Ok....I'm entering P3 tomorrow and and thinking I'll have to do one more round in order to get to my goal weight. But as I'm sitting here....a lot is going through my mind

So, is it realistic that when this diet is through, it is expected to continue eating "cleanly"as I have been in order to maintain? Meaning, largely staying away from packaged foods with all those preservatives, etc? And....staying really cautious with the amount of carbs/starches and sugars that I take in daily? I've read that some people say that they can eat "normally" after the diet...but I'm leary about that in that I don't ever want to go back feeling as lousy as I was before starting this!

Those of you that have been on this and have maintained...do you specifically look at Sugar free recipes and low carb recipes from now on? I've really come to accept that my life and eating style has to change and in no way do I want to go back to my life of eating the way I used to now that I know how good I can feel without it all in my body. But I just want to start to gather cook books and resources so that I can begin to think about what cooking will look like for me and my family from here on out. I know that Marilu Henner is a strong believer in no sugar and low carbs but using whole grains, etc....and there is the Mediterranean diet philosophy (eating clean and including good protein sources, oils, whole grains, etc.), as well as the the Flat Belly diet.

I guess I'm just a planner and like to not just think about the process I'm in right now, but rather know what my future will look like. I've never been so ready to accept a complete lifestyle change like I am right now. In fact, I am anxious about teaching my children some of the same clean eating that I've learned so that they don't get into the mess that I was in. Having resources and a plan will help me digest and plan for that even better!

Can you help me? What resources have you used?
thanks!

I think its different for everyone. With this diet we all learn what our bodies do well with and what makes us gain, so your long term maintenance is very personalized. Yes you should stay away from the processed stuff as much as possible and eat as clean and healthy as you can. I think all that processed stuff is what got us to where we are now, right? I, personally still have a few more rounds to go before I am there, but my friend has been able to keep the 100 lbs she lost of for over a year now just by eating healthy. She said she mostly sticks to the P3 menu, but tries to balance it out when she has starches. She now makes everything from scratch and uses stevia and all natural applesauce to flavor things. She said she also learned that if she eats a huge salad at the end of the day she doesn't gain when she's eaten a lot of sweets. She also weighs herself regularly and says protein days and steak days still work when she goes over 2 lbs. I would suggest collecting recipes that you find interesting and healthy. There is this woman I follow on facebook called Maria Mind Body Health, and she has a book available-she is always posting recipes for healthy substitutes to everyday food. I bet your kiddos love fruit rollups right? Here's her substitute for that:

2 cups strawberry
2 TBS Truvia (TOTALLY OPTIONAL)

Place strawberries (and Truvia if using) in a food processor and blend until smooth. Then, lightly spray a cookie sheet or baking dish (I used a lasagna pan) with olive oil spray. Turn oven to 140 degrees and bake for 3 hours. Make sure to keep your oven low enough so you don't cook the fruit, just dry it. These tasted great with no chemical, plastic-like flavor.

There are soo many other things to choose from that she makes with almond flour, coconut flour and while wheat flour.
Here's her website that has more recipes: http://www.marianutrition.com/Recipes.html

I think the thing with maintaining is making everything yourself so you know what’s in it and knowing what causes you to gain. When I started my 1st P4 I noticed I would gain with potatoes, not a lot but I would still gain, so I decided that mashed potatoes will be for special occasions.