Okay so this is a what if question just because I am curious. What would have happened if I went from phase 1 to "cheating for week" to phase 4? I am just wondering if after I got back from vaca if I just did phase 4 if that would be horrible or since I was going to eating right it wouldn't be so bad. No I don't want to do this nor have I done it, but I just was wondering since I am sure there are many people who don't phase out. I know phasing out helps train your pancreas but if you "cheated" for a few days anyway would it be beneficial to go back to phase 1 for a week then 2, 3 and 4?

I dont really no the answer but I do know I was told how important it is to phrase out, as I leave for a 12 day holiday next sunday and today at my weigh in I will be starting onto phrase 3 for a week then onto maintenance but I am kinda now at where I want to be....also saying about cheating I did cheat saturday night I had vodka with crystal light, 3 in fact...nachos and 1 chicken wing I was up 1 pound felt pretty good the next day, and that was gone by the monday......
So I am sure someone will come on shortly to let you know whats best, I know I am not going to be perfect on holiday and even my coach is saying you go away once a year just have fun, just dont go crazy..... but will make sure I take my protein bars and shakes and be ready for as soon as I get home to be extra good, if I have gained..........have a wonderful holiday....

I am unsure of what you are asking. Are you wanting to end the diet after your vacation or do you want to return to the diet?

My suggestion would be to return to phase 1 after your vacation so that you can lose what you gained on vacation and continue to lose if that is your goal. If you don't go back to phase 1 and back into ketosis, you will continue to gain weight. That is how most people put the weight back on.

The phasing out process is crucial. I would not recommend skipping it and undoing all the hard work it took you months to achieve.

The phases are to essential retrain your body to eat foods again. In phase 2, you are down to 2 packets a day and in phase 3 you are down to 1 packet a day. Phase 3 is crucial because you are adding carbs back in, just once a day, in the morning, to get your pancreas to release insulin just once a day. It is part of the reason we eat so much at breakfast during this phase.

And then phase 4 is about learning what works for you. Some find they can eat carbs during this phase. Some continue to restrict carbs quite a bit. We lose weight similarly on this diet but have to maintain differently because our bodies are different and we put on weight differently.

Ditto on purple's post...be very careful during phasing off, do not cheat your body of this time (don't cheat either)...if you go right into phase 4 your pancreas can start giving your body insulin willy hilly again (over heated engine) and then you start to gain.

If your done with the diet and no longer want to do phase 1 then come back from your vaca, do phase 1 for a week and phase off properly.

Like I stated in my original message I have no intention of doing this. I have already had vaca and the day I got back I started phase 1 again. I was curious to know what would have happened had I not done that. Again I will state that I did not nor will not end this diet incorrectly but just wanted to know the difference between phasing off or just going to phase 4 that is it.

I dont really know what you are asking either.. but the phase off is pretty important, in the pancreas sense. I phased off for a vacation and i didnt cheat thru out P1, and the phaseing process is actually very hard. 1. to break the habbit of how you have trained yourself to eat. 2. the fear of eating carbs and sugar for the 1st time.. so over whelming and the thougth of gaining weight after all that work, and it makes your stomach cramp.
Right now for health reasons (till the docs'find the reason to my issues)I go from P2, P3 and maintance every week... i'm still losing i havent had any side effects. No one get made at me... but seriously, cheating on this diet.. not that big of a deal. they put alot of stress on not cheating, but really it does nothing. It's amazing on how much you can eat and not get kicked out of ketosis.. really it just depends on your body, and how active you are. I found that i lost more weight on P2, than P1 cus i was more active. My body responds better to more calories than P1. It's a test. I think the best thing i have done on this diet is phase off, it really showed me how my body reacts to each phase and how it reacts to life after the diet. Even on maintance i lost and i didnt stick to the maintance food plan. It's interesting definitely. Maybe try it and see how your body reacts. You wont realy know till you try, if you want to. I know i'll probably get angry mail from this post but it's the truth and that's the main reason for this forum. Right?! LOL
Good luck!

mlucas Everyone is different. I have been on P4 for 2 months and have not done a P1 day. I did not like P1 so I don't go back to it. At some point in time, I may but for now I have lived pretty well on P3-P4. That works for me, but not for everyone. Some are super carb sensitive and can hardly add carbs back. I echo your sentiment on initial fear of carbs. Something I am still working on. I don't like being afraid of food and I have kinda been surprised at what I can eat without gaining permanently.

