Hi everybody:
First, I want to say thank you to all of you...for the lovely words and your stories of inspiration. Mirazon...I truly hope to enjoy the holidays (I have sure been working my butt off on gifts!!). Hopefully, with the addition of "2 granddaughters and Brian's girlfriend", Brian and I can think about some happy things and times gone by....last year was tough!
Echobaby- I am truly finding strength day by day. It feels good, because for so long, I felt frozen. Unable to go back in time, yet unable to move forward. I can finally "feel the earth under my feet." I am sure that we will still be on this forum for a long while...even tho some of us may reach goal before others, we still need to maintain. AND...I have such a craving for pumpkin, too. Did you try the "pumpkin pie" syrup (by DiVinci from Netrition)? I add 2 T. of that to my butterscotch pudding, along with a dash of pumpkin pie spice and a bit of Splenda. Yeah, I even put fatfree ReddiWhip on it. It seems to be satisfying the craving....kinda (well, until you mentioned it...lol). Ya' know....it certainly wouldn't hurt to eat some of your Mom's good cooking for the ONE day, would it? I dunno. I plan to take little bites here and there...
Ukanddewit: I bought some "Oh Yeah" protein bars from Netrition. The Vanilla Peanut butter is kinda like IP's....it doesn't fill me up as much....and the fat gram is high...13g!! Kinda scarey when it has 210 calories and 117 of them are from fat!! I am getting ready to order some more and have them sent to Cleveland (so I don't have to pack them). I have come to the conclusion that IP REALLY does have the "market cornered" on these products, because I can't find anythng that really compares with them. If I drank shakes, maybe......
OK -- I CAN report on FlaxSnax Natural Hot Cereal in Butter Pecan (from Netrition). YUK!!!! double YUK!! I guess - of the 2 that I ordered - Dixie Diner is still the best...and that wasn't great. AND....I have a whole bag of this Butter Pecan junk....YUK!
I have been sneaking in some Russell Stover sugarfree marshmallow Santa Claus'. I know...I am so bad. AND...I can't eat them before I am going to see another human being...cuz..well, there is a lot of sugar alcohols in it...and well....let's just say, "You can hear me coming."
It was a very productive day....I got all my sewing done...and put away my sewing machine for the first time in a month and a half (so, that is where my dining room table was!!). I watched QVC and HSN and listened to prerecorded "court shows." When I put away my sewing machine, I was doing a happy dance. Maybe NEXT time I pull it out in January, I will actually make something, rather than "alter" it.
So...the snow has stopped....the resin is drying on my pendants....I can actually SEE my dining room table, and the dog has gone to bed. Good night, everyone.
Re: pumpkin. I know it's not allowed. boohoo. I did find a low carb pumpkin pie recipe but it is NOT low fat since it has a pecan /butter crust (oh my!)
I think I will just eat a tablespoon of canned pumpkin mixed with splenda and pumpkin pie spice and be done with it. Ha-ha.
Thanks for being here. Have you thought about publishing an IP recipe book?
Lilita
Yes, you must publish a book! Where on earth besides your kitchen lab are you coming up with these recipes?
[B]QUOTE: TORCHLAKER:
So...the snow has stopped....the resin is drying on my pendants....I can actually SEE my dining room table, and the dog has gone to bed. Good night, everyone.
Yeats, get back!.....Torchlaker, you are a beautiful person.
Congratulations to everyone on your progress!! Had to go away for the weekend, did not cheat other than I probably ate less food than I was suppose to rather than cheat. Not sure if that is a good thing or not, had heard something about making sure you eat every 4 or 5 hours to keep your metabolism going???
Had to catch up on everyone's posts!!! Mirazon, keep up the good work!! Must be great to see that people are noticing!!! Torchlaker, good for you for getting everything done!!
Your story of the creme brulee reminded me of something that I heard Dolly Parton say years ago when she lost a fair amount of weight (well.. except for "up top" lol) when asked about her diet she said..." I eat everything that I want to but I only allow myself 3 bites" I guess that could be a way of practicing moderation.
Lost 2.6 pounds last week so I am getting closer and closer to my goal, assuming that I do not keep changing my goal!!! Only 9 pounds to go to original goal and I am hoping I get there before Xmas, let alone staying there over the holiday season!!!!! Time for me to increase my exercise, which gets harder and harder as I lose more weight cause I have to work harder, at this lower weight, to burn the same number of calories per workout!!! Boy that sure sounds like I am whining....
I'm new to IP, started the program on 11/30. (like Elisa? I know someone started the same day I did!)
I am lucky, I haven't found any of the products to be inedible yet. I have about 10 that I am rotating through, and have also supplemented with the EAS drinks on occasion.
No side effects for me either, yet. I do get a headache if I am not able to eat on time. But no cravings. Overall, I am finding it a very manageable plan. I know we are not supposed to weigh every day, but I was a bit skeptical for the first week, even though I have seen it work wonders with three of my friends.
I find I am so full by the end of the day that I go to bed thinking there is no possible way I have lost weight. But the next day the scale always shows a loss. First "official" weigh-in tomorrow.
Looking forward to getting to know some of you on here!
