Wow! Leave the house for a few hours and wuv stirs up the pot. Good for you! Complaining be gone! We abused ourselves and want it gone overnite. Dream on! I wonder how much money in extra food & drinks everyone here spent adding on that extra fat??? I'd hate to imagine my costs....
BTW...what wuv posted WAS a supportive post. We are all SUPPOSED to be thinking in a positive fashion. We are to celebrate the progress. If we get a bigger week, then yee haw!!! Jump for joy and then get back to work. If we have a smaller week, we are grateful we didn't gain and we get back to work. Watching the pot (scale) won't make it boil faster. Leave the dam# thing alone already! You can pull it back out when you get to maintenance and drive yourself crazy with it then!
Quote:
Originally Posted by newlady
But this has been a miracle for me. Being 52 some health issues cause me too give this a try. In nine weeks I've lost 32 pounds. I would have never been able too do this on my own. Yes some may not can afford this but after I added up all the Star Bucks and all the junk 12 a day is not bad. Thank you WAV for all the support. My life is so much better because of IP. I'M half way their no turning back. Good luck one day at a time.
Woo hoo! I'm 90 days in & have hit 33 lbs. Doesn't it feel good? Should I complain mine isn't as fast as yours? Nope. I'm happy with mine. The weight is headed in the right direction and as I said earlier today, I've stuck with this plan more consistently than ANYTHING in years. You don't get to 260 sticking with a healthy eating plan. We all have different bodies and are going to lose at different rates. Complaining about it or comparing myself to others won't change a thing. All I can do is work my plan to the best of my ability for this one day (and then do it again tomorrow).
For those who chose to bring up the money, I think if everyone took a clear look at the extra $ spent at Starbucks or drivethrus or candy counters or donut shops or bars or WHEREVER, the $12/day is worth it. Crap, I could spend that in 2-3 drinks in ONE NITE out, let alone the food that would go along with it. I'm probably SAVING money! Its easy to blame the expense when there is any frustration.
Leave the frustration and the expectations behind and enjoy the ride. I took my 90 day photos today and showed them to some folks today (I'll post). Somebody I met 3 weeks or so ago noticed a change in me immediately when she saw me today. THIS is why I'm doing this. To get healthier. It won't happen overnite.
This isn't a problem unique to IP (which is why I'm commenting here, as I'm not on IP, because my budget is far too tight for IP or for that matter even for the comparable alternatives. However I can credit the IP forum and the other PSMF forums/threads (HMR, Medifast, Optifast, the Simple Diet) for inspiring me to research and attempt weight loss by way of PSMF.
I'm very new to PSMF's, in fact this is going to be my first full week on a PSMF.
At any rate, I just wanted to point out that "expecting miracles" isn't a problem unique to IP or even to PSMF's and ketogenic diets. It's endemic to the entire weight loss subculture.
We're all TAUGHT to expect miracles, because we don't know what normal weight loss really looks like. What we're not taught is that it's damned difficult to lose more than 1% of your body weight in a week (no matter what you do, and no matter what your starting weight). Even seeing a loss each and every week isn't realistic either, as TOMS and PMS and even illness and activity level can cause water weight gain that can mask weight loss. You're still losing fat, but your body is "hiding it" because of the extra water it is using for some purpose (one of which is healing).
Once you understand truly normal weight loss, it can be frustrating to see folks dispairing failure that is actually success, but because we're so often taught to expect these miracles and to define success as failure because it isn't television-worthy - I think it's very important that we be more tolerant and understanding of those who still are in the dark as to what to expect, and are still expecting miracles because they don't yet know that they're actually succeeding quite tremendously.
Most of my life I failed at weight loss, largly because not only I, but society as a whole labled my tremendous success as failure. I wasn't just telling myself these false messages, other people were telling me too: Doctors who scolded me for "slow" weight loss that was far more rapid than the average (considering the average is zero); Weight Watchers weight recorders who gave me words of condolence and "better luck next time" encouragement for not only no-loss weeks (even during TOM), but even for "slow" weight loss weeks (again that were far supperior than "average").
I really think that I wouldn't have given up if I truly understood that I was continuing to SUCCEED TREMENDOUSLY rather than beginning to fail miserably as I though (as I was taught to believe and as I was encouraged to believe by doctors, family, friends, and strangers).
I forfeited the prize, feeling that I was doomed to failure, but only because I defined success in a way that was virtually impossible to accomplish. And I came just close enough to the impossible goals on rare occasions to believe that the goals weren't wrong, I was. I was the lazy, crazy, stupid, worthless piece of crap who couldn't measure up to what was expected of me by everyone, especially myself.
I had to learn that most of what we expect weight loss to look and feel like is just untrue garbage. It's cultural myth - a fairy tale. And we only see the true-life fairy tales in the media. We don't see the people who struggled for four or five (or ten) years to successfully lose all the weight.
In our local paper, an article recently appeared featuring one of my fellow TOPS chapter members. This man recently reached his goal weight (losing about 80 lbs over the course of three or four years). By averages, this is actually fairly rapid weight loss, but the article writer made it sound like he had been goofing around for those three or four years, writhing something along the lines of "[This man] finally reached his goal weight of xxx lbs after 3-4 years of trying."
That may not seem surprising, after all we're all encouraged to believe that no matter how fat you start, you should be able to lose the weight within 6 months to a year, and if you can't, well you're just a lazy, crazy, stupid, worthless piece of crap.
It's important that we all do know what normal really looks like, so that we can recognize success in ourselves and others.
