MeghanO: I asked my Coach about how IP makes your birth control less effective & in layman's terms she told me that to make your birth control "WORK" & prevent spotting most women who are overweight need a HIGHER dose BC pill. Our bodies store some estrogen in all of those fat cells & when we start to loss weight, it releases some of that estrogen, giving us more then we need & causing errors in our BC method.

Meghan: Thanks for the info, not that I need it for B.C. but it gives me an idea of why certain things have been better for me lately, meaning that my mentalpause (LOL), I mean menopause symptoms, hot flashes etc, have been much better since I have been on the IP diet. The extra estrogen must be helping.

Tara: At this time we do not have any animals. I would love to get another dog but we are away on average one weekend a month, and we both leave the house at 6:15 in the morning and do not get home till after 5 and that is a long time to leave a dog, let alone a puppy home alone. We are planning on getting a couple of riding horses, this summer and they will be able to come in and out of the barn when they want and as long as they have a water supply and feed, we can leave them alone for a weekend. I also want a donkey!! We will probably end up with a pair of riding horses and a heavy horse team, probably Belgians and of course my donkey!!! Not sure if you know this but a donkey works as a guard dog for livestock. If you see a donkey in with cattle etc. that is because the donkey will protect them from coyotes etc. I just like them but the added benefit does not hurt. No plans for other animals at this point. Maybe when we retire.

I had my weigh-in today. I lost 3.2 lbs making a total of 22 lbs lost in 6 weeks. I even had a day off of the plan this week, but I ate low carb. This diet rocks!!!!

I forgot to give you my carboholic introduction earlier LOL! I'm Debbie, I live in Texas, just north of Houston. I'm 57 and this is my last diet, as well. My husband and I have 2 dogs, 3 children, 3 grandchildren and 3 granddogs.
I'm a little bummed today, because my weight still hasn't gone back down to what it was before I cheated last weekend! I've been on program all week and have limited the bars. Maybe it will be better tomorrow!

Just wanted to drop in and say Hi! Been off the boards for awhile but staying on plan. Finishing up a lot of end of the year projects at work.

I now understand what everyone means when they talk about board withdrawals:) I miss all of you!! Will hopefully be able to catch up on posts next week when I'm off.

Welcome to all the newbies! You've definitely come to the right place for support.

Omg.
 

You are doing fantastic!!!!! Go, girl. That is an insane rate of loss. I am so proud of you, and have this suspicion that you will be the lone one of us (and maybe Josh, who isn't going home (?still?) for Christmas, who loses weight in the coming week. My deepest admiration....

On another subject, I am so happy Sarahj got pregnant. For her, but also, if she hadn't, we would never have known about the I.P./hormone surge thing. Why would it have ever come up?

Again, congrats, Sarahj. But for those of us who don't use hormonal birth control, this was illuminating in other ways. One of the worst episodes of PMS happened to me 3 weeks into I.P. I don't think I have been that irritable, prone to irrational sadness and fears, or forgetful since I was in my 20s. For you fellers out there, PMS is a true, actual mental illness. Not every woman gets it, and most not every month, but trust me, it can be like a possession. AND IT'S ALL HORMONES. Freaky.

Again, sorry fellers, but I could not figure out WTF was wrong with me last month. All the above, PLUS it seemed like my period wouldn't ever end. I thought it was some kind of weird premenopausal blitz attack thing. But it was the blasted hormones gone wild!(for another reason) Also, rereading some of the literature, I see there's an awful lot of soy products I didn't know about. Soy can mimic estrogen, and is often prescribed for women during menopause as a hormone replacement therapy. Geez. I sure hope the balanced B complex I've been taking counteracts it this month.....Ohhhh, it will never do to have my Mother and I under the same roof if I get bad PMS....Pray, people.....

Echobaby....Our clinic explained that the soy is extracted to leave out the hormone factor. That is the reason I started the program. I certainly didn't need any more raging menopausal hormones! My hot flashes have subsided considerably, even though I had a few today which is rare! Anyone else been told that?

Susan, wow, horses...way cool!! Donkeys make good guards huh? I never knew that. I now have a whole new outlook on donkeys. Do/would you have a lot of preditors?

Spatime, how do they extract soy from soy protein? That sounds fishy to me. Soy is very high in protein. I wonder if making it into soy isolate protein does something do the soy to cut down on the estrogen? If that were the case then it wouldn't effect birth control....we are going in a loop here.

