Well ladies and gentlemen, we reached the 500 point, and a new month, so I'm starting a new thread.

Congrats Canada on not only your hockey win, but how many total gold's you won as well!! Way to rock!!!

Okay, blew it yesterday. Had a date, yes a date....and ladies, he even pulled my chair out for me at dinner. We went to Maggiano's and I ended up having fried food...we split an appetizer sample. Why didn't I follow the diet? I could have had salmon, but I'm not a big salmon lover. And I got caught up in the date. Was it worth it, yes and no. I really had fun on the date...and I saw that I couldn't eat a lot of it, I just got so full so fast. However, my scale this morning was up 2 pounds. So, I'm back to being strict again to shed those 2 pounds and keep on losing. Like someone else said, I'm dusting myself off and......

Hi Ogdog! Happy March! Wow, sounds like a nice date. The full feeling keeps amazing me. I used to be a high volume eater before IP.

We're learning as we go. My DBF (dear boyfriend) loves to order a couple of appetizers and call it dinner. I have had to train him to order a high protein entree that we can split instead. Then I just order a green salad for myself.

The 2 pounds are "false fat" which is water weight from the salty restaurant food. Drink loads of water today.

I, too, am dusting myself off and starting fresh. Monday the First, what a perfect day to start anew.

Good luck to all of us!

Happy March Lilita!

I sure hope it is just the water weight. The food was good...not as good as I remember, but definitely still good. This guy is a nice guy...I just need to make sure we go to a restaurant that has more fish on their menu then just salmon.

And yes, that full feeling after a few bites amazed me....truly amazed me. I was proud that I just couldn't eat that much. Heck, I was still full after a few hours when I went to bed.

And yes, definitely a good day being the 1st to start anew!! Thanks a bunch for the positive outlook!

ok, so today I'm struggling. I mean, really struggling. I went to the dr. for my weigh in today and I GAINED 1 LB. I was so devastated. I mean I didn't cheat! It was even my daughters birthday on Sat. and I cut the cake, served it with ice cream, and didn't have ANY!! I am trying not to think about food right now, but it is hard! I want so badly to eat something good. Something really rich and sweet. I have to get out of this train of thought. I am hoping and praying that next week is a very productive week on the scales. I had lost 19 lbs., now it's 18, and really wanted to loose 40 by Easter, but that is 5 weeks away and I'm thinking that is 22 lbs., I don't see it happening. I am sooo discouraged!

Ottawa:

That was a great article by your coach (see last page February Alternative IP thread.) I am a visual learner and that really painted a picture for me.

I have been avoiding eating straight carbs for many years. I would always dig into my meat portion before eating the rice or potatoes. I really believe that is why my weight didn't reach 300 pounds and was holding steady at 210 for the past few years.

So it is better to "cheat" with an extra protein. A handful of nuts, an ounce of cheese than with any kind of carb.

Thanks for posting that and CONGRATULATIONS CANADA! We were rooting for you. It's great to win the Olympics when you are the host. And I think I learned the words to your national anthem. Oh, and your people are very good looking!

BIKINI PICTURES IN THE SNOW! I haven't forgotten that promise either!

Hi Ogdog,

Thanks for starting the new thread and keeping us on track!

IMHO the fact that you had fun on the date is the most important thing. And you have the right approach about dealing with the indulgence. My coach told me from the beginning that in maintenance (which is still a looooong way off for me), I would have one day a week that I could eat anything followed by a strict Phase 1 day. In his words "its unrealistic to think you will never eat the foods you've grown to love your whole life." After some of the recent conversation though, I wonder if all those old favorites will taste as good.

My plateau is officially over. I remember when I did low carb in the past people would talk about the WOOSH fairy visiting them. Well she's been with me this past week. A week of strict Phase 1 and I've lost 11 lbs. I weighed myself three times and had scale calibration checked before I would believe it!!! This is the farthest I've come on any wt loss plan! I'm so looking forward to the next few weeks and hopefully reaching the goal of 100 lbs lost.

Oh, those darned scales. I really wish we could throw them away! You are a woman and you are releasing hormones (estrogen) from your belly fat as you lose weight. Estrogen causes water retention. And since you are craving the sweet stuff that convinces me that you are having PMS like symptoms!

Make yourself a chocolate IP shake or pudding.

Don't set an unrealistic weight loss goal! This diet causes your body to reshape itself. I promise you that if you stick with IP , you will be looking darned good by Easter no matter what the scale says.

Today is March 1st and it's Monday. We are all starting FRESH. Stick with us, Fluffy Mama!

I know this is hard right now, but don't let the 1 lb throw you off plan. I've been on this program since Sept 09 and have had a couple of weeks of gains eventhough I was true to the plan. One time the next week I had a large loss, the other I didn't. At those moments when my frustration was high I pulled out my weekly weight graph and had to recognize that despite that weeks gain the overall trend was going the the right direction DOWN!!! I also knew that if I gave into the feelings of frustration and went off plan, the trend would only go up and that wasn't a journey I was willing to take.

Again, please know all of us have been where you are and understand. However, don't get so caught up in a number that you lose sight of your overall goal!! HTH

My God this is a beacon of hope! Thanks Mirazon for sticking with it through your plateau. It sure fires me up!

Congratulations! :twirly ::congrat :

Mirazon, wow on your loss, 11 lbs, congratulations!! You are doing so well!!

Fluffymama, hang in there girl. I'm sure you still lost inches. And yes, agreeing with Lilita, you are probably PMSing and have water retention. Remember that the average loss per week is 3 lbs. You have done so well before, you'll be back on the weight lost train again next week! Stay strong!!!!

Another thought: Jillian, the fitness coach on the Biggest Loser tv show has been referring to stress as a major cause of weight gain or lack of loss.

So if any of you are having a stressful week (birthday parties, Olympic cheering or nail biting, first dates, pneumonia) you are releasing extra cortisol, a water retention hormone. The bugger.

So let's share our favorite stress busters.

Mine is stretching.

I love to stretch 'cause you can do it anywhere. Even sitting on the sofa you can take one arm, place it across your chest and use the opposite hand to gently push on the elbow.

Also, remember to take deep breaths. This releases endorphins, the opposite of cortisol.

Oh, man, I found out that honey has 17 grams of carbs per tablespoon and EmergenC powder has 6 grams per little package. Cough syrup is probably mostly sugar.

So be careful with the "cold" remedies.

fluffymama - hang in there - there are lots of reasons why your scale will trick you - it is a trick - you didn't gain weight.

Ogdog13 - way to go - date night - yeah how do you diet on date night - you eat sensibly and more importantly you have fun - it sounds like you did and then you get back on the next day

Mirazon - wow way to go - you're still losing huge amounts in a week - you body has realized you're serious - that's motivating for us all!

Lilita - glad you're starting to feel better.

SandraB and others - got to go wine shopping!

Yeah - Olympics - thanks for all the nice comments - some glitches but as a host country i'm proud of the job the organizers, athletes and coaches all did. So many wonderful moments. Hockey - Canadians have a lot invested in the game - it really is important to us and everyone is talking about it this morning. What an awesome game - and all the more worthwhile win because they had to work so hard - I was exhaused afterwards.

Hey, Canada, I have a question: What was the deal with all the people at the opening and closing ceremonies wearing the white paper snuggies?

The one on the left is from August, 2009 wt. 215
The one on the right is from January, 2010 wt. 185

I just found the one from August as I was sorting thru some old pics. Wow, what a difference. Inspires me to keep going!