Welcome back to IP Zoomylou!

Wow Maureen - you are organized! It took me a couple of weeks to get things that together! But, organization and planning are the keys to success on this program I think. I plan out menus at least a week in advance so I'm sure I have everything I need and set up breakfast and lunches the night before since mornings are hectic and I know I would forget something!

First off, THANK YOU Ruth Ann for being so supportive and encouraging - and informative! I definitely don't feel so alone in this with your rooting for all of us Today is day 6 - started last Thursday. By Sunday I was down 5.3 lbs.! Yesterday, although following exactly, I just maintained and had no loss at all. I'm hoping that by the time I weigh myself on the wii again this afternoon, the downward spiral will have begun again.

I'm starting to figure out things that work - and those that don't. I feel like my skin looks better and not as bloated as before. I'm attributing that to no sodas - which, surprisingly, I have had absolutely NO craving for! By yesterday I was getting a little tired of water though, so decided to see if I could figure something out. I had some MIO drops - so added 5 of them to the bottle of water in my Soda Stream and made a carbonated drink of sorts. It was ok - more like sparkling water, but it did help some as I missed my normal glass of wine while I watched the Bachelorette last night. I only had 1 wine glass full, so hopefully it didn't screw me up too bad! I also love chocolate with my wine, so decided to have the restricted brownie with my "faux wine". Probably shouldn't have had it late at night, but I'm thinking that if I only do this once a week it will be ok. Decided to only eat a chocolate item once each week in the evening as Sunday night I had the chocolate puffs (overrated, in my book) and afterwards enjoyed the worst heartburn ever since being on this diet! Finally got rid of it by drinking a tablespoon of baking soda in a cup of water.

I am going to try to slowly start moving my evening snack to the late afternoon, as I find that is when I am the hungriest - and in the evening I'm usually still full from that 8 oz. of protein I just had with dinner! I will just have to find something to curb my need to munch on something while relaxing in the evening (my downfall)

Official first week weigh in will be on Thursday afternoon. I have a ton of questions for the coach - like can I take my communion wine and wafer on Sundays and not throw myself out of ketosis?! And how many ounces of w/f balsamic vinaigrette (my favorite - found it at Winn dixie!) can I have a day and not worry? And are two whole dill pickles a day (maybe I can do those for an evening snack) ok? Stupid questions like that! I'll be sure to report back after the meeting!

Hello! I'm relatively new myself, so probably not the best to join the welcome wagon, but anyhow...

I don't know the official answer on Communion, but I can tell you that I've been receiving every week and don't believe it has affected my weight loss at all. My church offers gluten free wafers on request, but I've never asked for one; if you're really concerned, maybe see if your church offers the gluten free option as well? Also, I'm a "dipper" so don't get very much wine; just enough to dampen the wafer. I doubt I get even half a teaspoon of wine.

You're quite welcome Perish! Sounds like you are off to a great start!

FYI - the Mio kicks my heartburn up something terrible!

And if you're stressing over not losing every day then you might want to stop the daily weighing and just using your weekly weigh in. The scale is not going to go down every day and sometimes goes up - those fluctuations are normal. There are a lot of variables (water retention, TOM, sodium, etc.). Just trust the program and you will see results!

Welcome trinny! And I meant to add to my last post - I never considered skipping communion, it's way too important to me. I don't think it has had an effect on my losses at all. I wouldn't worry about it.

Thanks so much for those quick responses Ruth & Trinny. I now feel confident and comfortable partaking in communion this Sunday! As far as the daily weigh ins go - nah, I'm not really stressing about it. Pretty much expected to fluctuate a bit, especially after that initial 5.3 lb. loss! I always fluctuated when I did southbeach, too. Since I am a visual person, I like doing the daily weigh-ins on the wii Fit so that I can see the bar graph. It helps me to see if there are any patterns to the fluctuations so I can alter behaviors if necessary. I am also making a photo/video diary each week of me in the same two piece - (aggh - scary!) bathing suit. I'm hoping that on the weeks that I don't show a drop on the scale, the pics and video will show a difference and help keep me motivated.

Perish

that's a great idea about the weekly picture - I think I might steal your idea.
I'm on day 4 week 1 - and have lots to learn about things on this program - I think I'm doing okay but only weigh in will tell for sure
hope we all have a great day

maureen

Oops. Posted an intro in the wrong thread. I'm now officially on day 2 and happy to say not overly hungry and am quite impressed with how NOT awful the items I have tried so far have been


"Ok! so super excited, going to go and get all my goodies and meet my coach in 1 hour. Will be holding off starting till Monday though as I have a full weekend planned and don't want to sabotage myself my first 2 days in.

My co-workers are all on board with me doing this too, they are going to respect the "CAUTION - Dana may bite as she is on a highly restrictive diet" sign that will be on my office door. I am prepared for the first bit of emotional and difficult days.

Looks like a great support resource here. happy to get started with you all.

d."

Hi Dana

I just started on Saturday & so far so good - we can do this -

Day 28, and my Weigh-in:

Lost 1 pound this week.
Boo

I think my coach may have been squinting to get me that pound. On the other hand, I WAS wearing jeans. And earrings.

I guess it's natural for the weight loss to slow down???

I definitely haven't eaten anything off plan. A couple of times I've missed my third packet, or haven't eaten my 4th cup of veggies. Sometimes I haven't quite made the water trip.

But, all in all, I'm pleased.
I miss the social aspect of eating.
And I miss going out. I don't see the point in going to a fabulous restaurant and ordering a piece of fish or whatever with no oil, etc. It seems silly to spend $30-$40 on a meal when I'm taking all the character out of it. Might as well eat at home, but then it's just me all alone cooking, eating and cleaning cleaning cleaning at home. Bleah.

On the other hand, I can see a difference in some of my clothes. I would have thought by now I'd be down a dress size, but I'm still wearing 12's.

Any thoughts on this?

Warm wishes to everyone.http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/images/smilies/hug.gif

Hi everyone! Started IP on Saturday! I am 49 years old and I want to lose 20 pounds. I am down 6 pounds since Saturday - I have been following the program to a tee. Today is the first day that I'm not even hungry. I could barely finish my supper. So it's definitely getting easier! Looking forward to feeling lighter and healthier! Love the info and support that this site offers. Thank you!

I'm laughing at the sign idea! Maybe they should give those out in the starter kit!

Redmuse - every pound you banish forever is good! And, yes, the closer you get to your goal the slower it goes.

Most of the time when we eat out I try to focus on the social aspect rather than the food - after all, we're there to see people and spend time with them, so I try to think the food is really secondary. But we've really not eaten out much - dh cooked professionally for many years so we've never been big into restaurants. He loves to cook and usually makes better stuff.

Where you lose weight is really dependent on your body - I wish we could make it come off where we want but it just won't. Have you gone and tried on some 10s? Different styles hang differently and you may actually be able to wear some of those now.

Patience is something I've had to learn (it is not one of my virtues!). Make sure you're getting all your water, food, oil and salt in and the weight will come off!

Welcome lgg64 - 6 lbs is great! Congrats!

Day #5 about to start - I've decided to bring my breakfast to work - I'll have a vanilla pudding when I get to the office - I did weigh myself on my scale this morning and it shows I'm going in the right direction - I do know that my scales and the coach's scales will be different and I'll be weighing in in the evening with clothes on!!! lol - but for now I'm feeling great

I have enjoyed reading how others incorporate the veggies. Any other suggestions on what combinations work well with the shakes? And how to incorporate veggies into soups? I am day 5 into phase 1.