The process of making soy protein isolate (SPI) begins with defatted soybean meal, which is mixed with a caustic alkaline solution to remove the fiber, then washed in an acid solution to precipitate out the protein. The protein curds are then dipped into another alkaline solution and spray-dried at extremely high temperatures. SPI is then often spun into protein fibers using technology borrowed from the textile industry. These refining processes remove "off flavors," "beany" tastes, and some of the worst flatulence-producing components. They improve digestibility, but vitamin, mineral, and protein quality are sacrificed, and levels of carcinogens such as nitrosamines are increased.17-22 SPIs appear in so many products that consumers would never guess that the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) decreed in 1979 that the only safe use for SPIs was for sealers for cardboard packages.

http://www.quantumbalancing.com/news/soy%20dangers.htm

Q. Are there differences between soy isoflavones, soy protein isolate and soy protein concentrate?
A. With soy isoflavones, the main extraction from the soy bean is the isoflavones, whereas soy protein isolate is extracted for soy protein. Since soy beans contain a higher protein content with a lower level of isoflavones, a larger quantity of raw material is required to manufacture isoflavones. Soy protein isolate may have 90% protein, which is isolated defatted soy flakes by removing fat and carbohydrates; however, soy protein concentrate contains fat, starch from soy bean and roughly 70% of protein.

Seabisquit's best friend was a donkey.

Big smiles :D!!

I was on Phase 2 for 1 week. Lost 1 1/4#. Phase 3 - i got some more help from the center - seems like a lot of food for breakfast, but down 1/2# today.
when others get here, please let me know and i can give some ideas.

Didn't read the posts for a few days - wow a lot happens in a couple of days on this forum. Great job everyone -

That was a very... interesting... site. While I do personally believe that soy formula is harmful to infants because the developmental cycle is so sensitive to any change, when I clicked on the "references" link at the bottom it lead me no where... and the website also sold things like "infrared and photon therapy lights," so I would want to do more independent research before believing anything written there.

<Ten minutes later>

In fact, I just finished reviewing a bunch of clinical trials done on soy and soy isoflavons completed within the past 3 years, and they all point to saying that even in amounts twice as high as what that article was purporting, there should be minimal or no negative effects on adults.

elishatamar, I've been eating soy of all kinds for many, many years and believe it does more good for the bod than bad. I just put it there for food for thought. Thanks for doing more research! Did it mention soy protein isolates, which is different than isoflavins? Do you think that this diet can effect birthcontrol and/or hormones because of the soy?

I think the isolate might still contain isoflavones, I haven't found anything that says it's one of the things extracted... but then again, there might be different ways of making the isolate, and some do that.

Food products aside, estrogen IS stored in your fat cells, so when your fat cells are breaking down (yay!), it's releasing that estrogen into your blood stream. In menopausal women this can reduce hot flashes, and in pre-menopausal women (if released at the right time) this can make your periods longer and trigger another hormone in the body that stimulates ovulation (in other words, counteract hormonal contraceptives).

Greeaaaaat, longer perioids. Just want I want/need. ;)

"Visions of isoflavones dancing in my head."

News: I was getting so constipated and uncomfortable that I decided to go off the calcium and take just some plain magnesium capsules and that really helped. I already knew that calcium was constipating (for me anyway) from past experience but I was being "a good little dieter" and following the instructions.

The risk of osteoporosis is low for me. I had a bone scan 4 years ago and my bones were denser than the postal carrier that had one at the same time I did. (We compared our results.)

The postal carrier was a tall muscular man. My body frame is "large" for a woman. None of the women in my family have osteoporosis so I am taking the risk of going off my calcium supplements. I will be back on dairy when I get into the next few Phases of this diet so I am not worried.

Another thing that really helped my constipation is eating a big salad with olive oil/vinegar dressing late in the evening (it was my bedtime snack a couple of nights this week.) Also, I started taking 6 Metamucil fiber capsules at least twice a day.

My results have been spectacular if you know what I mean.

Warning: If you start taking fiber caps. you must drink lots of water and you might need to eat something solid (a bite of your protein bar would work) to help push the caps down your esophagus.

On another note:

I read the end of Tran Tien's book regarding the maintenance phase. I was trying to get some ideas as to what I can eat at the 2 Christmas parties I'm attending this weekend. So I am going to try his recommendation: to keep fat and carbs. separate.

I will eat my protein packages and veggies and my alloted fat (olive oil) all day long and then when I get to the party I will switch to the carbs. only and try to avoid the fats. (Lean proteins are okay.)

