Adding this to my list of P3 breakfasts

That is my favorite breakfast. Sometimes I will also have a piece of Ezekiel toast and a tablespoon of almond butter as well. Pretty quick and easy.

Ishbel: I had to laugh at your comment on buying lots of clothes. I went a little crazy last year and now have a closet full of new clothes. At least I got most of them on sale or at a thrift store. Initially I would drive home and be scared that I would regain the weight and not fit them. Now a year later, I still fit the same clothes..and have stopped my buying spree. I have spent so much money on different sizes in my life. My husband is very tolerant.

I also agree with you that rebooting or going on Phase 1 is part of maintenance. I like your comment of changing, I can't, to I won't have chocolate. The won't makes it a way of life. That is simply what you do.
I hope the gel helps your back pain.

Greeniris: I liked the Beck Diet Solution workbook. It was helpful. I am glad your mother's surgery went well. Hope your Phase 1 is going well.

Momsto2cs: 2 years of maintenance is an accomplishment. Congratulations.

Beck81: You are doing well with your first two weeks.

Evepet: I agree with you. I do not want to gain back those "hard won" pounds either. Weighing and monitoring are good tools.

Lizzy63: When is your job interview? Good luck.
I like the idea of turkey sausage for breakfast and will try it.

LoriT:Great on losing with only one pound to go. I do not use packets when I am working on an up pound. I just eat low carb.

Chloe: I like wine also..but like you cut back on it if I want to lose.

Scorbett: I did 2 weeks on P2 and two weeks on P3. I do remember wanting to change at the end.

Hgamroth: Do you think you will have to stop running if you go on Phase 1 ? My coach told me that it was Ok to keep exercising so I did.

LoriKay: Good job on maintaining since December. Those staff rooms can be treacherous as people are always bringing junk.

You can tell I am getting sick of winter. I wore my bright neon pink workout shoes to work. The kids loved them.

Mommaks and Joysh: Glad you are both coming to maintenance!

Well, I can't get on my computer as often as I used to. This is sort of a venting post-sorry! My schedule has changed drastically and I'm afraid of what it's going to do to my diet when I wasn't doing that great anyway. (Still at goal but eating some really unhealthy foods) My daughter just made our Middle School Science Olympiad team. It's a great honor because only 15 of 43 made it. Here is my new schedule (We live 25 miles from the town where I work & the kids go to school) - Leave home at 7:15am daily. Monday & Thursday Science Olympiad ends at 8:30, home at 9pm Wednesday Bible Study Home after 9pm. Friday Piano lessons & workout home at 7pm. I bring my lunch every day but we eat out for supper because we have no place go. Subway is always one night, we often eat at church on Wednesday which saves me money but isn't often diet food, and I let the kids pick the 3rd night. One bonus is that I have NO excuse to not work out between things!! I know this is only a stage of life, but wow, it's a busy one!! (This does not include my son's high school schedule, he can drive so I only have to go to his performances which are occasional, not constant!)

I know other people do it all the time, just trying to figure out how!!

In the program I am doing now they recommend making a time journal tracking you time for a week. Look at it critically and see where you may be able to find time to focus on nutrition and/or exercise (if you exercise). They find most people are able to rearrange things better to avoid lost time and get the things they find important accomplished.

Woke up this morning and am back to the low end of my maintenance weight. I was 118 before the holidays and snuck up to 125. I didn't worry about it too much until I really payed attention to the fact that 1 lb here and there were adding up again. I am a teacher and found that I was visiting the staff room occasionally which I had been avoiding since I started IP. I see that some of you can relate to how nasty school staff rooms can be. It's a wonder all educators aren't obese!!
MaileUsually I would just go low carb on the days that I need to just worry about 1 lb or after a fun day, but I was 5 lbs up and decided I needed a reboot to get myself back on track. I love that all it takes is a few days to do that now, but really don't want to make a habit of it. I guess I am just going to have to choose to say no to sugar, period!
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I am thinking about all of you on the east coast. Be safe!

Maile, I worry I won't have the energy to run. I guess I need to find out and most definitely plan my meal around running (restricted before and a shake after.) Is this what you do?

Bump

Thanks for the warm welcome (it been cold and dark here in New England since Friday)! I love reading everything and it's good to know that everyone looks at maintenance so differently, but attentively. I guess it's just about doing it in a way that you feel comfortable and can be successful.

I had my first FUN meal today at a Chinese New Year gathering...mmm. I'm actually looking forward to P1 tomorrow for consistency and peace of mind.

Joysh- glad to have another newbie!

Momto2cs- I recently read a book about time and being successful. Its by Laura Vanderkam and is called What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast: A Short Guide to Making Over Your Mornings—and Life Its short but sweet and has excellent and practical advice based on what others do in their lives. This sounds like what you are working on... That will be my next step after I feel I have a grasp on maintenance and exercise.

Someone mentioned that Liz had a post with guidelines regarding Phase 4. I have not come across it. Could someone point me in the right direction?

No school for my chidlers again tomorrow, but at least we now have power and heat! I hope others fared the storm as well as we did.

When I exercised in Phase 1 it was weightlifting with maybe some light cardio, but I would do a restricted ~1 hour before and my meal afterwards (dinner) and never had any energy problems. Not sure how your timing/schedule would work, but for my evening workouts it was a great fit for me.

Hmmmm...I had some different stuff up here, but I think a lot of it was a repeat of what others had handouts from their coaches and links from the stickies. I'll try to see what I have from before, my memory is fading and my 3FC time has been very limited lately!

Scorbett, would you post your list of P3 breakfasts? I'm not ready for P3 yet, but starting my strategy/planning.

What if you asked another parent with a child in the science program & bible study to take turns being the late night parent? You use those nights to exercise and do a little extra meal prep for the week. Double up so you have plenty of leftovers. I think we (women in general) have a hard time asking for help, but it might be a great benefit to the other parent, too.

I agree with Momto2cs. I use a weekly time audit with my clients to help them refocus their time and energy -- mostly to help them be more efficient at work and have more time to pursue personal goals. If you are interested, I can post a template for you to try out.

I have pretty much just been copying and pasting whatever looks appealing to me from this thread:

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/idea...ast-ideas.html

LizRR has posted some AMAZING sounding recipes in there!!!

LizRR- Thanks for checking...I have gone through most of the posts too. Don't waste time on it!

I'm really interested in what constitutes the P4 Carb rich/Fat Poor-Fat Rich/Carb Poor. Are there specific percentages or grams like in the P3 breakfasts? Does anyone follow this specific meal plan as a maintainer? It seems like a lot of work!
My current plan is to follow Michael Pollan's Eater's Manifesto from In Defense of Food. Eat Food. Mostly Plants. Not Too Much. and I want to stay close to the P4 guidelines if I can figure them out!