Had my 2nd official WI down another 4 lbs! And the exciting news was that all of it was FAT! The last weigh in I had I had lost 9 lbs of muscle (not good) so this time no muscle lost ALL FAT and actually gained back 1.2 lbs of my muscle back!

Inches lost is high too! Very excited! So excited I went and bought myself a smaller shirt... mama needs to look pretty

This program is awesome! Congrat to everyone's sucesses!

[QUOTE=mamaerinb;3405362]jessicai hope in no way my post talking about me "flying off the deep end" would encourage you to not follow "protocol".[QUOTE]

No, I was just curious, about it because I thought I'd read Novak talk about skipping phase 2 before, and now I realize it was if you do a short stint after you have a trained pancreas and been through the process once. Phase one is just so easy for me now. Makes sense. I'm actually good with 2, I was going to take 2 eggs to lunch!



Um, all I have to say is WOW smarty pants! Nice work.

I think its actually 21 days, but congratulations on the great loss!!


It IS a great place to be, it will really help you with the support you need for your journey.

Honestly, I'm sure a couple others have said it by now, its either not enough salt or not enough water. Most people say put salt in water and drink it -- tonight I had a headace, put salt on a hard boiled egg and ate it. Delish, and the headache went away VERY quickly. You could be dehrydrated too, but normally it's the salt. Magic!

Congrats! Happy to hear you're doing so well.

For the group, couple of thougths of my own. I have houseguests right now (I wish LadyShady was here because they are French Canadian!) anyway, the diet is going great with them here, even. I just told them the deal up front, and they've been very supportive....others, not so much.

At a family event on Saturday, my 'inside' voice said Hey, If I'd wanted your opinion, I'd ask for it. I don't care, I don't want to hear what you have to say about it, what your thoughts are, or what I 'oughttta' do. Worry about your own plate and what you're eating, and but out of mine. My actual voice said un-huh and walked away.

It's getting to be a little, this is going to sound strange, but amost embarassing now with all the changes and people noticing how much I've lost. There is no way to avoid it now, even if I have old clothes on.

I really don't 'feel' the weight loss this week, maybe because of TOM and it being hot so I'm retaining all the water I drink. Had to move my WI because It was interfereing with the guy coming to fix the AIR CONDITIONER....

Hey there! Stick through this! You will come out just fine if you do. Technically, a plateau is NO weight loss for 30 consecutive days. It is normal for some people to have some leveling off points. It is also normal around week 4 for your body to adjust to the ketosis and kick in the regulating process of gluconeogenesis. For some people on ketogenic diets, it slows the process down a tad but, if you wait it out, you will get back on track.

Also, if you are starting to crave again, be it carbs or fats, it is likely that your body's serotonin chemistry is beginning to be effected. This is very normal. The body utilizes carbohydrates to keep up serotonin levels. Serotonin regulates the body's ability to control emotion, temperature, hunger, and sleep. Sleep is controlled by the serotonin being converted to melatonin after dusk. Omega oils also assist in this process as they are a key starting point for hormone chemistry.

When you feel yourself looking for a "carb" or "fat" or, even extra protein your body is likely trying to self adjust its chemistry. (remember you have gone a long while now without carbs therefore no glucose and little to no glycogen for it to draw on; it wants you to help it out here.) Try using a little more omega 3/6 or 3/6/9 oil. It helps with mood. You can also take melatonin (3mg is low and fine) at night as it will help spare any serotonin needed and make the next day a bit more manageable.

Peanut butter is a unique thing because a 2tbsp portion offers a fair amount of protein, a low amount of carbs, and high fat that also offer omega 3. AND, if you go for a processed PB it will contain sugar. I am constantly amazed by how clever and creative our body can be at finding ways around our way of "helping" it heal.

Another thing some people will start to crave is dairy in the form of whipping cream, sour cream, cheese, etc. It is not going to ruin ketosis generally. It will slow down loss for most. It isn't on plan because it is higher in fat than desired. But, it will be a craving for some because of the added fat.

Stay to the program. The longer you can the better off you will be. There are MANY adjustment periods and some people are more aware of them than others. Week 4 is a consistent adjustment and once you are past it things go smoothly for many more weeks.

Thanks Carla for the information! You are always a wealth of great information. Hope the remainder of your vacation is going well!

Well, I had my third weigh in yesterday. I was down 3 more pounds and 14 inches. That is a total of 17 pounds in 3 weeks. I am pleased with these results. However, I seem to be getting hungry just about every day usually late morning and late afternoon. My coach told me that I must be getting something with sugar in it. He thinks it may be the Crystal Light or on a couple of days I had two restricted products. I guess I will avoid the Crystal Light this week and see what happens.

We are over in the vicinity of the Chester House, what a small world. Are you using the place downtown? I have to say the coaching there has not been the greatest so far.

My first weigh in last night and I was down 7.6! I am very pleased with that, but already prepping myself for much smaller weighins going forward. Do your coaches take your measurements and review your journals each week? Mine didn't even look at my journal or really ask any questions (maybe because I had such a good loss) I actually felt like she was rushing me out as there was another client whom she seemed to be quite friendly with. I guess I need to speak up next time and demand some attention.