If I overdo it, then I will follow up with a day of no carbs at all.

This is a planned "major slip" (to use Tran Tien's phrase.)

So instead of calling it "cheating" I'm going to call it "practicing for maintenance."

I will report back on how I did.

Lilita, tell me a bit more about this. I am having seafood w/ ff on Xmas Eve. So eat my seafood, with a bit of butter (fat) and then eat my ff (carbs)? My guess is FF are fat and carb though eh? I figure that since I'm doing nothing on xmas food wise I can get right back on the diet then. No carbs at all is hard, unless you are eating certain types of fish all day long. Thoughts??

I as well have been told (since getting pregnant on IP) that the diet can affect BC and as well menopausal women should also take other protective precations. We had been trying for a baby for 7 months and the 1st month on IP got pregnant, I was also taking soy isoflavones at the beginning of that cylce as my accupuncturist (who specializes in fertility) had recommended I do so as it helps women ovulate more eggs and better eggs! I recommend ANYONE who does NOT want a special suprise in 9 months use extra caution when being intimate!!
We are thrilled to be expecting the first IP baby at the clinic we belong too, and am interested to see how many more come of it, especially for women who have been having fertility issues in the past.

nicnyd (I hope that I got that right since I didn't quote), CONGRATS!!!!! Will you be staying on the diet?

Thanks for the congrats, we are VERY excited for this little one! I stayed on the first few weeks, and now have decided I am more comfortable eating a few more carbs for the babies development. Although my dr. said if I wanted to I could continue, but just for peace of mind I am not. I am however eating healthier than previously and have not gained any weight back and am showing alot already, so the weight on my body is just migrating from other areas to my tummy and boobs. I will however go back on the program once the baby is here and I no longer breasfeed. I may do the alternate program while breasfeeding though, I have not decided that yet!
I definatly want to stay in check with my eating and NOT go back to my old habits just because I am pregnant. I have lost 25 lbs in the first trimester so far, so hopefully I can either stay the same throughout, or lose a bit more by eating healthy! I am finding that even the smell of veggies right now turn my tummy a bit mostly because I am not a veggie girl to begin with and overloaded the first month and a half pregnant! But, it is a mindset, and I want to be healthy so I will make that conscious effort to be! Very hard at this time of year and being pregnant at the same time!! ;) As far as I am concerned pregnancy is NOT an excuse to eat more and crappy!

Yeah, what you said.

Yay, 3.78 for my first semester in pharmacy school! I'm going to celebrate by making a steaming cup of chocolate drink mix. :-)

Congrats on the GPA, elisha! I love reading your posts.

Ugh, what do you all do when you are sick? I have had a migraine most of the day and just do NOT feel like eating anything at all, let alone sticking to IP.

Yes, FF is carb and fat boohoo. So are milkshakes, cheeseburgers, tuna melts......you get the picture. Yes so you would eat the seafood and butter for lunch first then wait 3 to 4 hours and dive into the carbs. in the evening. You would still be able eat "lean proteins" (the seafood) with the carbs but no fat.

Ayayayay, Ogdog, we are going to need your creative culinary skills when we all get to maintenance Can you "bake" the FF's? Maybe with a "little tiny bit of spray" of Pam (or organic) olive oil spray at the end of the baking cycle to brown them? Tran Tien mentions that "a little parmesan" would be okay so maybe some "baked parmesan fries"?

The "no carbs at all" is the treatment for what Tran Tien calls a "major slip" in which you threw all caution to the wind and mixed your fats and carbs. and it is only for the the day after an all out "gourmandizing" as he calls it.

He goes on to warn us not to think that we can alternate major slip days with no carb days as a way to maintain our weights.

So in summary, when we get to maintenance we will have to be very careful not to eat like we did in our "previous life" where we ate spaghetti with oily meat sauce and garlic bread with loads of butter.

It will be more like this: for dinner: whole wheat spaghetti with meatless fat free primavera marinara sauce and sourdough bread toast with a tiny pat of butter for dinner, a glass of wine and a fat free dessert. (you will have eaten your protein and fat and dairy (I'm thinking a breadless patty melt?) for lunch with a green veggie, salad but no bread/no pasta/no potato/no dessert/no alcohol.

Ogdog, I am hopeful for the future because it seems like we will have so many food options to play with.

My brother and sister-in-law (90 pounds and 50 pounds wt. loss) have maintained their wt. loss for 6 months now! They are eating things like lasagna, risotto, nuts, wine, cheesy soups, etc.

