[QUOTE=GoodEatsandWine;4311032]Happy Friday! Just a quick note to say hello. I've been in phase 4 for only two weeks now...it was confusing at first but I'm getting adjusted and so far I've maintained at my goal weight!

That was a very helpful post!!! You have a good coach who gave you great information.

Congratulations on the two weeks of maintenance in Phase 4. I like felafel also..even made a black soybean one. I also love waffles..

2Ride..I also have not found a great cheese substitute..I use parmesean on my roasted vegetables..Mozarella is low fat..but you are right..the alternate low fat cheeses do not melt as well.

Hope you enjoy your traveling this weekend. I am drinking Gloria Jean's Dark Chocolate Dream Cake coffee..It is smooth and rich..

I have started adding tahini dressing to my lunches..a sesami seed paste. I love the flavor and am happy to see that my weight is staying the same!

I'm finally a maintainer lol. Only thing is, I wonder how you other ladies/gents felt when you reached your "goal" weight. I'm sure for those who lost 15-20 lbs you had a better I idea of what "goal" would look like. For me, I'm quite happy and have really upped the toning work @ the gym--which is exciting. Any advice on how to make sure my normal diet is sufficient for weight training?

I weight trained the whole time on phase 1. I am doing a phase 1 reboot now and did 3 hours at the gym today. Phase 4 is more than adequate.

Hello everyone! Hope you all are having a spectacular weekend!

So this friday night was my first real "cheat day". I went out to dinner with my husband and we ordered a bottle of wine and even split a dessert! It was a really nice night, but I still felt guilty about eating! I know we are supposed to let loose every once and awhile, but I still have this fear that it is going to get out of control and that my weight is going to creep back up.

I did like we are supposed to and followed phase 1 yesterday, but I there is this lingering feeling of disappointment even though I haven't done anything wrong.

Have any of you felt this way? I am hoping after a few more weeks I will just get into the groove of eating within the guidelines of phase 4 and will thoroughly enjoy the freedom to have a night out

Although I'm no where near this phase, I love coming here to read your comments. Something to look forward to and I will get here someday, pinky promise

With such rapid weight loss I have found that it is helpful to protect my body with supplements. I use glucosamine and muscadine grape seed for antioxidant protection(PureMuscadine/www.vieloc.com). Glucosamine helps the body recover quickly and the PureMuscadine has over 100 antioxidants.

Sara bean..I still deal with that issue. On my free days, I just might have a meal I like..I feel pretty happy to eat that..but do not overindulge. I still stay away from sugar as that makes me feel out of control. I will say with time I am more relaxed about small indulgences!

Proteinfal: Post anytime you like. Hope you reach your goal soon.

Germinezmarie: I also weight trained while doing IP. I would say add protein snacks or bars if it causes you to lose too much weight. Congratulations on reaching Phase 4. That is wonderful.

Month 7 of maintenance!!!!!

Oh yeah, I can identify with that one. I did learn that I have no control over certain things like sweets and nuts, so now I really try to limit them. I still have not gone out for my full-blown meal splurge... have done little splurges and the Phase 1 day was quite reassuring afterwards. I guess it is about finding balance and stability first, then try to introduce the splurges. I can't imagine never having pizza again or chicken enchiladas... It will happen, we just need to feel secure after all our hard work to get here.

Try not to feel too guilty over your free day! It's hard in the beginning but you get used to it. I'm now able to fully enjoy! The weird thing is, some of my old favorites (like a particular pizza) gross me out now. I wonder if some of you are finding the same thing? My absolute favorite pizza was too cheesy and I wasn't able to enjoy it. I guess that's a good thing. Pizza used to be a trigger food and now it's not. IP changed my tastes a bit. I can't enjoy a diet soda anymore either. Yuk.

I don't have guilt for my free days anymore, but I do absolutely dread the subsequent phase 1 day. I hate phase 1 now, and will skip a free day in favor of a moderate day just to avoid phase 1.

Wow! that is awesome. Way to go!

You know, there's something to that...I'm not crazy craving the pizza anymore. I will have it, probably a frozen Uno's pizza, but now that it is 'allowed,' I find I can wait. Plus, I don't want to get a stomach from too much cheese... When I made the cauliflower crust pizza, the flavors satisfied my need to a great extent. Not the same as Uno's but pretty darn good...

Hi everyone. The site seems to be crashing a lot lately or doesn't even load. I started a long message at the end of last week, and then it never got posted. so, today I am not doing any fancy multi-quote things and we'll see what happens.

As for the feeling after the first cheat meal, I often find now that I am disappointed after having had either a cheat meal or a cheat day. Nothing really seems worth it. I say this entering my 7th month of maintenance, and sometimes I literally just stop eating what I was dying to have. There have been several occasions where I even stop eating something that I paid for, and have had waiters ask me if I didn't like something. I try to be polite...

My son and I were on vacation for 11 days in Phoenix. What I found "worth it" was ice cream (with him) rather than fancy desserts when we went out. I took three bites of a special sour cream cheesecake and just stopped. It really wasn't worth the calories. So, I stopped. I decided that I didn't care about the money. If I'm not loving every single bite, it's time to stop eating.

On a positive note, I got to wear my nice size 8 bathing suit and I felt really comfortable in it. And, my son took some huge strides with swimming.

I'm back to my normal eating now and it's really nice to have a comfort zone. I stick with phase 3 breakfast, phase 2 lunch (salad with meat and/or egg), and then dinner with protein, low-carb veggies, and perhaps an added carb. I've had some random chocolate cravings, and I've been eating dark chocolate.

I've also been minimizing the bars/products since I went away, and mentally I feel much better

I totally can see how "cheat days" just don't feel worth it.

I will admit, I enjoyed my night out with my hubbie and thoroughly enjoyed my wine , but I can see how in a few weeks I might not want to have all out cheat days once a week.

I was really craving pizza and I had one piece and could not believe how heavy it felt inside my body. I also ate a french fry with some real ketchup and couldn't believe how sugary the ketchup tasted! WOW!

I am beginning to realize that I only missed the idea of eating these foods.... Now that I can eat them I don't even want to. I feel SO much better when I eat clean! That is something I never knew or appreciated! THANKS IP!!!!

I think I will stay pretty much on track with a menu similar to phase 3 unless something spectacular comes up like when my good friend gets married in June or after my thesis defense in few weeks.

Hi everyone! Sorry I've been MIA. Life has been super busy with work, travel, and all kind of stuff.

I kind of got attacked by the sugar monster/junk food monster myself and am above my "comfort zone" again. I've done well at P1 today, and hope to continue it for at least this week.

I do struggle with what to eat as a "snack" mid-afternoon on maintenance...any suggestions? Thanks so much!