Need p3 advice

[Gilded Lily]

I start p3 in the morning and I really want to get the most out of it. My daily calorie needs work out to about 2000 a day for maintenance. I'd like to push the calorie envelope as far as possible this time.

How many calories should I start out with on day 1? How many calories should I increment by each day? Or is that even the best way to go about it?

I'd love to hear some advice on this!

Btw, is there anything more lovely than p3?

[Arctic_Mama]

I'd suggest eating to your hunger the first few days, and then counting calories after that. I didn't transition slowly for any of my P3's, just went right into refeed mode on strict P3 rules of no starch, sugar, or veering out of my window without correction. I never had stabilization issues or excess correction days.

The thing to transition slowly on isn't calories, but certain yellow light foods like dairy, nuts, sugar free/starch free treats, etc. Those can cause stabilization issues and are best added one at a time with a few days in between.

[Gilded Lily]

Taryl, thank you so much for your input! This is my 5th, and hopefully last, p3 and thankfully I've never had any stabilization issues (though there is a first time for everything!). But I don't think I've ever gotten my calories up to the max either. This time I want to push it as far as I can go.

[Lildrew]

I start P3 tomorrow, so you are not alone! I plan to take P3 slow and easy and stick to the very basics of Atkins Inductions. I had a terrible time trying to stablize last time, but I really think I tried too many new things too quickly.

I need to read P&I again, because I know a lot of people recommend watching your calories (too little and too many), but I could swear Dr. S, doesn't mention it. Gotta brush up on P&I, but the bottom line is to do what works for you. I sure would LOVE to have a P3 where my weight didn't jump around like a stinky ping pong ball!

Yay, for P3!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Crazy PreK Teacher]

I had a hard time on D1 P3 yesterday.
Is it common to not be able to eat much on the first few days after P2?

I tried doing JUDDD(up day), but just could not eat very much. I even had little desire for the fried eggs & sausage I ate which is what I always craved on P2.

Not sure if I am gonna be able to stay on JUDDD...too many calories on up day, I suppose. The down day (today) has been great(about 400 calories so far)...no real hunger. I constantly worry about gaining...have lost .8 the last few days

Anyone have same experience or any input?

Thanks~Angela in TX

[Gilded Lily]

Originally Posted by Lildrew

I start P3 tomorrow, so you are not alone! I plan to take P3 slow and easy and stick to the very basics of Atkins Inductions. I had a terrible time trying to stablize last time, but I really think I tried too many new things too quickly.

I need to read P&I again, because I know a lot of people recommend watching your calories (too little and too many), but I could swear Dr. S, doesn't mention it. Gotta brush up on P&I, but the bottom line is to do what works for you. I sure would LOVE to have a P3 where my weight didn't jump around like a stinky ping pong ball!

Yay, for P3!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had planned on starting slow as well. It didn't work out the way I intended. I don't know what got into me today, it's the first p3 I've ever had like this. I've eaten all day and the sad thing is, I could still eat right now! All day I was like, "Is this heaven? No, it's p3!". I might have to pay for that tomorrow. Ouch.

You're right about Dr. S. not mentioning calories (that I'm aware of). We are so used to that mindset though!

Originally Posted by Crazy PreK Teacher

I had a hard time on D1 P3 yesterday.
Is it common to not be able to eat much on the first few days after P2? I tried doing JUDDD(up day), but just could not eat very much. I even had little desire for the fried eggs & sausage I ate which is what I always craved on P2.

Not sure if I am gonna be able to stay on JUDDD...too many calories on up day, I suppose. The down day (today) has been great(about 400 calories so far)...no real hunger. I constantly worry about gaining...have lost .8 the last few days

Anyone have same experience or any input?

Thanks~Angela in TX

Some people have trouble eating the first few days. I've had that happen to me. Good luck!

[shelbyla]

Angela and all - I posted on the P3 thread but thought I would repeat here... If you ARE just finishing your first round, I would really recommend doing P3 by the book and not doing JUDDD first time around. My dream P3 (i.e. my first one! ) I eased into it. Other than HWC in coffee, I did not introduce dairy or nuts or SF sweeteners in the first week. I waited until week 2 for dairy, week 3 for nuts, and P4 for SF sweeteners (xylitol, erythritol) and stuff made from them. What I did was figured my BMRx calories (for me, 2300+ calories) and FORCED myself to eat up to them, by about the 4th day of P3. I did this by adding fatty meat (chicken thighs, GOOD steak, pork chops, salmon, eggs, sausage, bacon), oils and butter, coconut milk, and avocados, daily. It wasn't super easy (especially without nuts or cheese) but I managed. A typical day for me looked like this...

