Finale ~ I'm sorry you are having a hard time with your mom. Just remember that you can't control how others act, you can only control how you respond to it. Keep your cool and don't let the stress interfere with your progress. I hope your Christmas was fabulous. Hang in there!
Nancy

I had my 6 week WI on Monday instead of Wednesday due to the holiday. It was at the end of the day instead of before lunch, which is the usual, and I had had a lot of water that day so I expected the weight to increase. The scale showed a .4 pound gain. What bugged me was the scale showed a 2.8 pound fat gain. I don't understand but am looking forward to my next WI next Friday. I'm already down almost 5 pounds from Monday's WI. But I was so frustrated on Monday I just wanted to hang it all up. Glad I didn't

Glad you hung in there Calypso. I can't imagine how you got a fat gain, but I bet anything it will go back to normal next week. The scale can be so finicky. This morning I weighed and about an hour later, after breakfast I was in my bathroom and just stepped on the scale again (i don't know why) and it weighed me a pound a half less!

Finale, I hope things got better for you!

Calypso
Those bio impedance scales aren't accurate so view the body composition with a grain of salt. You're doing great!

How are all the November starts doing?

I'm partied out and ready to get back to my routine!

I am finally becoming someone that does not jump when people tell me to jump. Usually when my mother comes to town the time frame is set for me to see her around what my sister's schedule is and I usually just rearrange my families schedule to see my mother. In the past however the plans we make with her tend to be cancelled by her. So she called me and wanted to set up a time to see her and we set up Tuesday New Years Eve and had lunch plans. My daughter took work off and so did I and she cancelled, nothing new to us. Although my daughter was upset and crying I told her she will not ruin our day. Then my mother asked if we could do dinner on Thursday and I told her it would be around 7 due to me going to gym and my husband working until 6-630 and she texted and asked if we could go earlier and I told her this is the time that works for us thats what happens when your working around work schedules. She told me I was being silly and cancelled plans with us. Then I told her I would not dissapoint my children and she would have to tell them and she did. My kids were dissapointed again, and then she texted me and asked if I wanted to do lunch on Friday (today) and I told her my schedule for the day and I said we'll see. Then she called me at 8am this morning and wanted to know my plans and I said that I'm not going to do this anymore she has cancelled on us 2 x's now and she will not hurt me or my children anymore. I told her I'm not discussing this anymore due to her wanting me to get angry on the phone and start fighting that is what usually happens. Then I'm the bad guy and the disrespectful one. I'm not that person anymore.
Then she texted me and told me that I hurt her and I said that I'm not going to let her hurt my children and I anymore. I went to the gym and ate a good lunch and I have to be ok. I'm not going to be treated like a piece of trash anymore.
Her mother treated her badly and my dad would tell her to leave my mother alone and not call our hourse when I was growing up. I feel she thinks she can treat me the same way and I will not let that happen anymore.
I was going to go see her due to a family wedding in October but oh well we will see what happens. She flies home today and hopefully she won't come back now for a long time. I know this seems harsh but she just dissapoints my children and me and makes promises and doesnt keep them. I am saying enough is enough.

Tonight I made Cayenne chicken Alfredo with Broccoli slaw as noodles it was amazing......and filling

I haven't logged in for a few week so thought I'd give my update. I have done very well on IP. Joined on 10/29 but didn't get started till 11/1. I've lost 22 and maybe 24 if all goes well at my weigh in tomorrow. Lost almost 18 inches too. I am having a knee replacement on 2/14 and have decided to move to phase 2 as of last week and then phase 3 the week of my surgery. I don't want to be in ketosis and want to be sure I'm getting enough calories (healthy ones) while taking the pain meds which will be heavy duty. I've experienced terrible nausea in the past when I took the meds without enough food in my stomach. That said - I'm less than 10 lbs from my goal weight and hope that I can still continue to lose if I basically eat right and stay away from the sweets and bad carbs. At least now I have got my portions under control and feel I can introduce real food without going over board. I'll continue to repeat my mantra "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" to keep my head in the game. I truly haven't looked this good in several years. I've gone from a 12 to an 8 and feel great. My husband, friends and family are so happy for me and have given me so much support over the last 2 1/2 months as I navigated the Holiday parties with them all. Very few cheats since I've been on IP and only recently have I had any alcohol on 2 occasions. I'm not a big drinker but do drink socially most weekends. It's been a bit of a challenge to sit at bars or house parties with my glass of lemon water or sparkling ICE coconut pineapple drinks making it look like I'm partaking. : ) Even harder for me was bypassing all those desserts.... I will tell you though FYI... twice I cheated and had a no sugar added dessert (1. Chocolate Mouse Parfait 2. Kiddie size Ice Cream) - within a half hour or so I had diareea so bad I didn't think I'd make it to the bathroom. No sugar added does not mean it's okay to have it. Our bodies are not use to the fat and carbs that are in those types of desserts. I learned my lesson -- steering clear of that type of stuff for now until my system readjusts. I have been reading about a lot of different diet plans and am looking to continue in a low carb lifestyle but adding in whole grains, some fruit, nuts and low fat dairy. My husband has lost 30 lbs in less time than it's taken me to lose 24 by counting Weight Watcher points. I may even go that route. I'm a lifetime member and have always believed it to be the healthiest weight loss plan out there BUT it takes forever to lose it. I did IP to get the pounds off quickly with the intention of then eating a balanced diet to maintain. I do want to take off the additional weight so if I find I'm not continuing to lose over the next 2 months.... I'll be back on IP April 1st. Bathing suit season will be here before we know it and I do not want to be the fat chick at the beach this year like I've been the last several years. Not necessarily going to be in a bikini but certainly looking good in my tankini is my goal. Keep up the good work my fellow IP'ers. No one said it was going to be easy but it is definitely worth it.