I think the no cheat rule is there for a reason and I think everyone is different. Some will jump in and out of ketosis regularly if they cheat. I think that is hard on the body and probably hard to see the scale go up and down. Plus, it is costly and I think we all want to be on this diet as for as little time as possible. But, again everyone is different. I did not feel good until P2. So, for me I do believe P1 was just too little food for me. DH lost almost 90lbs and does really well in ketosis. I could never understand how he ate less than me and was fine but we are each different. But, when he takes breaks for a vacation or something he dives into carbs much, much more heavily than I do and the scale goes up a bit for him. Less so for me. So we are each different.

Again I want to state that I had no intention of not phasing off when I am done (which will not be for a long while). I just didn't know why we phase off except it teaches us how to eat what with what. I dont know if not phasing off causes us to just gain the weight right back even though we are following phase 4 or if it is just for training our bodies.

Phasing off is to train our pancreas.
Exp. I was a vegitarian for about 3 years. The 1st time i at turkey, it about killed me! I actually had to go to the hospital it was so bad. You have to re-introduce calories, sugar, fat and carbs back into your system slowly to ensure that you do not do harm, hense everyone is different. Like some can jump in and out of the diet no problem, some not so much.
You will need to phase off the diet eventually. I dont believe that you can be on this diet 100% for the rest of your life. That's just my opinion. If the body feeds on fat, and you are taking it all away, what is your body going to survive on. Women have a higher fat% due to breast and baring children and what not.
YOu dont gain the weight back. I dont know if your coach explained to you when you phase off 2-5lbs below your goal, it's to ensure you stay at your goal, because as you eat the carbs and what not, you body redistributes water due to the added glycogens. Your body needs to retain more water when you have glycogens (carb tank). It has nothng to do with fat. Yes your fat% will go up if you eat fat foods and dont work out. But it's the water weight that you will see after you phase off. not fat.
After i phased out and when back on to p1 the 3lbs i gained was gone the next day... water. And in fact, when i started p1 all my numbers were the same or lower. I still lost inches on maintance. It's just water.

does that answer you question or am i way off? LOL

I hear ya... it's so simple but it just boggles my mind how different our bodies are even though they are made up of the same stuff ya know.
I'm not big into carbs anymore. I'll have a carb day and then i just feel gross LOL I am in no hurry to lose the weight, well that's a lie, i'd like to lose it before my wedding next July, but now that im under 200 everything else is bonus LOL
Question, how long did it take you to lose your weight on P3 the whole time?

Carb Hangover. I hear ya. The way I feel the next morning is enough to turn me off of certain foods.
Oh, I did P1, p2 and then P3. (19 weeks) Then for maintenance I remained on P3 for most of the time. I have only been in maintenance 2 months but for most of that time I stayed in P3. I am still experimenting with what carbs I can add back.

Oooo I see. Cool beans. Yeah i like P3 LOL P3 is good to me!
Carb hangover.. that's perfect! Whats funny is that i'm not big into the fruit. I steer sooo far from fruit and diary. My carb intake is sooo minimal still. Through this diet i've become so aware, and i look at food now as fat, carb, or protien.. lol and i always opt for the protein over the carb. it's crazy. Like when we go to famous daves, we go and get the 3 meat feast thing, and i eat the meat, and the beans! lol I want nothng to do with the potatoes or that damn muffin. Did you know that 3 of those muffins are your daily intake of fat! Crazy huh! That right there... just turns me off of it!

This is exactly what I was looking for, thanks!! I just didn't know why we did it is all!! Thanks so much for the info!!

Word! No problem. I'm surprised no one told you this or explained it to you.
Im glad i could help, i dont know much but i do know a little lol

I only seen a coach for a couple weeks and then went on my own! I kinda seen that IP would work for people with PCOS and that are IR and jumped into it head first!! I figured I would get all other info as I went along!