Morning everyone! Just back from WI, dropped 6 more lbs.!!Happy dance! Feels good. Okay, now I can say, I don't think our age affects the wt. loss, I'm 58, even though I still feel young. I know my body has made changes, with menopause for one. I feel if we keep active, and positive, we can do anything! Keep your chins up, we'll get there!

Super, ShoBan!!! Keep up the good work. My scale was down this morning too. It was 177. I won't log it until tomorrow though....hope it's the same in the morning.

Bad news today....lawyer wants to settle (good news) but not until August 23rd. I don't know how we can hang on that much longer. My husband can't go back to work....even though he is physically able...until they settle. He asked them to move the date up some. Unless they want to advance him a little money for us to get by on. This has really been hard on us financially....had no idea they would drag this out so long. I am sure it is our lawyer, padding the bill. He doesn't get paid until we settle....because he gets 40%. If they settle in August, that will make 15 months with no income and since he is considered a seaman, they don't get workmen's comp. All they get is $20 a day. Like anyone can live on that. So that has me sort of down in the dumps, but will press on.

I am fairly used to the heat. I was a little better today, and was out for two hours this morning before it got so hot. It takes an hour in the evenings, just to put up my &^%$(*% chickens! If my husband gets any money at all, going to get a chicken house built and make them roost in there. As it is, they want to fly up in the trees and this place is alive with raccoons, so I have to put them all in cages every night, and it is a hassle because most of them don't want to go.

Here's hoping tomorrow is a good day for all of us....and hoping my scale will stay down too!

Hi Shoban..thanks for responding. Congratulations on a terrific wk 3!!!. This week I have cut my sea salt down to 1/8 tsp per meal and trying to choose packets that have the least amount of sodium. I made the leek soup and added my veggies to it..it tasted great..except for the salty taste.

Who makes Smooth move?
I did try the IP laxative..took 2 pills at bedtime ..it was not very gentle to say the least. I wouldn't want to take it on a regular basis. I miss my probiotics and prunes!

Is anyone else having problems getting all the foods and pills in? I am in week 2, and seems that my afternoon/evening routine gets interrupted (my mom is 90 and in a Nursing Home). There have been days when I had my snack immediately after my dinner, or I ate food when I wasn't hungry. Tonight, I was in the middle of supper and got called back to the Nsg Home..by the time I got back home, It was after 11pm. Never did get to finish my meal. I had my snack..hence that is why I'm still up at this hour!

Today's going to be another beautiful day! Time to get out to the garden, and check on my tomatoes. To cscape, that tea is put out by, Traditional Medicinals, I bought this at our local grocery store, in the natural foods section. It has a www.SmoothMove.com you can check. the key ingredient is Organic Senna leaf. I haven't had to use it yet. Byugal, I'm sure sorry to hear about that delay in your settlement. I'd be stressed too, I'm hoping you have family support to help you through this. How do you "wrangle" chickens out of the trees? I'm trying to picture it? Have a great day today.

Seems as though everyone is on their way down and I'm happy to say I've joined the group. I'm down 9 lbs. as of today-only 88 more to go!! I did a lot of power washing yesterday,made me feel strong! Today it's more gardening.
byugal. I'm sorry for your settlement delay, money problems are tough. Feel free to vent as much as you need to!
shoban -you are doing great. Weight lose is probably quicker if one does the IP program at a clinic.

Enjoy the sunshine everyone!

ShoBan, I have to get them before they get very high up in the trees. I give them a little treat of strawberry yogurt when they get in their cages. Some of them do it a little more willingly than others.

We will get by until the settlement. It has just dragged out for a lot longer than we ever thought. I feel like we are losing a lot of time that we could be working on our house. We are remodeling a 100 yr. old farmhouse. What an undertaking that was/is! I would post a link to the website to show you, but I guess we can't post links. The house was a wreck...had been cut in half and sitting on a house mover's lot for 8 years. I used to drive past it every day, and I always wanted it, but they said it was sold. But they never moved it. Finally found out the man who bought it is in prison now in Louisiana, so we were able to buy it from his sister. It was built out of debris left over from the 1900 hurricane that destroyed Galveston, Texas, and was on a ranch about 40 miles from here....the foreman's house. They brought the lumber up the Brazos river by barge, to the ranch.

They sold the land to a developer and gave the house to a house mover.

We did this once before....when we were in our 30's and said never again...and here we are doing it again in our 60's, but we love the house.

Congratulations on the weight loss, Cinthia. Keep up the good work!!!

Welcome to the group cinthia...9lb pounds is a terrific jump start. Hang in there during wk 2..I was more hungry in wk 2 than wk 1..tomorrow is WI so will let you know how I've done.

Thanks Shoban..I have seen this brand of tea in the stores..will get it when out today. If I can't get it locally, I'll check online.

