j~ I'm so sorry for the loss of your cat. The great thing about this board is that we can share whatever is going on in our lives, it doesn't have to be diet related. Things will get better, at least she's not suffering anymore.

Don't be sad . Every lb counts . Your doing great . But I do know what you mean about being thru all the phases . I would like that too . I feel like Im never going to make it to phase 2 ! But we will . Hang in there . Rejoice and celebrate ! 2 lbs is awesome !

Week 7 weigh in today. I weighed at home and officially on my scale hit 175 which is 30 lbs gone forever. Unfortunately their scale will not say that at 4:30 in the afternoon!!! Oh well, I am beyond ecstatic

You have done AMAZING so far! Almost down 100 pounds, that right there is something to be proud of.

Don't let a 3 lb loss get you down, you are SO close to your goal!!

SylvieG! Don't hesitate for a moment..86lbs!!!!! Gone forever! Run to the nearest mirror and give yourself a hi-five and a little dance of victory! You are incredible

For everyone who is getting discouraged by smaller losses,... think back to before you were on the IP plan. For me, I had wanted to lose 13 pounds in 12 weeks (before a work/fun trip I had planned). This was me,...

12 weeks to lose 13 pounds
11 weeks to lose 13 pounds
10 weeks to lose 12 pounds
9 weeks to lose 14 pounds

Well, you get the idea. A week before, having lost no weight, I ended up just going out to buy new dress pants that fit and decided when I got home I was starting IP.

At least we are losing and even if the numbers are small, if we keep doing what we should be doing it will show up in how our clothes fit and eventually the scale.

I had my weigh in yesterday and was down 4.5 pounds and 9.5 inches,... but they measured my chest, waist, hips, each thigh, each arm and my neck. I am not sure how it is possible that I lost an inch off of my neck in a week. I don't think it's possible that is was sucking my neck in! :-)

Hang in there everyone - stay motivated!

Well said Diceydoe

Carlasherea That is fantastic!!! I know what you mean though, I hate to WI in late in the day too. So happy for you

I never went 100% alternate products - IP is just so very convenient - but the cost was starting to really upset me; and make me worried that I was going to have to ditch the diet and I was so committed to staying on the diet and continuing my weight loss.

I checked out a couple of the websites that others ordered from but one didn't ship to Canada and i never got around to ordering from another site. I live in a really small town so some of the other options others were doing weren't workable for me - no Walmart, etc.

As a result I probably stuck strictly to IP for around 3 months (around 75-80% of my loss - I'm guessing). I had the diet down pat by then. My first switch was the liquid eggs. I bought a couple of different flavours, including egg white, and took them home to compare them to the IP eggs - figured if they were to far out of whack i could still feed them to my family. I couldn't believe how easy it was to match the nutritional profile of the IP one - really saved a lot with this switch. I had the eggs just about every morning and so this switch saved me 1 box/week or over $100/month.

I mentioned the liquid eggs to my coach and she didn't seem to have a problem - to be honest i wasn't really asking for approval by then as i'd spent a ton of money there and figured i'd been supporting them faithfully for quite a while - also, there is 100% markup on the IP products so... No change in weight loss and I still went in every week for my weigh ins. i didn't expect any weight loss difference because i had done my homework and matched the nutritional profile to IP products.

I started looking for protein alternatives after that - the money savings were really enticing - purchased a vanilla and plain bulk protein from my local grocery store - did a full label check and purchased ones sweetened with splenda. Huge savings! Like .60 per serving compared to 3.87 - hard to get past that! I used them sparingly and to round out my regular IP purchases. used the unflavoured as my soup base - used chicken broth and veggies to make a soup - a bit more work maybe and not as delicious but it helped out my wallet. Then i bought only IP products that i really love. I only used the vanilla a bit and found that the IP products filled me up better - funny thing - I'm using the vanilla now while I'm in maintenance - make a smoothy with milk, fruit and protein powder for a breakfast meal.

I still used the IP supplements - could never get around to ordering from somewhere when I can just go down the street and buy them. I also take vitamin D and omega 3.

Every one is different - but once you have the IP diet protocal figured out you can make small tweaks so that you can stay on the diet and continue losing - and that's what we're really aiming for here. And everyone is losing - every 1 lb is a loss - don't get discouraged or compare your loss to anyone else - everyone is a different shape, and their bodies are different. Take some time and add up your inches lost - put on a pair of pants that used to fit - notice how big they are now - realize you are making progress.

Hockey Mom23 - I agree with you on missing on the group support from WW; we're so fortunate to have this group! Let us know what you think of "Women, Food and God"; I know I could use some insight

Calgarygirlie - we have the sugar fairy in our house, as well. I told my sister-in-law about it after Halloween, and she told me that I was mean. Sorry, but I don't want my 1 and 3 year old to ingest all that garbage!!

I had a really bad morning with my girls this morning (eating was well, but my mood was atrocious due to my early wakeup call from my baby and a broken truck window). Yes, I used to eat out of emotion, rather than hunger... and I seem to be over it (for the time being). I even made popcorn for my 3-year-old this afternoon, and I didn't have ANY!! This is a huge accomplishment for me as popcorn was my main comfort food. Here's hoping I can stick to this program through to the end!

Pookee!....I loooove popcorn too, so kudos to you for such control. Victories like that deserve to be celebrated!!!!!

very very ODD.

my period just started, I am on the pill, it shouldn't start for another 2 weeks. I had whole physicall on 15th and everything was perfect. I started this on 19th. I do NOT get it.

called the diet clinic, waiting for a call back from them.

anyone else have this problem?

it is normal on IP... FYI, anyone on IP...WARNING!!! Unless you want IP babies use condoms... I was told by my coach that since it is regulating everything in your system it DOES mess with hormones...

This is why I HAD TO get on the pill just for now because it did throw me off (made me a week early) which would mean I would get my period ON my wedding day SOOOOOOO... pills it is till after the wedding.

I thought it was worth repeating

If you are taking birth control pills or have something like Norplant or anything that would prevent pregnancy by playing with your hormones BE AWARE that those methods are NOT safe while on IP. I was specifically told to use condoms as well.

o.k, wish she had tole me this to begin with, I had no idea. Apprently, fat stores estrogen and well when we are burining fat it tends to release the estrogen hence everything gets out of wack.

I guess I know I am burining fat now but I had no idea and it actually happened right before I had to give a presentation at work so I was not a very happy camper.

Ohhhh, my husband made Big Cheese Popcorn last night in the microwave and it smelled so tempting! I haven't been tempted by much in almost two weeks, but I really wanted to grab just a one piece and munch...but I didn't.