1. Short term "diets" don't work in the long term, only lifestyle changes keep weight off.
2. Exercise is very important in maintaining weight (and sometimes in losing weight).
3. When you have cravings, have a cup of great coffee with a little cinnamon and IP Chocolate Drink mixed in.
4. If you are feeling weak or ravenous, have an extra protein.
5. Drink lots of water!
Last edited by Avalon1957; 12-08-2014 at 05:51 AM.
That there is no such thing as a horrible packet. They can all be adjusted using allowed ingredients.
Most people detest the potato puree. I make it into pseudo-bread for lunch rolls or I mix it with fat free low sodium chicken broth, garlic and pepper and it becomes a sort of stuffing texture.
There are a great many recipes for packets, so if you find one you hate someone else will already have found a "cure".
Once you get over the hurdle of the first week (hunger, tiredness, nausea, maybe diarrhoea/constipation and aching muscles) it gets much easier.
What is the one thing you know now that you wish you had learned earlier?
I lost 80 pounds in September of 2010 and kept it off with 5-7 pounds until last January so for 3 plus years. In January I started a series of rough patches in my life and gained back 35 pounds...still down 45 pounds. But at the beginning of October I said nope...STOP! and now down 26 of those 35 pounds...9 back to goal weight!
So my point!
This is forever...you can never stop rebooting, never stop stepping on scale, never stop phase 1 days, maintenance is hard. I was a freak phase 1 100% protocol person but life is not all or nothing, learn to have small mistakes and move on...not give up.
Everyone I was on this website with from September 2010 to around December of 2011 gained but a lot or most of the weight. I was one of the rare maintaining as best I could.
IP is awesome it is but the mindset has to be moderation and not "ALL OR NOTHING" for it to work forever.
I never would have listened to this advise when I was crazy phase one.
I lost 80 pounds in September of 2010 and kept it off with 5-7 pounds until last January so for 3 plus years. In January I started a series of rough patches in my life and gained back 35 pounds...still down 45 pounds. But at the beginning of October I said nope...STOP! and now down 26 of those 35 pounds...9 back to goal weight!
So my point!
This is forever...you can never stop rebooting, never stop stepping on scale, never stop phase 1 days, maintenance is hard. I was a freak phase 1 100% protocol person but life is not all or nothing, learn to have small mistakes and move on...not give up.
Everyone I was on this website with from September 2010 to around December of 2011 gained but a lot or most of the weight. I was one of the rare maintaining as best I could.
IP is awesome it is but the mindset has to be moderation and not "ALL OR NOTHING" for it to work forever.
I never would have listened to this advise when I was crazy phase one.
That there is no such thing as a horrible packet. They can all be adjusted using allowed ingredients.
Most people detest the potato puree. I make it into pseudo-bread for lunch rolls or I mix it with fat free low sodium chicken broth, garlic and pepper and it becomes a sort of stuffing texture.
This! There are some packets, including the potato puree, that I have never eaten per the instructions on the box. (Now I want to try your chicken broth idea!)
Losing an average of 10 lbs a month is more speedy a loss than I thought it would be... to be down 50 lbs in 5 months turns out to be quite a rapid change. Moderate pace (average 2.5 per week) is highly rewarding after all.
In addition, I know that making the right choices can become the routine - kind of a rhythm - ideally, it will become a habit. Concurrently with P1 protocol to lose the pounds, it pays off to do additional work to adopt Judith Beck's approach to thinking like a thin person. Getting the cognitive habits in place can make this a real lifestyle change - and as others have shared in this thread - it's the change in thinking that drives the right eating that we need to do if we are going to maintain the loss.
A final key learning for me has been the value of using this forum - so much good advice, so much fellowship sharing the good stuff and the stumbles along the way, so many great links to recipes, articles, and tips, so much support of all kinds. I joined 3FC a long time before I discovered IP, but it was not until I got into IP that I realized how valuable daily visits here would be. Thanks everyone - I am not sure I would be as successful as I am without your support!
I think for me the eye opening thing that I've learned is that plain veggies can taste good. I hated raw salads before starting IP but at the beginning those plain salads were my "in between" and with only oil, vinegar, and salt. If you asked me before I would have said I'd rather not eat. Well, actually being hungry helps a lot. And, I guess resetting my palette. Now, I really like cut up raw peppers. And radishes! (raw and roasted). So, my recommendation is to try veggies that you thought you didn't like. You might change your mind!
I wish I would've known that my IP coach was NO HELP WHATSOEVER in phasing off. P1 is easy....P4 is where the cracks REALLY start showing up! I would have fired her LONG before and switched completely to alternatives.
IMO, the program really underprepares the coaches to walk you through making eating healthy with REAL food a new lifestyle. The numbers and percentages they throw around just don't add up when you are looking at realistic eating. I am forever grateful for the Maintainers threads (new and old) that gave me REAL LIFE examples of how to eat in maintenance.