Today's my first "weigh in" (my coach is about 800 miles away in Austin, TX, so I have to use my Wii and measure myself), and I'm down 8 lbs and about 2"! I was pretty nervous about weighing myself this morning, since I went out to dinner with my coworkers for a Secret Santa thing. Fortunately, the restaurant had their entire menu posted online with nutritional information, so I was able to study it beforehand and figure out what was on the plan. More restaurants need to do that! Still, this was a place that's famous for its breads, so that was really tough to pass on... my fiance went with me, and I think that night showed him exactly how dedicated I am to losing weight, he was very impressed that I managed to pass on the appetizers... and breads... and desserts...
Oh man, and I tried out the Kale Chips from the recipe page last night, and I think those are going to be my saving grace. The hardest part in general for me is that I used to snack all the time... mostly healthy stuff, but enough to tide me over until the next meal. A batch of these will be perfect for that, not only because I have to put forth a lot more effort to make it than just grabbing something out of the pantry, but a toaster oven's worth isn't that much so I can't overdo it. :-)
And Ottawa, remember, as you build lean muscle your body will burn more calories in its resting state, so it should even out in the end!
Congratulations, Newbies! The hardest part is over. Well, I guess the holidays will be hard, too, but somehow knowing it works will help you through.
Had my weigh in this morning and lost 3 lbs. from where I was before the 2 day splurge over Thanksgiving(had gained 4.5 lbs. of water, I guess). So I'm very happy and very motivated. Have a great day all!
Hello again! I have to say first and foremost how much I enjoy reading all of your posts. You have all done so great and even when you have slid, gotten right back on it again. Congratulations! I had my first weigh-in this morning and lost 9 pounds! I can hardly believe it. This is a great program. My hardest day was yesterday, when my inlaws took us to a big Children's Christmas Carnival at their Country Club - we are talking buffet! I found some things to eat, but I probably ate more protein than I was supposed to. Watching everyone else eat all of my favorite things wasn't easy, but I sure didn't want to thow away a week's worth of effort. So, I guess it paid off. I've gotten very creative with veggies. Stir fry is definitely my favorite way to prepare them. Thank goodness for garlic, Mrs. Dash and soy sauce!
Thanks for all of the support and I hope you all have a great week and there will be less of you next time you weigh-in!
Wow, you guys are awesome. Reading the posts and drawing from all of your enthusiasm, trials and successes truly gets me thru the week! I didn't get to weigh in last week and I ran out of all my protein packets, except 2 by Sat. So, I pretty much just ate as low carb as I could all weekend. I saved the packets I did have for today and hopefully I can go see my coach today or tomorrow. I think I told you in my last post that I've lost about 16 pounds. Yesterday, I went looking for a cheap pair of jeans, cause my others are not only old, but looked really baggy on me. Well, I bought a 16! I haven't worn a 16 in at least 4 years!! I'm pretty excited. I may wear them every day this week
I can't find who was asking about alternative bars, but I've found Bora Bora Peanut bars on netrition (on sale too) that have 12 g of carbs, which is less than IP caramel peanut bars. Given it is higher in fat... Closest I've been able to find carb wise. And hey, its organic.
I have recipes to make your own bars and cookies on pages 22 and 23 of the recipe section. Some of the recipes aren't high in fat or carbs. Given I can't tell you how they will taste as I haven't tried them yet, just found them surfing for recipes, but they might be a good try!!
For those of you looking to make your own shakes, I can tell you that ISS Whey Matrix, Chocolate is scrumptious. And it is made with stevia!!! Whoohooo. This is also on sale at netrition.com.
well i kind of had a rough weekend, which was disappointing after such a good week. I did not follow my diet completely at our big christmas party. i had planned to, but i did not. i am not sure if i am mad about it or not. i was wearing a new outfit that i purchased for the event, in a size that i have not had on in at least 6 years. i felt good about everything and i was excited to go and see people i rarely see. it all started with the decision to have wine with supper. did pretty good at supper, sticking to mostly what i can have. but i had a few drinks over the evening. i guess if i am mad it is mainly because we have alot of these occasions throughout december, and i know i have to be more disciplined. went to far to sell myself short at this time. so hopefully being that this was the biggest one, maybe that was my way of thinking...dont know....but back on track today anyways...
Wow, I'm going nuts. I thought I had been on I.P.for 6 weeks, but its only 5. So when I weighed myself after the TG weekend splurge, that was just 2 days after my official weigh-in day. So even though that day showed a 4.5 gain, for the SAME week I'm down 3. I.P. is an amazing thing!
Thanks Echobaby, I'm trying to keep myself from getting discouraged. I know it's better than any diet plan I've ever followed. Just want to keep the weight loss moving. And of course I'd rather be done sooner than later.
I am baking cupcakes for my students. Not tempted to try them at all, but I did forget and "taste" the batter. I know this is not a huge deal, but of course, now I am paranoid about it since my first weigh-in is tomorrow. Also, now my stomach is all gurgly. Probably the power of suggestion, but it still really bothers me!
Yippee !!! Weigh in today - lost 5.2!!!! That's after 2 weeks of only 1.6 and .4 lost....I am happy with that....so that totals 27.1 lost since Oct 6...Hang in there everyone!
kitchen lab are you coming up with these recipes?