And we, too, will get there together!

Newbie
 

Hello everyone...
Just started IP today... I successfully lost 60lbs on the trim care program to only have gained back 20lbs of it... Went to the MD yesterday and he suggested IP... saying that it's what I need to lose the extra pounds I packed on plus an additional 20lbs...
I know it's crazy to start this a week before Christmas... but if I continue to make holidays, birthday events, etc an excuse... I'll never start... I hit the ground running until my daughters brought home holiday cookies... I went for 1 caramel bar that came with the package... AND IT HELPED TREMENDOUSLY!!!
You all are an inspiration... and I truly hope this will be my last diet EVER... Thanks for the awesome threads... it's truly great to know I'm not alone in this journey...

Congrats, Newbie. I admire your courage. You can do it with this diet, if no other.

Well, I got up the courage to try my next size down jeans. I started this diet with a 12/14(12s were skin tight). So, today, I went digging in my giant tupperware boxes in the garage for my older clothes. I can fit the stretch size 8s, but cannot zip the non-stretch ones. So even though I think by the time I weigh Monday, I will have lost only 1 lb., I'm feeling pretty good.

If I can come back from my Christmas trip to Houston weighing no more than I weigh now, I'll consider myself in good shape for the next round. I plan to stay on plan, but eat normally Christmas Eve, when me and my Mom are hosting dinner for probably 35-40 people. I'll have her do the tasting when we're cooking the day before and that day, so my hope is to only go off on the 24th.

On the exercise front, I find myself with a complete and utter lack of butt. I'm going to send off for some EXTREME butt videos so they'll be here when I get back.

And Ogdog, that is true! Almost nobody could come near or ride Seabisquit until they got him a donkey pal, who was a bigger a**hole than he was. Just goes to show. Something. Not sure.

elishatamar-I think that makes sense. I will ask Monday when I go for my weighin what was said about the soy at our introduction meeting. The way they explained it made me feel confident it would not mess my hormones up more.:dizzy:

No butt? Me too! Well it's there but it looks so flat! I went out to the garage and found my hand weights. I am going to start doing toning exercises including lunges and squats which will help them glueteus maximii become more maximum. LOL

Although my sister (who has lost 30 pounds on IP) says the butt "comes back" because as you get smaller in other body areas, the butt will once again bigger in comparison.

Also, the right jeans or fitted slacks will make a difference in how your booty looks.

One more easy to do anywhere butt exercise: backwards leg lifts.
Hold on to the back of chair, sofa or edge of counter, point your toes as you lift one leg backwards.

Now here's the trick: you lift the leg up to the point where the butt is tightened and then you do little tiny squeezes which lifts the leg just a little more. You are basically doing tight little "bounces." Start with a few and build up to 15 or so on each side.

While I'm at it here's a fabulous toning exercise for the back of the arms:

Lift both arms backward behind your body with thumbs pointed toward each other. Now start trying to touch the thumbs together while maintaining the backward lift of the arms. Start pulsing the arms toward each other using very small focused movements that target the triceps muscles.

Both the butt and arm exercises are very small movements that focus on the muscle you are toning.

Warning: your muscles will be sore the next day. Start with a few and build up.







by trying to touch the thumbs together while maintaining the arms lifted.

Congrats and time to relax! Pharmacology was one of my favorite subjects in nursing school. I made an "A" in the course. "Better living through drugs" is one of the thoughts that run through my head as I am medicating my patients in the ER.

RE: Hot chocolate. I have a low carb recipe for it:

1 cup of unsweetened soy milk (1 gm. net carb) or almond milk
1 tablespoon cocoa (I used Hershey's) (1 gm. net carb)
1 packet splenda
sprinkle of cinnamon

Blend and heat.

I also was lucky enough to find the unsweetened chocolate almond milk! (2 gm. net carb)

To that I add 1 packet of Splenda and some cinnamon.

Sunny and 60's in Northern California, thinking of making some iced tea..........just kidding.

Torchlaker, my son will be deployed anytime within the next 6 months. 30,000 are being mobilized, so I think I read Iowa is sending the most of any state, for National Guard, anyway. He will be going to Afghanistan. Has been doing alot of training, it seems. We hope to get a family photo over Christmas.

Echobaby, you did a great job explaining the program. I am well pleased with it, having finally getting under 200. I know I could do it faster with no cheats, but I have small cheats to keep me sane and sociable. My cheat lately has been an orange, of all things. I do miss the fruit.

