Hi everyone. I will catch up on the thread later when things have settled down. I got back from NY last night. Spent two full days training and I am completely exhausted, not to mention SICK of hearing my own voice.

I stayed on protocol the whole time, had a lovely steak with dinner both nights. The chef at one restaurant didn't want to "make any changes" when I requested different sides, so I just said "Then I want those sides and the steak on a plate all by itself. Charge me extra, I don't care." We were on an expense account, but I was annoyed anyway.

The other night I was in the Andaz (Hyatt) and they have a "wish list" salad/sandwich/entree option on the room service menu. You pick your protein, how it's cooked, sides, and sauces. LOVE IT! I even weighed myself on the fancy glass scale in the hotel bathroom and was down a pound since WI monday.

Yeah, we "old fogies" didn't seem to have any effect on all that cheat-talk last week, did we?.. it's too bad, too, 'cause they'll never really understand why the diet didn't work for them... I've continued to read the daily chat, but it doesn't do much for my resolve... maybe I should just stay here on this thread & the "Experienced" thread so I won't have any bad influences!..

Dr. Tran recommends: Phase 2, between one & two weeks - Phase 3, no longer than two weeks... he doesn't say Ph. 3 should be 2 weeks, just no longer... so, what I read from that is it can be shorter... not much help, is it?.. your coach would be a better source for that info than me...


This has been a stressful week for me, I have to preside at a meeting this weekend & public speaking is not my favorite thing (in fact, I really hate it).. so I won't be surprised to see not much of a change on the scale Saturday morning... I've stayed on protocol, but I know how stress does a number on me... the current stresses will be over by noon on Saturday, so I'm hoping for a big loss next week...

Congrats to all for your many SVs & NSVs this week... those last few lbs. will soon be a distant memory!..

hugs

This is very interesting. I was reading about alkalinity the other day and how important it is for health in general as well as weight loss to have an alkaline system. I assume that's why we can't have red wine vinegar, even though it really has no calories. I didn't even think about club soda... I have it occasionally and it has not slowed me down. When everyone else is drinking wine, I have my club soda and lime. Guess I'll keep those to a minimum.



I talked to my coach about this... lots of people trying to tweak the program. I don't know why it's hard to understand... if it's not on the sheet, don't eat it! She said that, in general, more women try to "tweak" than men, the complain when it doesn't work. Not sure if it's creativity of just the urge to change things for the sake of it, but I'm glad I haven't been tempted to do it.

Confession: I do use 1 T of Pure Protein vanilla in my coffee instead of milk, but that's it. Only once per day, and 1 can of PP vanilla lasts me at least a week. And that's because it has a screw on lid instead of the silly IP package that would require plastic wrap and a rubber band in the fridge... That's more about poor product design than anything.

Congratulations! This is fantastic news. I'm hoping for Phase 2 around the middle of June. Can't wait!!

I agree that Phase 1 feels "safe". Reentry to the real world will be scary for me too. I have added some additional protein with lunches from time to time, mostly when I am traveling and therefore doing a lot of walking through train stations, from hotel to office in NY, etc. Figured it's not a good idea to be anything close to starving when I'm on my own in the big city. So far, I haven't had any slow weeks because of it. And... I maybe add an egg or two tiny pieces of chicken or tofu from the salad bar.

I am SO proud of you. Here's hoping your losses will be speedy in the coming weeks...

I would recommend spending more time in phase 2 because then you have a chance to lose more....many people gain a pound or two in phase 3. At about 4.5 to 5 months I was ready to quit and felt happy where I was at (around 190)....I am so glad I pushed through it....I can't believe how close the actual super goal of 156 (never dreamed it) really is. With that said I am going to be doing phase 3 no matter what starting sometime the week of June 13th...I want about 10 days on it before Vegas on the 28th. Not sure when I will start phase 2 yet.

the 13th of June is my 9 month mark



I sincerely hope my alternative product talk does not offend anyone....I was IP faithful for the first 5 months. But I had so many planned cheats and my clinic was so shove you in and out....I went alternative. Then saving all that money became addicting.

As far as phasing off....I never did. My first cheat (the cruise)....I knocked myself out of ketosis about three days before with some minor carbs. I ate and drank whatever I wanted on the cruise (but was actually more cautious than ever) and was up 12 pounds upon return but was gone in 5-6 days.

My next planned cheat was wine weekend in Finger Lakes and I was good up to dinner Friday evening....then I ate kinda an Atkins type meal with martinis. I was sortof good on Saturday sticking to meat and cheese and wine cheats until dinner and then I ate pizza. I was perfect on Sunday. I was up 3 pounds and was gone in a few days.

My next planned cheat was Atlantic City and I drank and ate what I wanted. I wasn't up anything, but I have been back three weeks and I have only lost 5 pounds.

