Hi all!
Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and had great weightlosses!! Myself only 1.2 but I broke the 40lbs mark at 41 lost since 7/24/11! Yeeesss!

So, has everyone's center gotten the chocolate chip cookies yet??
On one hand, I'm happy and on the other hand not so happy...
The cookie...cause let me be clear it's only one big cookie...is good! It's soft, one of my favorite kind of cookies. It's tasty... surprisingly. I was hoping it would have been a few medium sized cookies, more chocolate than...dough but I have to say for a "diet" cookie, it's cool...NOT $4 a pop cool though. Something must be done about that...


Anyway, enough of that! I've decided I'm going to have my regular Thanksgiving meal and was discussing with my coach how to phase off (she's not happy with my decision but still being supportive. For years my thanksgiving meal has been mac n cheese, collard greens, corn bread, stuffing, sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce...no meat for me...Any suggestions on making these as IP friendly as possible???

I'm thinking of doing my regular 3 packets a day this week. Next week, 3 packets-Sunday/Monday 2 packets-Tuesday 1 packet - Wednesday and then Thursday and Friday Thanksgiving foods and then Saturday-phase back on....any thoughts???

I don't want to mess up (horribly) but I want to enjoy the tastes I love but sensibly.

Hope to hear some feedback!

Hmm - that's a tough one. Sounds like a wonderful meal. Maybe focus on eating more collard greens and limit the amount of carb-filled stuff that you eat. Cook them as healthy as possible maybe. There are very creative people on here that I'm sure will come up with good answers. You're not getting much protein for two days though. Maybe just one day of Thanksgiving food? I'm forgoing Thanksgiving with the relatives this year. It would be too tempting with all the food. The holidays are a challenge. The cookie sounds like a big disappointment. Thanks for the tip. Good luck on your Thanksgiving feast.

Just don't do it.

You've done so amazing to be at 41 lbs lost, and from reading the posts of others who've done the same thing (gone off for one event) almost every single one of them wishes that they had stayed on plan, due to challenges with delayed loss, cost of getting back on track. You are SO close to being at your goal!

You could make that exact same meal the day you hit phase 4 and I guarantee it would taste SO AMAZING.

My understanding is that phasing off properly requires you to go through phase 3, the reawakening of the pancreas, for a full two weeks.

I hope that doesn't sound too harsh, your meal does sound delicious

I am with BCGirl...it will taste so much better either at Christmas when you will probably be at goal or even next year when your skinny little booty can use it as your cheat day!
I think before I phased off improperly, I would try really hard to go with turkey and collard greens...if you cannot make it without the other stuff, allow yourself 1 bite of each and walk away...and then make sure that you walk or do some type of exercise to expend the extra calories that you took in.

You have done AWESOME and you are SOOOOO CLOSE!!! You can do this!!!

Your plan is not the proper phase off plan. If you aren't going to eat meat, then you need to have a packet. You need the protein. I wouldn't do it if I were you. Have a packet and the collard greens. Your typical Thanksgiving meal is packed with carbs and not the good kind. You can always have corn bread and macaroni and cheese at a later date. Freeze some of the stuffing for when you are in maintenance. You don't have far to go. If you stick to it, it's possible you could be in maintenance for Christmas. I would rather eat for Christmas than Thanksgiving. Our stats are very similar. You can do this!

I was worried about Thanksgiving meal too. I am 4 weeks into the plan. But i am really going to try to modify some of my favorites so i can have my version of my traditions. FINN has posted a pumpkin custard, a stuffing, green bean casserole and even a jelly/jam something (can't quite remember.)
Maybe you can look into options. Not sure about a mac & cheese substitute, but collard greens should be able to be cooked IP style. maybe a muffin made out of pancakes or crepes that could compare to corn bread.
Just a few suggestions.
I think my concern, perhaps others share it too, that i will phase off for Thanksgiving then not go back OP until after Christmas. I am going to fight myself to stay OP.
Good luck whatever you decide.

I just got a box of cookies this morning. I haven't tried them yet. I might do so later today.

