Leez

In trying to find a comfortable way to stabilize after reaching my goal weight, I've been working through some of the choices Grammy talks about as good ways to proceed, since they use real foods and you do not restrict or count calories in any of them.

Yes, I am disciplined. What motivates me to be that way is terror of becoming fat ever again. Its just too important to not take seriously. Doing a planned P4 actually takes more focus than it does time. I don't bother with a lot of recipes, I mostly just assemble ingredients.

For those who feel out-to-sea after the disciplined rules of HCG and even P3 and are looking for a P4 plan, here are my thoughts on 3 good choices that keep you eating lots of real, clean foods:

Want to desensitize yourself to carbs and flood your body with foods that will heal your adrenals?
Try FMD [Fast Metabolism Diet, Hayley Pomroy]. (2 days grains & fruit-no fat, 2 days protein and veggies_no fat, 3 days healthy fats veggies, fruit, minimal grains-moderate fat) This plan disallows coffee and dairy.
Overview: http://www.chewfo.com/diets/the-fast...oid-food-list/
Pros: everything is yummy, you have choices within each meal, you get to eat grains and sweet fruits, and a lot of them.
Cons: takes lots of planning and dealing with leftovers of things you can't eat again till next week, the Part2 days are a little more challenging because you only have protein and veggies to work with. Dairy and coffee are off-plan.

~Logs and discussions about FMD here:FMD for P4

Want the healing effects of FMD but without the structure?
Try THM [Trim Healthy Mama] choose every 3 hours from either fat+protein/veg berries, or starch+protein/veg fruit, or protein/veg no fat or fruit. Plan allows dairy and a tsp of fat with starch meals. The aim is to keep everything low-glycemic. THM is closest to P3 eating with a template on how to incorporate starch into P3 framework without disaster.
Overview: https://web.archive.org/web/20160331...ew_start_here/
Pros: Most flexible. You can have dairy proteins and cream in your coffee. You can have a tiny bit of fat with starch meals.
Cons: Most flexible-its' easy to mess up because you do have so many choices. Even when you are allowed starches, they are restricted to small portions.

~Logs and discussions about THM here: THM

Want to zero in on what "healthy" foods might be causing gains for you and hidden inflammation that could be the source of arthritis, skin conditions, hormone or gastric problems--not to mention weight gain:
Try THE PLAN [Lyn-Genet Recitas].
Overview: http://www.chewfo.com/diets/the-plan...oid-food-list/
Pros: you might actually finally figure out what your real friendly foods are, not just the benign ones and learn how to use that to lose some weight when needed. All the recipes are yummy.
Cons: a LOT of prep and expensive ingredients, and results are not always decipherable without expert help. (and even then....) You will not be eating "like yourself" for a really long time because every little thing has to be isolated and given its own test day.

THE PLAN recipes are all fast to put together. The hardest part about it is having everything you need on the right days.

~Logs and discussions about THE PLAN here: THE PLAN

I followed FMD for nearly 5 months in between two of my HCG injection rounds. It was great for maintaining and quickly fixed my carb sensitivities, by far the biggest benefit I saw from it. I started that second round at exactly my ending weight from the previous one, the only time that has ever happened for me. The first month I followed all the rules, after that I did add coffee and some greek yogurt back in for a protein source for the remainder of the time.

Although each of these programs has their place, I find that THM is the most flexible and therefore most sustainable long-term for me. I still occasionally do some single fuel days ala FMD, and insert some friendly days from my time on The Plan when I feel like I need a “back to basics” reset.

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