Our planned two weeks off the weight loss program has come to an end. Paula and I went to visit her family in Winnipeg for Christmas, which was extremely fun. I always enjoy visiting her family and the whole Winnipeg atmosphere. Winnipeg is a big hockey city so naturally we had to enjoy a Winnipeg Jets game but I will talk about that a little later. During our break, I came to the decision not to return to phase one as I had originally planned.  Based on my total weight lost and the habits I picked up during the Ideal Protein program, I will move to phase four (maintenance) instead.

I reached my goal while we phased off and it only made sense to remain in the maintenance stage of the program. The fact that I still lost weight even during our phasing off caught me by surprise and I expected to gain more weight back during this break. This was not the case. I used the things I learned on the program and enjoyed home cooked meals for Christmas and only treated myself a few times. I am both glad and proud I joined this program.

Two things I learned that helped me succeed during the break was learning portion sizes and how to prepare and cook homemade meals. These two things helped me maintain my weight and made me feel healthier. Take out food was my go to but now I enjoy making meals. Now that I have experienced the fun of preparing and cooking homemade food, eating healthier has become a lot easier.

When we went to the Winnipeg Jets hockey game, we figured we may as well have the full experience and enjoy some popcorn and hotdogs. These types of food are things that we have learned to eat in smaller amounts so we chose to share a small bag of popcorn (instead of a large) and enjoy a small hotdog (instead of a jumbo). This is just one example of how I realized how Ideal Protein had changed the way we eat. This wasn’t the only time we enjoyed non-home cooked meals but I believe we achieved our goal to not overeat.

Now that this is the end, I have lost a total of 45 pounds and 25” on the ideal protein program in 12 weeks. This program has taught me the benefits of eating proper food and portions. It is so easy to go back into old habits, so I am always trying to be aware of the types of food I am eating and the portion amounts. This will be my last post and I thank you all for joining me on my journey and I hope I have encouraged a few people to join this amazing program.