I guess what I am most happy about is that I have learned to enjoy the event and then be 100% on the day I wake up to travel home. That is a big change because my travels and trips used to snowball into weeks and months of eating out.

Hi everyone,
I'd like to join if that's OK. I've added my information to the spreadsheet. It might help me stay motivated. It's been a couple of weeks where I've only lost 1 pound (even gained one week!). I only have 20 pounds to go. It's like I'm blocked (mentally) or something.

Last time this happened, I had a "only chocolate week" - to shake things up. I bought the IP choc drink, choc puffs and choc pudding. It helped me get back. I also followed all the other rules as per the phase 1 rules. This is what I'm planning for next week. I'm meeting my coach tomorrow.

Frankly, I know I would have never gotten this far without this site. I'll check out the daily chat to see what's going on. I have not been in a few weeks.

Good luck to everyone.

I started phase 2 on Tuesday. I was STARVING by the end of the first day. I can't figure out why. It really did shake me up. Yesterday was fine and we'll see what today brings. I'm on phase 2 for about 2.5 weeks, then start phase 3 on 5/26 to be on maintenance by 6/9 (a spa trip for MYSELF!). I'm hoping to be a little below goal by phase 3, but I'm happy where I am. (At least for now...)

I feel like such a dingo... I hadn't even thought of replacing my breakfast packet. That makes such sense for me since I have started enjoying my 'souped up' soups and salad for lunch. Duh.

Thanks to all the responses in regards to my question for phasing off for Napa in June. I will talk to my coach and see what he has to say. I will be totally honest with him and tell him for 1 week I want to be able to enjoy the tastings, enjoy dinners out with my man without feeling guilty if it is IP friendly. You are so right Darbs...you need to enjoy the event and hop right back on and I am going to be completely honest with my coach about that. I guess my real question was did anyone ever get sick by eating that way for a week...did anyone have bathroom issues, etc just by going cold turkey without phasing out before the planned vacations?

I'm so glad you're back and on this site! I've missed you.
I'm not even close to phasing out so I don't know the answer to your question. My nurse said to lose 90% of my weight before I start phase 2 and that could take a while as I'm losing pretty slowly these days.
The question you ask about the body issues by going cold turkey is a good one, I'm sure someone will have an answer for you.

No I didn't get sick at all. I also didn't phase off ahead of time either, because I wanted every single day to lose as much weight as possible. When you get right back on you feel very accomplished....I felt like I had changed a ton and learned so much.

I've done 'resets' which is basically the same thing. I went off the diet for four days. The first time, I was pretty good, and added in carbs slowly, and kept the fat intake pretty low. The second time was Easter weekend, and I went a little nuts - I ate like a normal Italian at Easter, and I paid for it. I had horrible stomach pains for the first couple days.

So, you'll be fine, as long as you DON'T:
-eat too much (your stomach has shrunk. when you're full, stop eating)
-go overboard on carbs
-go overboard on fats

In theory, this could actually help your rate of weight loss if you've slowed down lately. You will gain about 2 pounds IMMEDIATELY (glycogens) but you will lose them again IMMEDIATELY when you switch back into ketosis.

I took easter weekend off and I didn't phase out. I did get sick but I also have IBS so that could have played a factor (in fact I"m sure it did). However, talk about it with your coach I was of the mindframe that its not a long period of time and to phase out would mean a bigger stall in weight loss....but thats my take I'm sure its not the right one!

Thank you so much everyone for your answers. I really appreciate it. I will def be back on plan after my week off trust me on that. I will let you all know what my coach says tomorrow. This should be an interesting conversation with him tomorrow...lol.

Have a wonderful night and thank you again.

So how did your testimony go? I'm sure they were all in awe as to how far you've come.

Hi Darbs

Not sure if you are reading this but I wanted to take some time to personally thank you for sharing your journey. I have been having a rough few weeks with weight loss (and sadly no cheating....but not much movement...if I had known this I would have opened up a bottle of red wine on mother's day -- I have friends who are vintners in Napa and moonlight making their own stuff -- they periodically send me a 1/2case of the good stuff -- and wouldn't you know it a box arrived last Friday...ugggggggg I swear I could smell the juice through the cork--alright enough digression and mini pity party) It was so helpful to me to read about your struggles (although I am sorry you had them) around week 17 -- this must be a magic number because these last 2 weeks (17 and 18) have been the first weeks where I honestly want to throw in the towel because nothing seems to be working. It is like my body is having a mini rebellion - I even thought about doing atkins for a week to shake it up - but then I read and reread your posts about this happening to you -- all I can say is THANK YOU for sharing - you have no idea how much it helps to know that I am not alone on this and that perhaps just maybe for some of us this is typical and to be expected.

Sending you hugs and lots of scale movement as you blow through the 160s.