This is what I was told by a nutritionist when I complained about the same thing....."Hun, everyone is slightly gluten intolerant and your body was used to it before, now your body with your one year of no wheat has healed a bit and can no longer keep the allergy away." Don't know if its true but I keep wheat out and only eat sprouted grains. I was never much of a sandwich gal but do love my toast. Even on fun days I stay away from wheat.

It has also become obvious to me over the last month that I am lactose intolerant !!!!! I so loved ice cream, trying chapmans frozen yogurt this weekend....on top of an angel food cake. Looking forward to it, can safely say that it has been at least 3 years since I had angel food cake.

Take it slow, pay attention to what's going on. I couldn't do wine when I started and it wasn't a big deal....not a big drinker...but 8 months later two glasses and the scale didn't complain. Granted I still keep the booze to fun day.

You'll do great it you keep it slow and pay attention to what works for you.

One of my ice cream addicted friends had to cut dairy/lactose when she was nursing due to baby allergies and tried coconut milk ice cream and never switched back she said it was soooooo good...never tried it myself but doesn't sound like a bad switch if fro-yo doesn't cut it.

Thanks, Ishbel. What "sprouted grains" do you eat? Funny how my body could digest all those raw veggies and now it gurgles like crazy trying to digest a few other things. Maintanence has been tricky enough trying to figure out now have to see if I have allergies. Oh well, one day at a time.

Wow! I love that this thread is so busy lately!!

Fishette - I know the feeling. At first it seems like so many calories, and it is a lot compared to phase 1, but if you track things, you will quickly find your sweet spot where you can maintain. For me, it seems to be about 1,700 calories. Even at that level I have slowly slipped just below my 3 pound maintenance range. Better to be on the low side IMO!

You know, the thing that was so frustrating to me was that before IP, this is about the calories that I was eating, but still I could not lose weight and I gained slowly. It was a blood sugar problem, and I was eating all the wrong foods (carbs) at all the wrong times. My metabolism was sluggish and messed up. It was so frustrating and confusing to me that I was hungry all the time, but not wildly overeating, and still gaining weight. I have high hopes that the IP maintenance plan will give me a real life-time solution to this problem.

When I say sprouted grains I mean bread...I eat toast every morning. I eat silver hills sprouted grains. You can get two loaves for 5.50ish here at Costco, 5.29 for one at Safeway lol. I have tried Ezekiel bread (another brand of sprouted grain), if I need a "bun" or a tortilla shell I'll use that brand. I use quinoa for a side, sweet potato, white potato....I don't prefer sandwiches so its just for toast in the morning. I could really feel a difference between weight watchers bread and sprouted grain.

Lizzy, I agree about better on the low side!

I like sprouted grain bread also..Ezekiel is not too bad.

Sorry to hear about people's allergies. Coconut milk and tofu can be good in ice cream.

February puts me at 1 year 4 months of maintenance. I am staying in my 3 pound range. I just realized that I have spent most of my life tolerating, but not enjoying vegetables and salads. I always looked forward to eating the main protein dish or the desert. I put up with the veges and the salads as either I was on a diet or because I knew they were good for me. In these last 2 and one half years, I have finally come to love eating vegetables. I now look forward to my many new recipes. This helps to keep me stable as I do not feel deprived when I am eating things I love.

Are you doing anything for excersise?

Good morning Maile-
Way to go on your maintenance. I need to get more creative with veggies. I like veggies but seem to get into a rut and eat the sMe thing over and over until one day I can't stand what I have been eating. The options here where I live are limited but I could step outside the box more- preparation all just takes time but is worth it. Have a great weekend.

Ishbel-
What do you do for excersise? You are doing so good. Awesome.

Have any of you figured out a way to have a bite of sweets and then stop??? We had amazing cookies at work yesterday. Since I'm on the lower end of my weight I thought I could have one. WRONG!! I had 3! Now there's a superbowl party coming up, it's my cheat day and I would like to eat some of the food while staying IN CONTROL! I seem to have a none or all mentality that I MUST get rid of!

Someone posted that they let themselves only have 3 bites of any dessert or high calorie item. It seemed the 3 bites would satisfy the main urge to taste.

Determined - I walk the dog about 2 miles daily - that's it. Need to start some weights at some point, but not just yet. The walking probably burns an extra 200 calories, so without that I'd be eating less.

Thank you!