Thanks! I hope to have a success story---weight still dropped

When I was going on vacation, I did a mini phase off because I knew I would not be on plan. I did 1 week at phase 2 and 1 week at phase 3. You could do this and then use Thanksgiving day as your cheat meal in maintenance. There is plenty of time to do this if you start this week. You could stay on the maintenance plan for the rest of the weekend and then start back up on phase 1 on Monday after T-day.

A word of warning, once you have enjoyed the joys of P3 & P4, it is kind of hard to get back into the P1 mentality.

But I understand, because Thanksgiving is just one of those meals. And to say that the holiday doesn't revolve around food is a flat out lie Also, a tip that I read about cheat or P4 days is to eat your protein first (if you are not having turkey, have a packet) then eat your veggies and THEN eat the carbs. Chances are, you will be pretty full from the protein and the veggies and therefore, won't eat as many carbs as you would have if you started with them. In no way shape or form would I skimp out on the protein. Even if that means having a quick shake before you sit down to dinner.

Just an option for you to consider. But I really do feel like you should consider staying OP. You are really very close to goal and it will make it that much harder to get back on P1. And then, you will be in the same situation at Christmas / New Years. If you just stay OP, chances are you WILL be at maintenance by Christmas / New Years.

BCGirl and scpnme and Paint Lady and MikiMom...Thanks...I definitely wanted to hear both sides of the coin, trying to be as realistic as possible about it all.
Doesn't sound harsh at all and my coach is in agreement with you both. I haven't quite made up my mind just some thoughts. I guess part of my concern was traveling with packets, putting people out with my special requests, etc.

I appreciate the real talk. I will post back with my decision/results etc

I'm so pleased I didn't offend you - I was worried .

If I were you I would mash lots of cauliflower (see recipes) either before you go and freeze/pack in ice to heat up, or at your location to have a heaping plate of mashed "potatoes".

With our Canadian Thanksgiving that's what I did, ate turkey (without the crispy, buttery skin), mashed cauliflower with some of the juice from the turkey as gravy (just asked for a little bit before thickening), and made steamed veggies/salad (with plain oil and vinegar or WF) and had lots of those. It wasn't a big deal at all and my husband actually said my meal looked great too .

The packets for the other meals are actually an amazingly easy way to travel. I will admit, it's harder when you're as close to your goal weight as you are, because you'll get a lot of "you don't need to diet anymore" and "just one bite". (I was just one week into phase 3 at Canadian Thanksgiving).

I know that separating my enjoyment of family/events from food is (for me) actually an important lesson to learn - ie. politely declining the dessert my mother in law puts in front of me isn't about "hurting feelings", it's about my accountability for my own health.

Good luck with whatever your choice is!

I went off protocol last Christmas for a few days, and its SUPER HARD getting back on it!!! I suggest staying on program...stick with it!!! Speaking from experience, its just not worth it. Eat turkey and veggies, take lots of plain romaine lettuce and hang in there!

We do a potluck for my family's Thanksgiving dinner. I am going to take roasted broccoli, which is a Rachel Ray recipe. I don't have exact amounts but here is the gist...

Broccoli - stems cut off
EVOO
Garlic
McCormicks Montreal Steak Seasoning

Cut up the broccoli, pour on the EVOO, add fresh minced garlic, and add the seasonig. Toss and then place in a baking dish. Bake for 45 minutes or until a little crunchy.

This is DELISH!!! I am going to hope to make a meal out of this and my turkey...love the idea of the mashed "potatoes" also. YUM!!! We can ALL do this!!!! I am almost excited for the challenge...although that day I know I will be salivating over the pumpkin pie!!! That will be my struggle...I love pie with a BIG dollop of Cool Whip!!!

I never did this for Cdn Thanksgiving but thought about using a tart pan to make an IP Oatmeal "crust" with a vanilla pudding (flavored with pumpkin pie spice/syrup) filling? You could make 2 of those for desserts. Or use the crust with WF Apple Butter for "apple" pie

YUM...that sounds great!!! How do you make the crust?