proof on this..but it is a nice thought!

Cap..I do cardio and do strength training on the Nautilus Circuit 2 or 3 times a week.