Mom22, I think it is great your husband is so supportive. I have an awesome husband of 27 years who is always helping me on this program, and whatever I do.

I will start phase 2 in about 15 pounds, I am told from my coach. I am nervous. More, though, I am concerned that I do not feel thin, like others tell me I look. When will that come, where my self image matches my body image?
Sherry

Sherry, you are in "Onedurland" when your weight starts with a "One." Welcome to Onedurland, it's great.

Torchlaker: I miss you! You will have to tell us all about your trip when you get back.

Hot Chocolate sounds great! Snow & cold here in SD - 19 degrees with a few snow flakes - supposed to get more next week closer to Christmas. I love hot chocolate - i'll have to try this. does almond milk taste richer? different?
I also like celestial teas - they seem to have more flavor - the "zinger" flavors.
thanks for the recipe

I feel the same way - I don't feel thin, like others tell me I look either. I am down 2 pants sizes, but when I look in the mirror, i don't see the difference. I think sometimes I need to put on some of the "fat" jeans so I remember how they used to fit.

That's a good idea. I went Christmas shopping last weekend, and because the sales all the stores had were so outrageous, I tried on a few things, coats especially. I kept getting the bigger sizes to try and had to downsize in every situation. I tried on the XL coats and were swimming in them. Then I tried the large, then had to try the medium. Random men are paying more attention to me now and I keep thinking, "what's his problem?"

The funny thing is, I remember very clearly the opposite: I would go to try on something I just assumed I could fit, and would be busting out of it. I guess I had no idea how much I'd GROWN.I still saw myself as not that overweight. Keep in mind that I'd gradually lost 10 lbs. before I started I.P. So I initially weighed almost 185. I guess this will just take time. We'll get there.

...ATTENTION: TORCHLAKER, COME IN TORCHLAKER......

babies?!
 

Hmmmm, it is sooo interesting this pregnancy thing. Back in my 30's. I got pregnant by surprise when I was doing MetRx products. (High protien, low carb basically). I havn't used birth control since my 20's. The inventor of MetRx talked about his special protein & I somehow felt that this was what contributed to my becoming pregnant. Unfortunatley I miscarried 2 wks later. So no kids though it would have been nice. I wonder if now that I am doing IP there is still hope for me at 50??? LOL:faint:

here's a good one - I was talking with a friend who's also on the IP diet about Christmas dinner. We were discussing what we're going to eat.

she said "All I want for Christmas is a full course meal" so funny!

It's so wonderful to hear many of you feel the same struggles as me! (Not that I want anyone to struggle :) ) I too was surprised when I looked in the mirror and my butt is flat - not a good flat a wide shapeless flat. That has never happened before so I too am trying to reshape with exercise.

I also got into the jeans that I have been trying forever to get back into and not only do they now fit but are baggy enough to replace with a smaller size! I wondered if I would ever wear them again but I never thought I could go smaller. Great, right? How come when I look in the mirror I cannot see the difference??? My husband doesn't understand why I cannot see what he sees.

I have read and heard in the past that it does take the brain time to catch up with the image in the mirror but I do not understand why.

I cannot express my happiness and surprise with my success on this program. I do get frustrated or cheat on occasion but it is surprisingly forgiving.

I was having a low carb hot chocolate (see recipe in my previous post) and my DBF had left a bowl of some little round chocolate candies sitting out so I put one in my mouth (without really thinking about it) and it tasted awful to me!

The other day I "tasted" a home-made dessert and I was instantly revolted by the flavor: very intense and it had a greasy rancid flavor.

My taste buds have changed! I can hardly believe it. What a nice unexpected side effect to this diet.

I remember when I had stopped adding salt to my food (years ago) that processed foods started to taste way too salty to me.

So now the same thing is happening with sugar.......it is too intense! But it took over 2 months of being off sugar for this "side effect" to happen.

Whatever is happening to my taste buds has given me great hope that I will be able to stay off sugar because it just doesn't taste good to me anymore.

I hope she is really having a good time!!!!

Elishatmar: Congratulations on your GPA!!
Thanks for the info Lilita!!

I would very much like to see a copy of the Alternative plan that has been talked about. Anybody have a copy?

Well done to everyone for their continued weight loss and hard work!

I wonder if we ever will see ourselves as others do and if our concept of our own bodies will catch up with the weight loss?

Ogdog: we have coyotes, you can hear them howling to each other at night.