Started IP this morning
 

Ok, so started this morning, chocalate shake, coffee with splenda, and some protein shake for creamer, and the supplements. Oh, and water. Feeling hungry now, need to get my veggies at the store. And trying to plan dinners. My mini goal is to lose 2 pounds by my weigh in on Thursday.

I just wanna know how the coffee w/protein shake for creamer tasted! I'm not doing IP, but I'm a little interested...and regardless the protein shake in coffee sounds intriguing. How was it?!?!?:^:

Welcome to IP and good luck! Just one note: mini-goals are great, but don't put a timeline on weight loss. Everyone loses at a different rate so just stay OP and enjoy the losses as they come!

Welcome to IP and I second what LosingLawyer said. We can't force our bodies into anything. We have control over following the protocol, learning from each other, and staying on plan.

One of the maintainers recently said it became effortless after about 6 weeks. I agree. The first several weeks took extensive planning and preparation.

I applaud you for starting so close to some big holidays. However, if you look at the calendar, there is always some big celebration looming...something we would "miss out on" if it were only about the food. Luckily, those of us on IP know it is NOT only about the food, but changing our lives.

Welcome and keep checking back in here...recipes and support abound, if you have the time to do a little research.

Congratulations to you! I started at the end of October, lost 12 lbs, did a cruise and gained 5 back. IP is all about cosistency. You need to pre-plan and be prepared. I work M-F basically 8-6 and the weekends are the absolute toughest. During the week I can take my salad and veggies and eat at my desk (the money I've saved by not going out for lunch everyday is AMAZING!) I then have meat and veggies ready for dinner and grill and roast my little heart out. My family has been eating a lot better because I am not buying boxed-prepared foods or soda. We're all drinking tons of water and everyone feels better.

Last week's weigh in was rough- I was only down a pound but it was TOM so I am ok with that. ALready I know I'm down a few just by how my clothes feel.

I was at Walmart yesterday morning getting my weekend chores done and the cashier commented on the amount of veggies I was buying. I said I'd lost 20 pounds by cutting out sugar and eating better and her comment was," I couldn't ask my kids to stop eating sugar- they'd hate me." I can't make this stuff up.

Congrats on joining! I promise you wont be sorry. I have worked hard on losing weight and it is paying off. The vanilla drink in coffee is interesting isn't it?!! You may lose quickly or slowly but either way it's a loss. there are 2 four letter words to be careful of using on here -only and just- Any loss is good, great and to be celebrated! Starting before the holidays is great! You will b ahead of everyone who waits until January. Once we get by this month there will be a lot more support from the people we work with as they all try to lose holiday weight!!!

I have used EAS Carb AdvantEDGE vanilla shakes as my coffee creamer almost exclusively, they work very well but it helps when you first give your taste buds a "break" for a couple of weeks by drinking black coffee. I was a "little coffee with my creamer" kind of girl before I started the diet, I was definitely addicted to the flavored CoffeeMate creamers. I went to black coffee for the first few weeks to let my taste buds adjust, and now 2oz of the vanilla shake is just what my coffee needs in the morning :)

Blondie95us, Welcome! You will be so happy you are doing this! Weeks 6,7 and 8 for me I literally felt like I was melting my size changed so much. Glad you are here, we need all the support we can get.

Welcome! Please read the thread "things I wish my coach told me". It provides great insight to this "diet". Also, know the first few days are the worse and you just have to get through them... :)

You'll do it! :)

thank you all for the support. I have to admit, today was rough, I cooked some frozen spinach to have with lunch, added some garlic and salt, it was hard to get down, which is strange because I love spinach, well, maybe not so strange as I would usually drown it it butter!!!

The shake in the coffee wasn't bad, I normally use the flavored creamers or lots of half and half, so this is a change. I wandered around the grocery store trying to figure out which veggies to get for the week, I thought this would be easier. So, got a loin of pork, browned it and put it in crock pot with sauerkraut. Grabbed some chicken cutlets for quick cooking. I have a very strange schedule, sometimes I'm gone all day. Also got lots of lettuce, so after this post I will be heading to the kitchen to prep it for the next few days.

Thanks again all, your support has made this day a little easier.

Great job on your first day!

One thing I do (as someone with 2 kids, a full time job, a home business, and about 0.35 seconds of free time) is cook up 2lb of boneless chicken at the beginning of the week. I just poach/braise it in a saute pan with about 2" of water/broth and a little apple cider vinegar. I keep it in the fridge ready to go, it can be eaten plain, shredded for salad, tossed with Walden Farm BBQ sauce, mixed with the chili packet, heated with Walden Farms asian dressing....I never have the excuse that I didn't have time to prepare something :)

We also prep for the weekdays by cooking and prepping. I need to include the weekends as well as that is where a lot of the difficult times occur for me. We also weigh out everything and freeze it in individual baggies so it is ready to pull and go. I also have the "slice-o-matic" (my son bought it for me last year for xmas and I chuckled) and I use it to prep my veggies. Super quick and easy.

Best of luck, visit often. You can get great advice from everyone here.