Yes, we do mostly expect miracles, because we're taught to define success in such a way that only by a miracle can we achieve it - though we have no idea we're expecting miracles, because it's the only thing we see when we're shown the success stories. Woman's World, The Biggest Loser, Extreme Makeover, and all the other weight loss shows don't praise and feature the person who lost 200 lbs in 6 years, they only feature the folks who lose more than 100 lbs in less than a year (often much less than a year).
We can't (well shouldn't) really criticise people too harshly for expecting miracles, when that's what we're all taught to do.... and we're taught to set our expectations so high that we don't appreciate or even recognize true miracles when we experience them.
When people reach out in pain, despairing because they feel they're failing, scolding them for expecting miracles isn't going to be of any help. Pointing out and praising their actual success, informing them of what "normal" really looks like is more likely to get the message across that they in actuality are experiencing miracles even if they don't recognize it (because they've been taught not to).
The frustration isn't being expressed out of idiocy but out of cultural brain-washing.
Very well said Kaplods. When I first started IP I loved it, I followed it for 25 weeks or so....as I lost, some days I loved the diet some days I hated it. Some days I was ecstatic with my losses some days it really pissed me off! I have irrational thinking when it comes to food and weight loss....it depends on my day and how I am feeling as to what I will post on the forum. I love that on my bad days I get encouragement or tough love and on the good days I get the same. My husband said one day that I was happier before I lost all my weight.....wow .......I feel like he is so right, because the diet worked...l lost the weight, but it didn't fix my emotional attachment that I have with food.......I have used it since elementary school to deal with my life situations.......I hate hate hate that it controls me so much, I am trying to work on it, I do want to be skinny and healthy.....I do want it bad enough, but it still isn't enough. It is a life long journey, much to my surprise I thought if I was happy with my weight, everything would fall into place and maintenance would be easy. No it isn't, not in the least.....so I come to the forum read the post from all of you wonderful supporters....thinking sometimes, gosh I wish I felt like that person today, or wow not feeling that down today, offer some help if I can and get thru the day. I have the irrational thoughts that because it takes sooooo much of me to be"good" I should loose 10lbs a week......every week:s......but then WUV in her tough love supporting way....reminds me it ain't gonna happen......although still don't understand why I can gain it so fast (enjoying it while I am eating it) but then work like a dog to get it off! Not fair!! .
Thanks everyone for the post, we also have to remember that the way something is typed doesn't always come across the way it was meant.....I am sure we are all just wanting to be supportive and don't mean to hurt anyone intentionally.
You know, it kinda is a miracle diet for me. My story is I had to go on a medicine that caused a rapid weight gain and changed my metabolism. For the past three years, nothing I tried helped reverse the effects of the medicine. My doctor just told me, yep, that is the side effects. In the past I was able to do the Zone diet and got great results. Tried it this time, and nada. I tried other things that didn't work too. It was so frustrating that everything I tried wasn't working. IP seems to have "reset" my metabolism and I'm so greatful to find something that is finally working. Even before this medical weight gain, the only other time I had weight to lose (which was only 20lbs), my average weight lost was 3 1/2 pounds per month, not 3 per week. As far as I'm concerned, this diet is a blessing.
Some of us are motivated by tough love, and others by kindness and pats on the back. Both types of motivation are meant as a way to encourage us to continue on our journeys, but many of us react positively to only one type of motivation. Let's just keep in mind that regardless of the WAY people say something, it all stems from the heart.
Some of us are motivated by tough love, and others by kindness and pats on the back. Both types of motivation are meant as a way to encourage us to continue on our journeys, but many of us react positively to only one type of motivation. Let's just keep in mind that regardless of the WAY people say something, it all stems from the heart.
We can all debate some more on our "IP family reunion Low Carb CRUISE!!". I'm still working on my promise to take you all with me. My last tickets only won $20 (see? that's as bad as saying I "only lost 2 lbs!"....) I mean to say, "I'm thrilled that my last tickets won a whole $20" but I will keep trying for my goal of winning that $50 mill so we can all meet on that cruise boat! Gotta have goals, my friends, gotta have goals....
We can all debate some more on our "IP family reunion Low Carb CRUISE!!". I'm still working on my promise to take you all with me. My last tickets only won $20 (see? that's as bad as saying I "only lost 2 lbs!"....) I mean to say, "I'm thrilled that my last tickets won a whole $20" but I will keep trying for my goal of winning that $50 mill so we can all meet on that cruise boat! Gotta have goals, my friends, gotta have goals....
I was going to ask earlier if we were ready for that cruise yet....lol...I can see we will have to wait a little while longer....patience...gotta have patience
I was going to ask earlier if we were ready for that cruise yet....lol...I can see we will have to wait a little while longer....patience...gotta have patience
I'm waiting until after your surgery Lisa, so you can wear your thong with pride
For those who chose to bring up the money, I think if everyone took a clear look at the extra $ spent at Starbucks or drivethrus or candy counters or donut shops or bars or WHEREVER, the $12/day is worth it. Crap, I could spend that in 2-3 drinks in ONE NITE out, let alone the food that would go along with it. I'm probably SAVING money! Its easy to blame the expense when there is any frustration.
This is actually the calculation I made before starting IP! Taking all my luch expenses and many other costs I was spending on a daily basis I probably am saving money as well, but instead of spending it everyday I spend it once a week Definately worth the cost for me !
Also I would like to thank everyone for understanding were I was coming from earlier and not geting offended... I really do LOVE this community and all the great advice I get from all of your experiences!
......although still don't understand why I can gain it so fast (enjoying it while I am eating it) but then work like a dog to get it off! Not fair!! 
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