Morning to all! Byugal, That sounds like a big job, restoring an old house! I remember as a child, my dad buying an old rundown house, and then upgrading it, with my mom's help. Then reselling it and we'd move on. At the time I didn't realize it, but we were "flipping houses!" I always thought, when I grow up, I'm staying in one house! And I have, for 20 yrs. But I'm sure there's a feeling of accomplishment at what you've restored! So more power to you! To cinthia, 9 lbs! Feels great huh? You're almost to the 100's. I can't recall the last time I was in the 100's, it's been so long ago. I am so glad you got a good jump-start! Keep up the good work! I will sign off, as I am working this week-end, need to get things in order. Take care everyone

Wow, what happened to June? Goes by so fast... Went to WI this am. dropped 2.4 lb., but lost 4 an 1/4". I'll take it! I noticed my bras were kinda loose. Just wanted to post to say "hello to everyone", and have a great week!

Good morning, the past few weeks have flown by and I just got a chance to read everyone's posts since the 25th. I can't believe we are halfway through summer already. I've had three IP weigh ins (WIs) and am down 15.5 lbs. but the last 10 days has been s-l-o-w. I expected my first couple of weeks to be the highlight because I always lose well the first two weeks. I think I know what is interfering with my lost lately - I have really gotten into eating salad with oil and vinegar which I never had before this diet! Gotta admit I haven't been keeping to the two teaspoon max and just figured out that olive oil has ALOT of calories. 119/tablespoon. There you have it. So today I plan to find those Walden Farms zero calorie dressings. Hey! Someone here said they were having trouble getting their packets and snacks in. Per my IP counselor's advice, I keep the snack packets everywhere - purse/car/work and if I am not going to be able to eat and am at 4 hours, go ahead and have HALF of a snack packet to keep my metabolism going. You can have the other half later. The other thing she told me (she just got back from an IP conference) is that your nighttime snack PURPOSE is to ensure you have some calories for while you are sleeping so the snack needs to be ingested within one hour of sleep. I was resistant to having a snack too close to bedtime because that's what I always thought you should NOT do. LOL. So keep eating those nighttime snack packets or drinks! I also wanted to share that I am down a pants size and spent last weekend cleaning out my closet. It was amazing. My total lost is now 38.5 lbs. You all have a great 4th and let us all know how you are doing. I really enjoy reading your posts.

Slimmer, great news!!

As for myself...not so good. Last week I bent over to pick up something off the ground and my back went "outta whack". I had spasms up and down my right side, so spent a good amount of time, flat on my back, and also ate some things I shouldn't have. (I didn't take any pain pills though...so that is good). So I have gained three pounds....but as of this morning, I am back on my plan. I didn't change my tracker....it will just have to sit where it is until my weight goes back down.

Hope everyone is on track and doing good!

Had my 3rd weigh in yesterday, and happy to see I am down another 5.4lb making total 16.2 so far. But, it can't come off fast enough-especialy with summer here!! There were a number of challenges this past week, and at times found myself having to shut off all the negative self talk (like you shouldn't deprive yourself..etc..), and feeling tired (but I'll attribute that to the heat). My eyes were bothering me so, I stayed away from the computer for too long.
After reading the posts, I realize I must make time to log in at least daily to stay connected with others on the plan and remain 100% OP.

Boys and girls I am soooo excited! I lost 3.8 lbs. since my last weigh in and I am just amazed. That's a total of 40 total lbs. lost so far albeit some was lost before I started IP, (IP lost is WK1 -11, WK2 -4, WK3 -0.5, WK4 -3.8.). For me, IP is simply fabulous. I've never lost 40 lbs. before and feel like I might truly make it to a healthy weight some day.

The other thing I did this week was address a 5 year long issue I have had with my left knee. It was seriously preventing me from being able to be comfortable walking around. I had thought it was arthritis and thereforce not really easily solvable, but it turns out I have a torn meniscus and a simple cortizone shot in my knee may have solved the problem. It feels pretty good right now. If this worns, I just have to have a shot every three months or so.

Hubby and I just got back from REI and bought a backpacker tent so we can go hike a bit and camp next weekend, which is something that my weight and my knee have prevented me from being able to do. I told myself that if I could just lose some weight and solve my knee problem I could do some more active things so this tent was a reward to myself for accomplishment so far. Can't wait for next weekend! (I haven't gone camping in years but really love it so.)

The third thing I want to share is that I have actually worn a short sleeve t-shirt in public twice this week! You may laugh, but I have such big upper arms that I have always been really self consious so it was such a big step to be able to be in public in this heat and not worry about my arms. It's the simple pleasures in life, right?

Byugal, so sorry your back is out! I've been there and it's awful and I hope you get to feeling better soon. And I wouldn't change the weight on your chart either, that's such a little amount to gain I k-n-o-w it will drop right back off of you when you can get up and move around a little better.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and I look foward to chatting with you again soon.