One of these for the first 5!

Right... what Carla said. (Thanks for weighing in, coach!)

Traci..my words of advice are to stick to the plan and dont complicate it, just do what you know you have to do and get it done. Im back on phase 1 after a 3 week break when I gained not an ounce I have lost 73 pounds in under 4.5 months and have never felt bettr. I have 40 more pounds to go so we are pretty much trying to lose the same amount.

break down your weight loss into numbers because 90 pounds can seem daunting. As the wise Jordanna once said, I can lose 10 pounds 10 times (doesnt that seem more positive and attainable)then 110 pounds all at once

As for headaches a lick of sea salt or some sea salt in a glass of water should do the trick.

Hang in there, I promise it is soooo worth it!

Christina...wooohooo great loss girl :

Carla, welcome back, so happy to see you posting again

Mrssoontobe...think positive and if its a plateau just plow through it next week

Erin and pita..as always your posts are the highlight, you guys crack me right up. Erin I think you were so smart to go back to phase 1 and then go back to phase 2, you know your body ( and may I say, holy **** batman, u have balls to post that bikini picture, maybe one day I will be able to do the same)

Novak and Bev S, I love seeing you guys on here, I miss the past chickies

Taylor...congrats on the clinic, that is awesome and I hope you are feeling better soon

Aunt sheshie, good luck with the new plan,

everyone else...keep it up, great job and hang in there..you can do this.

As for me, back on phase 1 and not yet in ketosis...my dress is in and Im going to try it on Saturday, Im freaking out about how Im going to look...wish me luck...I scheduled my first fitting almost 3 weeks away to give me a chance to drop some more weight..

I have been wanting to tell you how great it is to have you here doing an alternative plan according to protocol! Please keep us up to date on your progress... I'm so excited for you, and hoping for a BRILLIANT success story!!

You might seriously consider starting your own thread, so folks can more easily follow your journey. I know that the protocol can be done without IP products, and I'm sure a lot of people would like to see how to do it and how well it works in comparison. Think about it. It would take some commitment, but I believe it would be a very valuable resource for many folks here.

PM me if you would like to discuss.

What do you all think of these ingredients? It's the Lindora Chocolate cake:

Soy Protein Concentrate, Vital Wheat Gluten, Chocolate Liquor, Sugar, Butter Powder (from Milk), Pasteurized Egg Whites, Cocoa, Wheat Flour, Natural & Artificial Flavors (includes Tree Nuts [Walnuts]), Nonfat Milk, Maltodextrin, Xanthan Gum, Potassium Bicarbonate, Soy Lecithin, Cocoa Butter, Citric Acid, Gum Arabic, Red #40, Modified Cornstarch, Yellow #5, Monoglycerides, Propylene Glycol Esters of Fatty Acids, Lactic Acid, Corn Syrup Solids, Sucralose, Vanilla, Sodium Caseinate, Blue #1, Proplyene Glycol, Sodium Stearate, Acesulfame-K, Diacetylated Tartaric Acid Esters of Monoglycerides, Sulfites (contains Meta-Bisulfite [to preserve freshness]), Tocopherols and Ascorbyl Palmitate (to preserve freshness)

one more: Hot Chocolate:

(I'm looking for anything that is a NO NO on IP)

Protein blend (calcium caseinate (derived from milk), hydrolyzed gelatin, gelatin), creamer (glucose syrup, sodium caseinate, hydrogenated coconut oil, potassium phosphate), cocoa (processed with alkali), maltodextrin, salt, natural and artificial flavors, xanthan gum, guar gum, sodium alginate, calcium phosphate, carrageenan, magnesium phosphate, malt extract (wheat), silicon dioxide, sucralose and acesulfame-K (non-nutritive sweeteners), soy lecithin.

Hi MK,
I see at least 3 sugars, and a couple that may fall under the sugar category, with actual sugar being the 4th ingredient. I made the mistake of adding boullion packets to my soups and not reading the ingredients, they had sugar, which resulted in my having a 0 weight loss. Now I watch all ingredients, including supplements and meds. Just my 2 cents, I don't know if it will affect you the same way, but I couldn't take the chance. Rosie

MMMMMMMmmm!! Sounds yummy!

And actually, it is! When my sisters came to visit, we had them for my birthday. I was in maintenance, but my sister was in Phase 2. She wasn't eating any restricteds, but we "splurged" that night.

Has anyone used the Atkins Advantage shakes? I can get them at walmart, 4 for $10.. The carbs are lower than the IP ready made drinks, but they have 9g of fat and 1g of sugar... 2g carbs and 15g protein..and 160 cal..

Just looking for an alternative since all the ready-made shakes are on back order, and they would be handy for the day trips I'm going to be going on while my fiance is home on leave..

Once again, I'm nothing if not consistent! Just got back from WI#5 and lost another is 3lbs!!

I was mentally prepared to have lost nothing to only 1lb. I had my eyes closed on the scale and my coach said, "You might want to open your eyes and look at your 3lb weight loss". I about passed out.

18lbs total!! I'm almost to my 20lb reward of a Coach purse!