B - Protein shake with coconut milk and/or MCT oil (~300 cals)
S - 1 hardboiled egg, 1 serving of bacon, sausage or turkey patty (~300 cals)
L - Giant salad with real dressing, avocado, and chicken thigh, apple (~700 cals)
S - 3oz blueberries and full-fat Greek yogurt (~300 cals)
D - Steak, broccoli with butter, strawberries & HWC (~700 cals)
= 2300 total

The key things that kept me on track were baking a huge batch of chicken thighs every Sunday (in case I needed a cd I had them on hand--otherwise great on salads), cooking other things ahead on Sunday (including breakfast meats and hard boiled eggs), recording everything I ate in ******, and balancing GRAMS/OUNCES of protein and fat. I found that if I had the same number of grams of protein and fat, I would end up maintaining. If I had a lot of protein and fat, I eased up on carbs. If I didn't I found I could eat carbs more liberally. It usually ended up being about 55% fat, 25% protain, and 20% carbs. If it got out of whack too much I would gain. I would check where I was after lunch and just increase fat or protein at dinner to even me up.

That's what I did that worked the best. That's what I plan to do after this round. And will someone PLEASE remind me of this at the end of this round when I am ready to KILL for a pat of butter or a chicken thigh???

[Crazy PreK Teacher]

Originally Posted by shelbyla

Angela and all - I posted on the P3 thread but thought I would repeat here... If you ARE just finishing your first round, I would really recommend doing P3 by the book and not doing JUDDD first time around. My dream P3 (i.e. my first one! ) I eased into it. Other than HWC in coffee, I did not introduce dairy or nuts or SF sweeteners in the first week. I waited until week 2 for dairy, week 3 for nuts, and P4 for SF sweeteners (xylitol, erythritol) and stuff made from them. What I did was figured my BMRx calories (for me, 2300+ calories) and FORCED myself to eat up to them, by about the 4th day of P3. I did this by adding fatty meat (chicken thighs, GOOD steak, pork chops, salmon, eggs, sausage, bacon), oils and butter, coconut milk, and avocados, daily. It wasn't super easy (especially without nuts or cheese) but I managed. A typical day for me looked like this...

B - Protein shake with coconut milk and/or MCT oil (~300 cals)
S - 1 hardboiled egg, 1 serving of bacon, sausage or turkey patty (~300 cals)
L - Giant salad with real dressing, avocado, and chicken thigh, apple (~700 cals)
S - 3oz blueberries and full-fat Greek yogurt (~300 cals)
D - Steak, broccoli with butter, strawberries & HWC (~700 cals)
= 2300 total

The key things that kept me on track were baking a huge batch of chicken thighs every Sunday (in case I needed a cd I had them on hand--otherwise great on salads), cooking other things ahead on Sunday (including breakfast meats and hard boiled eggs), recording everything I ate in ******, and balancing GRAMS/OUNCES of protein and fat. I found that if I had the same number of grams of protein and fat, I would end up maintaining. If I had a lot of protein and fat, I eased up on carbs. If I didn't I found I could eat carbs more liberally. It usually ended up being about 55% fat, 25% protain, and 20% carbs. If it got out of whack too much I would gain. I would check where I was after lunch and just increase fat or protein at dinner to even me up.

That's what I did that worked the best. That's what I plan to do after this round. And will someone PLEASE remind me of this at the end of this round when I am ready to KILL for a pat of butter or a chicken thigh???

TY Shelby for the advice. I am definately thinking about just doing low-carb. It sounded so good when others were talking about it. I just don't think I can do the high calorie days on JUDDD right now. I was sooooo looking forward to it...but I think I need to do all UP days low-carb...lol. I can easily do the UP days if I was doing the sugar, but not on high fats alone w/o the sugar, etc. I don't usually eat large amounts (I am 6 years post WLS), just eat all the wrong things. I easily maintain on low-carb...even lose 1-2 a week...so I think I need to do that for now. Believe it or not...I miss P2...I liked "knowing" what I was to eat...prepared my food a few days worth at a time. Perhaps after I am going a week or 2 on P3, I will feel differently I know...I am weird


Thanks again~Angela in TX