Good Luck to you on your surgery. I had knee surgery 7 weeks ago, it was arthroscopy for a defect in the femur, meniscus tear and severe patella femurol arthritis. They wanted to do a partial (on both knees) replacement, but I just couldn't make myself do it. I chickened out, I feel I am young (56) and I am scared that it won't work. My BIL is 50 and had a TKR 8 weeks ago and said he feels better than he has for years!

Thank you Bellamack. I'm only 55 but have been dealing with this knee since High School. I had my cartilage removed then (torn) and have had 2 orthoscopic clean ups since to smooth out the bone on bone arthritis. I would have had it replaced years ago if they'd have let me but always said I was too young. I am pretty active (skier, golfer, walker, motorcycle rider...) but knee pain is keeping me from enjoying a lot more. I feel I'm too young to NOT have it done while I'm still young enough to reap the benefits. Yes it is going to be a major pain and it will be 6 weeks or so of intensive PT but I know by the time summer rolls around I'll be ready to participate in mostly all the things I like to do. I want to start bicycling and maybe yoga too. I need to start toning up this new bod. I cannot waste all the effort I put into losing the weight. I'm really excited about the knee and even more excited that I'm down 24lbs which will really help in my recovery. I hope you find relief from your knee pain with the arthroscopy. It bought me the last 12 years so maybe it will do the same for you and you can revisit the TKR in your 60s. Don't wait too long though. You want to enjoy life and not sit on the sidelines watching it pass you by.

How are you doing Selilhannah? I'm just reading through old posts and I saw this one. My staples are mixed greens for salad and/or spinach, fresh and frozen broccoli, fresh cauliflower (love it roasted and or shredded then sautéed), mushrooms, red orange and yellow peppers, cukes, zucchini and occasional grape tomatoes. For protein I eat a lot of steak (probably too much), chicken; salmon (1pw), pork, and lean burgers. I pretty much weigh in and pick up my IP foods and then head to the grocery store for my veggies/protein. My favorite veggie side is to shred a 1/2 head of cauliflower, a sm or 1/2 zucchini, chopped broccoli and mushrooms - toss it in a little extra virgin olive oil mixed with garlic, salt and pepper and sometimes lemon juice then a sauté it over med. high heat stirring frequently but letting it brown up. I feel like I'm eating a rice dish. I just love this. It's also good doing the same thing but chopping the cauliflower instead of shredding it then roasting it on a Pam sprayed tin foiled cookie sheet at 425 deg. for about min. tossing it around every 7 minutes or so it doesn't burn but browns evenly. This is a little easier than the shredding method but I love them both. My husband won't touch either one of these but that's what I eat and just throw a bag of frozen veggies in for him. He will eat same protein as me most of the time. For lunch I love the IP mushroom, chicken and broccoli/cheese soups. They're my go to favorite and easiest quick lunch. I usually add broccoli and or mushrooms to them to get my veggies in. I get wicked sick of salad but usually try to have a salad as well. I like the Potato puree and the chicken ala king which I also add veggies to. Breakfast depends on how much time I have. The Omelet sticks with me the best (sauté veggies then add the omelet mix) but I have crispy cereal when I'm pressed for time. If I have that I then have to have a IP drink (Chocolate or Cappaccino are my favorites) around 10:30 to get me to lunch. I love the Maple Oatmeal but then I cannot have a restricted snack later which I really enjoy (esp. Lemon Wafer) so I have it only once a week and then have pudding for my snack. Love the vanilla pudding with a little cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice added to it. Really good! Butterscotch is good too. Milk chocolate is just okay. Raspberry "jelly"/jello is excellent. I use it like applesauce with my pork chops. Delish. Well that's about it. Hope this was helpful. Good luck.